Aouda Test Campaign 17A

In January 2017 the test campaign 17A will be performed on the spacesuits Aouda.X and Aouda.S.

Testing will be done on various subsystems of the suit to either commission new items, re-qualify evolved systems or measure performance, ranging from thermal testing, head-up-Display, glove dexterity and so on. To provide Mars like temperatures a cryo-chamber will be used to perform the tests under realistic circumstances, also a state-of-the-art radio frequency spectrum measurement will be done.

• Evaluate and document selected subsystems of the Aouda spacesuit simulator for their performance and identify vulnerabilities. This includes the evaluation of selected complementary hardware items, such as the WLAN infrastructure, solar cells, a 360° camera and testing selected new operational procedures.
• Identify the need for follow-up evolutions of the Aouda spacesuit simulator in hindsight of the AMADEE-18 mission
• Provide a training opportunity for students to be part of a structured test campaign and share the fascination of Mars exploration with a wide audience.

The following tests have been scheduled:

• Test 01: Demonstrate that the suit performs nominal under humid or light rain conditions.
• Test 02: Functionalities implemented in summer 2016 should perform nominal and show up on the head-up-display and be commanded by the analog astronaut.
• Test 03: The sensors shall demonstrate their performance under various environmental conditions.
• Test 04: This test measures the suits electromagnetic emission spectrum.
• Test 06: Battery characterization. In this test the batteries connected to the suit will be tested.
• Test 07: A cryo/heat-test shall evaluate the suits performance between -110° to 35° Celsius.
• Test 09: 3d performance envelope determination
• Test 13: Caution and Warning System Validation
• Test 14: Mass Budget and CG
• Test 15: This test analysis the ergonomics of the exoskeleton for its next generation version.
• Test 16: A tesla coil will be deployed to test the vulnerability of the Aouda suit to lighting produced by Martian dust devils.