The A-Ax mission is scheduled with a small delay to the Axiom-4 space mission launch (around 7-8 days). The delay is planned in order to be able to implement last minute changes and adapt to the unknown conditions of the real Axiom-4 mission.

During the Axiom-4 space mission, the crew is going through an acclimatisation phase after docking to ISS, that takes time until the 4th day of the stay on ISS. All the experiments and projects are starting on day 4 of their stay on the ISS. Therefore, the A-Ax will also start their experiments and projects related activities on their 4th day of the stay in LunAres. During that phase the A-Ax will be getting to know the habitat, going through personal routine and basic checks.

During the Axiom-4 mission, the crew is performing their experiments and projects after the acclimatisation day, which in the final calculations makes it 10 days of experiments. The experiments are not extended if the return of the Axiom-4 crew is extended. A-Ax crew will have the same amount of available experiment days.

The length of the A-Ax mission is fixed, compared to the length of the Axiom-4 space mission, which can get extended due to emergency or not good return window conditions. This decision was made due to financial and logistic limitations of analog mission. The A-Ax mission will be 14 days long, as this is also the minimum and ideal length of Axiom-4 space mission.

Axiom-4 crew is joining the ISS crew that is present on the station and will be staying after the Axiom-4 crew leaves. This is simulated during the mirrored mission by having the A-ISS crew starting the mission on day 4 of the project and ending it on day 24 of the project (21 days), while the A-Ax crew starts their mission on day 8 of the project and ends it on day 21 of the project (14 days).

The A-Ax crew characteristics will be simulating the Axiom-4 crew past experience with the space station. One of the A-Ax crew members will be a participant, who already took part in the LunAres mission and is well experienced with the infrastructure, procedures, routine and challenges. The rest of the A-Ax crew will be participating in the mission for the first time.

The ISS crew is present on the station both before and after the arrival of the Axiom-4 crew. They are highly experienced with the station environment and their own mission routines. The Axiom-4 crew serves as a temporary extension of the ISS inhabitants. While their presence may slightly disrupt the ISS crew’s daily routine, this is anticipated and accounted for in mission planning. To simulate this dynamic, a mirrored mission includes a three-day preflight training for the A-ISS crew, allowing them to thoroughly familiarize themselves with the habitat, procedures, and responsibilities. However, the A-Ax crew does not participate in this preflight training and does not establish early bonds with the A-ISS crew. During the mission, the A-ISS crew operates independently for the first four days before the arrival of the A-Ax crew. In standard LunAres missions, by the fourth day, the crew is already well-adjusted to the station and has formed strong team connections. The A-Ax crew then joins on the fifth day of the A-ISS mission. After the A-Ax crew’s departure, the A-ISS crew remains in the habitat for an additional three days, allowing them time to re-establish their routine and reflect on the absence of the A-Ax crew.

The activities of the A-Ax crew will be simulating the activities of the Axiom-4 crew to the extent of the information shared with LunAres by the ESA. The idea is to create the workload and work categories of activities to be as similar as possible.