This month, the long-awaited AMADEE-20 Mars Simulation Mission is finally taking place in the Negev Desert in Israel. At the AMADEE-20, organized by the ÖWF, the current V3 Prototype is being tested in Mars-like conditions. Preparations for this Mars simulation began in 2019 and over the past two years, our technical teams have been working tirelessly towards this important milestone, continuously creating, building, and improving the newest Tumbleweed Prototype.

The Aerospace Engineering Vienna Team, in charge of creating and improving the current Prototype, had to participate in 5 Dress Rehearsals before sending the Rover to Israel. In these Dress Rehearsals, they had to update the jury regularly on the changes and improvements made to the current Prototype and make sure to meet the requirements for integration in the mission.

During the 4th Dress Rehearsal, which took place this June in Innsbruck, AE-Vienna had to present the final version of the experiment hardware. The team explained how to set up the structure of the current prototype in detail as well as presented how the rover’s systems function and how experiments are set up.

After running a number of tests, such as thermal behavior tests and wind tunnel tests, over the past two years, AE-Vienna redesigned the Resting system, as well as simplified and improved the electronic system. In July and August, they were busier than ever, improving the prototype and adding the finishing touches. For the last Dress rehearsal in August, the team ran one final roll test, then transported the improved V3 Prototype to Innsbruck, where it was finally shipped to Israel. The AMADEE-20 field mission started on the 4th of October and our Tumbleweed Rover is most likely rolling around the Negev desert in Israel at this very moment. We are very excited about the findings this mission will provide us. Hopefully, this will help us move forward on our journey to Mars. Stay tuned for a more in-depth report about this mission and its findings.