After having participated in the AMADEE18 mission to the Oman desert in 2018, we were extremely excited to test our new and improved version of the prototype in the Negev desert in Israel this October. In preparation for the trip, co-founders Julian Rothenbuchner and Nic Weiroster together with team leads Michael Sandrieser (Aerospace Engineering Vienna) and Stephan Steiner (Electrical Development Vienna) went to the Austrian Space Forum’s (ÖWF) headquarters in Innsbruck for a dress rehearsal. The attendees included some of the simulation astronauts as well as other people involved in the project, to whom our members illustrated the construction process and setup of the Tumbleweed Rover V3. They also demonstrated how to build the rover and its rolling behavior, to ideally prepare the participants for work with the rover.

Unfortunately, the AMADEE20 mission to Israel has been postponed due to Covid-19 measures. We look forward to hopefully participating in 2021!