As part of the recent World Space Week 2013 (Oct.4-10), the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF) sponsored a World Space Walk event on October 8th in which three space suit designs were tested at three different locations:
- World Space Walk simultaneously puts three Mars-capable spacesuits to the test – Gizmag
- World Space Walk 2013: Three Mars analogue spacesuit teams perform simultaneous experiments – Europlanet/Phys.org
The participants included:
- Austrian Space Forum tested their Aouda.X suits in Innsbruck, Austria – World Space Walk 2013 – A Simultaneous Success!
- Univ. of North Dakota UND Human Spaceflight Laboratory tested their NDX-2 suit in Grand Forks, ND – UND NDX spacesuit team showcased in new global test program
- The Mars Society tested their Mars analogue suits at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah.
The tasks for the Space Walk program included the following:
1) Complete an obstacle course. Erect a tripod. Mount a gnomon (sundial) on tripod.
2) Complete an obstacle course. Take a camera from the spacesuit’s pocket. Take pictures of feet and horizon pointing north, south, east and west.
3) Complete an obstacle course. Take out a sample bag, collect a rock sample and place in the bag. Label the sample bag and place in container.
Here “Aouda.X analogue astronaut, Luca Foresta, starts the obstacle course”:
Credit: OewF/Claudia Stix
Here is a video of the NDX-2 test:
World Space Walk 2013 Local 4 from Austrian Space Forum on Vimeo.
This pictures shows the MDRS Analogue astronaut erecting “a tripod to support a sundial gnomon for D-TREX Experiment 1”.
Credit: the Mars Society/ H. Mogosanu/ WSW2013 Mission to Mars Crew
Find more videos at the Austrian Space Forum on Vimeo
The Space Walk event was part of a number of several projects within The 2013 World Wide WSW Mars Simulation program.