Thread by @People_Of_Space

So today, I want to talk about something I do outside of my job at @esa: volunteering for the Austrian Space Forum @oewf! 🇦🇹 In this thread I'll talk about what the OeWF is, how I got involved, and the upcoming Mars analog mission '#AMADEE20'. (📷: OeWF/Voggeneder)

The @oewf is an organisation that conducts Mars analog missions & scientitic research 🔴. The photo in the previous tweet was taken during an analog mission in Oman, 2018. OeWF is based in Innsbruck, Austria 🇦🇹 & is primarily volunteer-lead. oewf.org/en/about-the-o… (📷: OeWF)

I first got involved with the @oewf last year in June, when I attended the AMBT ('Analog Mission Basic Training') course in Innsbruck, Austria (in what was an incredibly sunny week! ☀️🇦🇹) (📷: OeWF/Jorge Redondo) oewf.org/en/2019/09/a-s…

The next @oewf mission is #AMADEE20, which will be conducted in cooperation with the Israel Space Agency & D-MARS @DMarsAnalog in the Negev Desert 🔴. It will be 4 weeks long, & 6 analog astronauts in spacesuit simulators will emulate aspects of a human mission to Mars (📷: OeWF)

More abt #AMADEE20 here: oewf.org/en/portfolio/a…. As part of this mission, various science experiments will be conducted (16!) & the analog astronauts will be supported by a Mission Support Centre in 🇦🇹 which includes science support & 'Flight Planning'. (📷: OeWF/Voggeneder)

As you can imagine, all this takes a lot of planning!! So since summer last yr, I've volunteered for the Flight Planning team as coordinator for a suite of @oewf geoscience experiments known as 'GEOS'. These include mapping 🗺️, sampling 🔨, & searching for micrometeorites ☄️.

This role includes liaising with the PIs for the experiment + producing a 'SEIF' (Standard Experiment Information Form) 📄 which feeds into the development of experiment procedures. Based on this for each experiment, the Flight Planning team then produces the 'Mission Plan' which

is a rough schedule developed prior to the mission. We have monthly telecons 🖥️ as a team to provide feedback for our respective experiments, & to manage this Mission Plan 📄. If you want to know more about the science side of things, see linked tweet 😄

Prior to the mission, there are normally 3 in-person dress rehearsals (TBD given pandemic & ongoing travel situation). But on the 21st-24th of May, we will have a Virtual Science Experiment Review 🌌 & things are very much moving forward for the mission 😄

Want to keep up to date with all this? I'd recommend following @oewf & looking at this list: twitter.com/i/lists/126161…. So tldr; the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) conducts Mars analog missions, I volunteer as a 'Flight Planner', & the next mission is #AMADEE20! (📷: OeWF/Voggeneder)