The habitat and two ramonauts The habitat, two ramonauts and part of the crater view D-MARS is a human analog mission to the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

, taking place in

Makhtesh Ramon Makhtesh Ramon (; ''lit.'' Ramon Crater/ Makhtesh; ; ''lit.'' The Ruman Wadi) is a geological feature of Israel's Negev desert. Located some 85 km south of Beersheba, the landform is the world's largest "erosion cirque" (steephead valley ...

in the

Negev desert The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. D-MARS is an acronym for "Desert Mars Analog Ramon Station" and its crew are known as "ramonauts". Ramon's geological features and aridity are similar to those of Mars. The mission site is a valley that resembles the

impact crater An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...

s of Mars. Several missions have been carried out since the beginning of 2018, each staffed by six crew. They have performed experiments across many disciplines, including physics, soil studies, microbial studies, psychology, agriculture, water supply and engineering. Their suits were designed by the Israeli fashion designer Alon Livne. The first mission took place for 4 days in February 2018. In 2019 the mission lasted for 11 days and in 2020 two student missions were held in March and 5 day training were held in November. In 2021 the mission took place from 4 to 31 October and six astronauts from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

took part in the mission with mutual cooperation of

Austrian Space Forum The Austrian Space Forum (ÖWF) is a non-profit organization based in Innsbruck, Austria. It engages in educational outreach and public science communication, especially aimed at schools and young audiences with an interest in space exploration. ...

and

Israel Space Agency The Israel Space Agency (ISA; , ''Sokhnut heKhalal haYisraelit'') is a governmental body, a part of Israel's Ministry of Science and Technology, that coordinates all Israeli space research programs with scientific and commercial goals. The ag ...

References

{{coord missing, Israel Human analog missions

See also

References