HISPASAT collaborates with the Mars Spanish Mission research project

3 de Abril de 2013

The project is Spain´s first Mars landing simulation mission.

HISPASAT will provide the broadband communications needed to carry out this scientific trial.

HISPASAT, the Spanish satellite communications operator, will provide broadband connections for the Mars Spanish Mission (MSM), the first Spanish simulated Mars colonization mission, whose preliminary phase will be developed from April 4 to 7 in the Sierra Jubierre in Los Monegros (Aragon, Spain) and which will culminate in 2014 in a mission that will be carried out in Utah (U.S.A.).  HISPASAT will establish the communications needed between the researchers at the scientific camp and the Mission Support Center housed at the European Business and Innovation Center (CEEI) in Zaragoza (Spain) and will also provide the project with the equipment needed to maintain these connections. 

The satellite broadband solution provided by HISPASAT to the Mars Spanish Mission project is the same that allows Internet access to reach any geographic location, including those that terrestrial networks cannot reach.  This solution helps reduce the digital gap that exists between rural areas and large cities, providing all users, wherever they happen to be, with high powered web access.  HISPASAT has already deployed more than 4,000 antennas dedicated to this service in Spanish territory, which makes the company the absolute leader in Spain´s residential satellite broadband market. 

In this way, HISPASAT supports a scientific initiative with which it shares principals such as supporting the Spanish aerospace industry and fomenting student participation in projects related to the sector.  The goals of this preliminary mission are the analysis of the project´s involved in the Utah mission, the design and testing of organizational models of the aerospace research field that are viable in the current socio-economic environment, the development of mission and organizational procedures in which PMP and ECSS standards of the European Space Agency are applied, the identification of resources which will be needed in Utah during the second phase of the Mars Spanish Mission and the adaptation of the area chosen for this mission so that it can be used for future simulations. 

To achieve these objectives, members of the mission will carry out intra-habitat activities (tests of electrical and electronic equipment, analysis of geological and biological samples and domestic activities related to the habitat) and extra-habitat activities (crew members, in groups of three, will move about areas of scientific and technological interest in the grounds around the scientific camp to test equipment and procedures in camp duties, such as the collecting of geological and biological samples).

The MSM program offers Spanish space and engineering students the opportunity to develop new projects and share experiences, as well as to establish contact with industry in the sector, while promoting interest among the young for spatial investigation and raising their consciousness of its importance for Society. 

The Mars Spanish Mission is promoted by The Mars Society España (TMSE) and the Laboratory for Space and Microgravity Experimentation (LEEM), and it is carried out in parallel with other missions such as the Euro-MARS in Iceland, which will simulate the first landing with humans on Mars, and the Mexo-Hab in Mexico.  TMSE is the promoter of both projects. 

 

About HISPASAT

The HISPASAT Group is made up of companies with a presence in Spain as well as Latin America, where its Brazilian affiliate, HISPAMAR, operates the Amazonas fleet of satellites. The Group is the leader in the diffusion and distribution of content in Spanish and Portuguese, including the transmission of important digital Direct-To-Home (DTH) and High Definition Television (HDTV) platforms. HISPASAT is one of the most important companies in the world in its sector by revenue and the main communications bridge between Europe and America.