Teamwork is key to the Amadee-20 mission. We asked various players for their views of the project.

Wolfram Senger-Weiss
Chairman of the Management Board, Gebrüder Weiss
Needless to say, being able to support a project like the Analog Mission is very exciting for all the staff directly involved. That said, I would also contend that the project possesses a unique appeal. It opens our eyes to the logistical challenges of space travel and allows us insights into those spheres where the mobility requirements of tomorrow might propel us. In my view it is a good fit for our organization if we can marshal our capabilities to drive and support such new technological developments where we can – even if they extend beyond our traditional orbits.

Robert Rubatscher
Apprentice in freight forwarding logistics, Gebrüder Weiss Hall
This mission really is unique. Our group of three apprentices was integrated into the project and we divided up the work between us. I was responsible for the logistics operations, another trainee helped administer the delivery runs. It proved a great opportunity for us to put our newfound expertise into action. The customs processing was the most complicated, because the freight included numerous hazardous and custom-made items like special batteries. Needless to say, these too have to be declared, although there is no customs form available. A huge responsibility weighed on our shoulders, particularly at the end when the pace and pressure picked up. If we had made a single, seemingly trifling mistake, it could have jeopardized the entire mission – because the team on the ground in Israel maintains a rigid schedule. At the end of the day, we all learned a lot.

Armin Ploner
Branch Manager Air & Sea, Gebrüder Weiss Hall
Our company has grown considerably in recent years, and we are constantly being bombarded by new subjects – such as e-mobility and new drive technologies. We’re also facing a generational change. That’s why we’ve entrusted this visionary project to our apprentices. It’s a win-win situation for us if our up-and-coming dispatchers have already managed a project like this during their training. And it would be wrong to underestimate these youngsters. They were totally excited from the very start, and all grew amazingly during the project. They had to take responsibility, share opinions, and contribute ideas – all things that trainees don’t normally learn to do. I was really impressed at the things they managed to achieve here.

Anika Mehlis
Analog astronaut at AMADEE-20
As a scientist, I typically work in a very narrowly defined field. But as a biologist-cum-analog astronaut, I can research areas like medicine and geology as well. For me, that’s a real positive. If I look out the window, I really could believe I’m in a Martian landscape. You genuinely feel you’re in a different world out here in the desert. But there’s a lot of pressure on us, too. When the time comes to enter the isolation phase, everyone on the outside – the team at Mission Support, the researchers we work with – will expect us to obtain the data and deliver the results they need. So it’s really important that we mesh as a team and can cope with this responsibility. It may be a challenge but for me, above all, it’s a lot of fun.