«It was an extraordinary experience, and I can’t wait to repeat it with the next mission scheduled for April». Paolo Guardabasso, from Catania, is an aerospace engineer graduated from the Polytechnic of Turin, and for some years he has been part of the international crews of missions that simulate excursions to Mars. Where is it? In the Utah desert, one of the areas of our planet that are best suited to simulating the Martian environment for periods of a few days in isolation, with extravehicular activities equipped with a diving suit, helmet and survival backpack.
The new mission of complete simulation of a landing on Mars is scheduled for 10 to 23 April next, and the international crew of six “martenauti” has been selected by Mars Planet, the Italian section of the Mars Society. It is the most important international organization that deals with future projects of missions to Mars, founded and led by Robert Zubrin (who many define the new Werner von Braun) and in Italy it is based in Curno (Bergamo) under the leadership of Antonio Del Mastro .
Utah MDRS base, Martian mission tests
Paolo’s first mission, in May 2019, took place at the Mars Desert Research Station (Mdrs), the station founded and managed by the Mars Society. Paolo was in fact selected by the Mars Society Peru, to participate in the third “Latin American (Latam)” mission visiting the MDRS. For two weeks, the international crew, consisting of 4 Europeans and 3 Latin Americans, carried out a rich program of technological and scientific tests.
The Mdrs “Martian” station comprises six different structures. The habitat (called Hab) is a two-story cylindrical building with a diameter of 8 meters. The upper deck houses the crew quarters (up to 7 members) and an area for cooking, eating, working and relaxing. The lower floor is dedicated to meetings before and after extravehicular activities. There is a room with radios and suits for outdoor activities, designed to simulate real spacesuits for Mars missions, an “Eva airlock” to the outside, a bathroom, and another, smaller airlock. From this you can access the tunnels that lead to the other parts of the station: the RAMM (Repair and Maintenance Module), dedicated to technological experiments and repairs, the Science Dome, a laboratory for microbiology and geology experiments, the greenhouse (called ” GreenHab ”) and the Musk solar observatory, named after a major sponsor of MDRS. Another observatory, totally robotic and separated from the tunnel system, is remotely controlled.
The technological achievements
“Together with my colleague Vittorio Netti, now a PhD student at the Polytechnic of Bari, we tested some drones in the Martian environment, which we will fly in the April mission – says Guardabasso – The main objective was to test this type of autonomous aircraft to evaluate their usefulness. in the context of a human mission to Mars. We used a quadcopter to carry out inspections of the station at a close distance, and a fixed-wing drone, capable of flying at a height of one hundred meters to photograph the ground ». These results will be critical for supporting human stations and the exploration of Mars. Given that the Martian atmosphere is substantially different from Earth’s, flight dynamics were not a primary focus of the experiment. Another technological experiment, carried out by Zoe Townsend, was carried out: a rover tested its mobility and navigation system in the rough terrain available around the station, similar in many respects to the terrain on Mars.
Like on Mars
“To move on the desert surface, we had two-seater electric rovers, to travel several kilometers, depending on the purpose of the extravehicular activity. For example, Vittorio Netti and I moved away to fly our X5 fixed-wing drone in a safe and obstacle-free area. The outdoor activities included a number of four participants for a maximum of two hours, while the rest of the crew began to rehydrate the necessary for lunch. Meals were often based on rice, seasoned with dehydrated products with ten-year maturities! Sometimes we were also lucky enough to use fresh products, especially aromatic herbs, from the station’s greenhouse.
The scientific results
“We tested different bacterial cultures, to evaluate their resistance to the hostile environment and to test their role in plant cultivation – explains the young Italian engineer – The goal is to find and select the right type of bacteria to use to enrich the regolith. Martian. From a medical point of view, a crew member measured his vital signs throughout the mission, also generating scenarios in which he was put under strain during extravehicular activities. Many observations of the night sky have been made, taking advantage of the almost totally absent light pollution. Among the subjects captured were the Pelican and Veil nebulae. In addition, solar observations were also made during the day. I have personally directed an experiment on human factors, to observe group dynamics in situations of isolation ».
Smops at the gates
The next mission of Guardabasso and his Martenauti colleagues is called “Smops” (Space Medicine Operations), almost entirely dedicated to biomedical experiments, as shown by the emblem of the mission. This mission is organized by Paolo and his colleague Vittorio in collaboration with Mars Planet, the Italian branch of the Mars Society, chaired by Antonio Del Mastro and based in Curno (Bergamo). Paolo and Vittorio will be part of a new expedition with an international team of researchers that includes Canadian Nadia Maarouf (biomedical researcher), French Benjamin Pothier (documentary maker and human factors researcher), and Italians Simone Paternostro (engineer with experience in ESA), and Luca Rossettini (who directs the D-Orbit company).
“In terms of duration and permanence criteria, this mission follows the previous one – Guardabasso tells us – and also the site is always that of the MDRS, located in Utah”. A new space suit will also be tested, designed by Mars Planet in partnership with leading Italian companies in the textile sector.
Future projects
As for the use of autonomous aircraft for the exploration of Mars, “the experimentation continues, and with Vittorio Netti we worked on an experiment for the Amadee-20 mission, organized by the Austrian Space Forum in October 2021”. In view of Smops, the program of numerous experiments, this time less technological and more scientific, focused on measuring vital parameters and on the health of future astronauts, is being finalized in recent weeks. For Paolo Guardabasso there is a new period of two weeks to spend in his small room of 4 meters by 2 meters: «But it is an extraordinary experience – he says – Do I already feel a bit astronaut? If I would like to become one? I just turned 30 and I think I can be part of a future selection, who knows. In the meantime, I am already excited about these land missions. One day, when the first landings on Mars will take place, the astronauts will also have treasured our experiences ».