Austria to conduct simulated Mars mission

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INNSBRUCK, Austria, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Austrian scientists have announced a one-month Mars mission simulation to be conducted in the Moroccan desert in February 2013.

The mission, involving the testing of two space suit designs and found Mars rovers, will be the largest Mars simulation of the year, the Austrian Space Forum said in Innsbruck.

The simulation dubbed "MARS 2013" would be controlled from Innsbruck, forum chief executive officer Gernot Groemer said.

In order to make the rehearsal as realistic as possible, strict separation will be maintained throughout the simulation between the field crew "on Mars" and the crew in the Mission Control Center "on Earth," a release by the Austrian forum said.

In addition, all communication between the field crew and the control center crew will be on a 10-minute time delay to simulate real-world communications between the Earth and Mars.