Psychological 2
Short Description: Human Factors Debriefing
Goal: Learn from the team experiences how to improve the interaction with a system (product/service/environment). The crew collectively discusses strengths, weaknesses, and problem solutions.
Human factors is a discipline that aims to optimize the interaction between a system (object, service or environment) and a user to increase safety, performance, and well-being and decrease errors, effort, and frustration.
This debriefing is meant to analyze “–” weakness and “+” strength of the interaction between the user and the system, for example considering as a system the all mission or a specific aspect like the spacesuit for instance.
Physics: Cosmic Rays (Part of MSTAT)
The experiment will measure the cosmic ray flux in two locations (the two analogue mission sites) using a set of plastic scintillators and a data acquisition system. Data from the two locations will be stored in a remote database and will be accessible via a dedicated website which will display real time data.
For live updated results please visit: https://www.dmars-cr.org/Main.html\
Note: Since the results are coming in from "Mars" they are 10 min time-delayed.
Communication Workflows (Part of MSTAT)
The experiment will demonstrate communication simulation of two human missions on Mars and will include setup tests and situational awareness training. Participants:
● D-MARS01 field crew, near Mitzpe Ramon, Israel.
● Mission Support Center Israel, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
● OeWF: AMADEE-18 field team, Oman
● OeWF: AMADEE-18 Mission Support Center, Innsbruck, Austria
The scenario narrative:
On Sol 42 of the D-MARS mission, a fatal failure of one of the D-MARS team relay satellites (RS-A-1) reduced the communication access time from 100% to 80%. Thanks to the cooperation between the two agencies, during the communication blackout periods a contingency link could be established
between the D-MARS habitat and their Mission control center as follows: Landing Site-A (Mitzpe Ramon) -> Landing site-B (outpost of the OeWF) -> Mission Support Center Austria -> Mission Support Center Israel and vice-versa.
Geo-Biology
Short Description: Characterization of biological agents and bioactivity in a hyper-arid environment, during a simulated mission to Mars:
We aim to look into the rock patina and desert crust in the habitat locality, as we know these structures involve microorganisms in some capacity, and are able to withstand harsh environmental conditions. This means also deploying temperature & relative humidity sensors and soil pH,N,K measurements, coupled with rock patina and desert crust sampling. We can then analyse environmental conditions and in parallel observe endemic biological samples.
3D Printing
Short Description: Examination of mechanical properties of materials to create 3D printer binder “ink”
Purpose: to determine the optimal composition of materials for 3D printing
Background: 3D printing is increasingly tailored technology for the space industries for a plethora of reasons. Firstly, the technology enables us to use local materials in the printer ink and further minimize payload costs. Secondly, the fabrication process provides versatility of manufacturing. Lastly, 3D printing in space allows the minimization of payloads transported to space, since materials can be shipped in condensed packages and fabricated into expansive geometries upon arrival.
Psychological 1
Short Description: Performance and stress in isolation: Testing of a new instrument for language analysis
In collaboration with Mars Planet, Italy.
Various studies have shown that under stress, subjects tend to write less, using a tighter vocabulary and shorter words. This study aims to quantify more accurately the extent of the correlation between the length variation and the reduction of language variability in a written assignment and the physiological, psychological and perceived stress levels in the writing subject. This study is part of a series of studies taken during a number of other analog mission, with different durations.