AMADEE and PolAres - Programmatic considerations for Mars analog missions

Human-robotic Mars missions are envisioned for no earlier than the early 2040ies, including surface sojourns of at least one month. Since the Apollo-era, analog studies have been supporting planetary surface missions as an effective and efficient tool to prepare for future missions to Mars. Mars analogs on Earth are used to understand processes on the Red Planet from the (geo)scientific point of view, to optimize operational field research in analog environments is an established tool for testing scientific workflows, evaluating operational concepts, and optimizing the efficiency and safety of planetary surface missions.

Since 2006, the Austrian Space Forum conducted 14 Mars analog field simulations as part of its decadal PolAres and AMADEE programs, conducting 200+ experiments from the fields of geoscience, human factors and robotics to study workflows, technologies and science strategies pertinent to the search for extinct or extant traces of life.

We present an overview on the science logistics, experiment selection and onboarding process and programmatic strategies of organizing interdisciplinary, multinational mars analog campaigns, involving typically 200-250 researchers from 25+ nations. The focus is on the scientific workflows balancing operational constraints coordinated and scientific needs via a dedicated Mission Support Center, research institutions and field crews.

The work of the Austrian Space Forum is presented in the context of the recently established International Guidelines and Standards on Analog Research (IGSA) and the ESA Topical Team on Human Factors in Analog Research.