World's largest Moon/Mars analog mission begins

The largest Moon/Mars analog mission to date was launched with 17 institutions on five continents: the "World's Biggest Analog."

According to a statement, from October 13 to 26, 2025, 16 Mars/Moon habitats, under the leadership of the Austrian Space Forum (OeWF), will emulate human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

So-called analog astronauts will live in habitats and conduct up to ten different experiments. Running the Mission Coordination Center (MICO-VIE), the OeWF will be the heart of the "World's Biggest Analog" during these two weeks:

It is responsible for worldwide mission planning and will support the habitats around the world with scientific expertise and provide detailed meteorological data. 

Dr. Gernot Grömer, Director of the Austrian Space Forum: "Taking into account current technological capabilities, the best option for a trip to Mars is: 200 days to Mars, approximately a year's stay, and 200 days back.

Grömer said, "For the first time, 200 researchers in Africa, America, Asia, Australia, and Europe are working together simultaneously united by their mutual goal to prepare for long-term human presence on the Moon and Mars.

To this end, they will recreate the experience of being on the Moon or Mars as realistically as possible. The scientists from the participating international universities will have the rare opportunity to see their experiments conducted by up to 16 groups simultaneously.“ 

Dr. Anika Mehlis is an OeWF analog astronaut. As Director of Operations for World's Biggest Analog, she heads the Mission Coordination Center in Vienna: "World's Biggest Analog is unique: It is the world's largest project of its kind. We want to establish internationally uniform standards for analog research to make results comparable and optimize scientific output.

World's Biggest Analog will better connect existing habitats and give younger institutions access to a wealth of experience. A new analog community is emerging, making it easier for new countries to become part of space research, which includes participating countries from Armenia, Australia, Brazil, France, India, Jordan (2), Kenya, the Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Czechia, and the US.

Mission Coordination in Austria will conduct 10 experiments from the following areas: psychology, decision-making in stressful situations, relaxation in stressful situations through crafting, environmental engineering, measurement of indoor climate, and air quality.

Sociology/Law: Development of a regulatory framework for the coexistence of people of different cultural, ethnic, and economic backgrounds – a prerequisite for future cooperation on Mars

Biology: Survivability of microorganisms under selected Martian conditions

Biology/Psychology: How do people in an isolated, confined space deal with a semi-automatic mini-greenhouse?

The experiments will be conducted in at least five habitats, depending on their level of complexity. Data for the psychological experiments will be collected across all habitats, providing a valuable dataset with input from people of different genders, ages, cultural backgrounds, and ethnicities.

Dr. Anika Mehlis said, “Analog Research is anything intended to ensure the survival of astronauts, and a successful research mission millions of kilometers away from Earth must first be tested in a safe environment. That’s analog research. Analog research simulates the work of astronauts in Mars-like or lunar-like environments on Earth. We test equipment and workflows and look for weak spots to ensure everything runs smoothly during actual deployment. This method makes it easier to understand the advantages, but also the limitations, of future astronaut missions to alien planets.”

OeWF is a private space research institution that conducts Mars Analog Missions regularly, involving scientists and institutions from all over the world.