Photo of the day: moonrise_PSokoloff_Sol6.jpg
Crew Photos – April 18th
Science Report – April 18th
Science Report 18 April 2019
Crew 210
Submitted by Paul Sokoloff
Today we continued to process the soil samples taken at each of the 12 transects we conducted over the last few days. In the Science Dome, we measured the pH and salinity and characterized the texture of the soil samples. These data will be used to characterize the ecotones of the deserts around MDRS in an upcoming paper.
We continued to collect new plant specimens opportunistically, including an annual invasive grass, (Annual Wheatgrass – Eremopyrum triticeum) newly recorded for MDRS.
We plan on continuing our lab work and wrapping up data recording for the plant project tomorrow.
Greenhab Report – April 18th
GreenHab Officer: David Murray
Environmental control: Ambient, fan on from 0930 to 1900; the door closed.
Shade Cloth: 80%
Low Temperature: 24 C
High Temperature: 33 C
Relative humidity: 15%
Hours of Supplemental Light: 0
Daily Water Usage for Crops: 38 L
Water in Blue Tank: Refilling tank in about one hour
Time(s) of Watering: 1030
Changes to Crops: The tomatoes didn’t like the heat today but they’re alright. Tomato starts haven’t shown much growth but everything else is responding very well to the fertilizer.
Narrative: The door was left closed with the fan on high from 0930 to 1900 with passive exhaust as part of an experiment. The internal temperature stayed warm but fluctuated less drastically than it usually does with the door open.
Although the high was above 30 degrees C, I think the average temperature was right around perfect for all of the crops but the tomatoes (and possibly the beans).
Harvested basil, sage, carrot, and parsley.
Harvest: 7 g basil, 7 g parsley, 15 g carrot, 1 g sage
Operations Report – April 18th
Crew 210 Operations Report 18-APR-2019
SOL: 6
Name of person filing report: Shannon Rupert
Non-nominal systems: nothing to report
Notes on non-nominal systems: nothing to report
Generator (hours run last night): 10.5
On (last night): 9:30 pm
Off (this morning): 7 am
Solar— SOC 58 % It fell to 41% this afternoon but then rose again so rather than turn on the generator, I am watching it to see how it does the rest of the evening.
Diesel Reading – 36 %
Propane Reading – 49%
Ethanol Free Gasoline – 4 gallons.
Water (auxiliary tank) – 0 gallons
Water (static tank) – 475 gallons
Auxiliary to Static tank transfer– no
Gallons transferred: No
Water in GreenHab – unknown gallons.
Water (loft) – Static to Loft Pump used – yes
Water Meter: not read
Toilet tank emptied: yes
Deimos rover used: Still non-operational
Hours:
Beginning charge:
Ending charge:
Currently charging:
Sojourner rover used: ASSIGNED TO DIRECTOR, yes
Hours: Did not record
Beginning charge: 100
Ending charge: 62
Currently charging: yes
Spirit rover used: yes
Hours: did not check
Beginning charge: 100
Ending charge: did not record
Currently charging: yes
Opportunity rover used: no
Hours: not recorded
Beginning charge: 100
Ending charge: 94
Currently charging: yes
Curiosity rover used: yes
Hours: did not record
Beginning charge: 100
Ending charge: 64
Currently charging: yes
Notes on rovers: Nothing to report
ATV’s Used: (Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.2, 350.3) none
Reason for use: n/a
Oil Added? No
ATV Fuel Used: 0 Gals.
# Hours the ATVs were Used today: 0
Notes on ATVs: nothing to report
HabCar used and why, where? Yes, to town for water
CrewCar used and why, where? Yes, south for live outreach event and then to town to pick things up at post office and have lunch
General notes and comments: We added one of the submersible pump to the transfer tank in the Hab Car but have yet to test it.
Summary of internet: Nothing to report
Summary of suits and radios: Nothing to report
Summary of Hab operations: Nothing to report
Summary of GreenHab operations: David will send a full report today.
Summary of ScienceDome operations: We are analyzing our samples in the lab. We collected 60 new plants this week.
Summary of RAM operations: Nothing to report
Summary of any observatory issues: Nothing to report
Summary of health and safety issues: Nothing to report
Questions, concerns, and requests to Mission Support: Nothing tonight, thank you.
Sol Summary – April 18th
Crew 210 Sol Summary Report 18-APR-2019
Sol: 5
Summary Title: Live from the surface of Mars
Author’s name: Paul Sokoloff
Mission Status: Nominal
Sol Activity Summary: This morning through to early afternoon our crew participated in a Livestream with Discover the Universe, engaging over 150 classrooms live with a presentation and Q and A about Mars, the Mars Society, and MDRS. This presentation will soon be uploaded to YouTube where it will continue on as a legacy outreach component of crew 210
(http://www.discovertheuniverse.ca/workshop/special-webinar-live-from-mars-april2019/).
After a water run into Hanksville, our team continued to process our field samples in the Science Dome and will continue to do so tomorrow. By recording physical characteristics of the soil samples taken from our quadrats, we hope to discover the factors driving plant diversity (or the lack thereof) in the different ecological areas around MDRS.
Look Ahead Plan: We plan on continuing our work in the Science Dome tomorrow and will work on putting together a plan for our multi-year biodiversity inventory.
Anomalies in work: No issues.
Weather: Bright and sunny all day.
Crew Physical Status: Good.
EVA: We presented out Livestream from the area just north of "Zubrin’s Head" on the west side of Cow Dung Read, south of the blind corner on the road.
Reports to be filed: GreenHab Report, Operation Report, Science Report, Daily Photo Report
Support Requested: None.
Crew Photos – April 17th
Science Report – April 17th
Continuing our vegetation ecology and biodiversity project, we plotted transects and surveyed quadrats at two new sights today: Copernicus Valley and Hab Ridge. As yesterday, we surveyed the vegetation along three transects and fifteen quadrats per site, recording abiotic characteristics and the vegetation of each site.
Additionally, we continued to collect voucher specimens for new vascular plant species encountered at each site, adding 15 new collections and ~5 new species for the MDRS operational area.
This evening we plan on entering data and processing data stemming from these surveys.
Operations Report – April 17th
Crew 210 Operations Report 17-APR-2019
SOL: 5
Name of person filing report: Shannon Rupert
Non-nominal systems: nothing to report
Notes on non-nominal systems: nothing to report
Generator (hours run last night): 10 (7:30 am to 9:30 pm)
Solar— SOC 79 % when generator was turned on last night
Diesel Reading – 38 %
Propane Reading – 49 % (Note: I believe I misread this earlier)
Ethanol Free Gasoline – 4 gallons.
Water (auxillary tank) – 0 gallons
Water (static tank) – 300 gallons
Auxillary to Static tank transfer– no
Gallons transferred: No
Water in GreenHab – unknown gallons.
Water (loft) – Static to Loft Pump used – no
Water Meter: not read
Toilet tank emptied: no
Deimos rover used: Still non-operational
Hours:
Beginning charge:
Ending charge:
Currently charging:
Sojourner rover used: ASSIGNED TO DIRECTOR, yes
Hours: Did not record
Beginning charge: 100
Ending charge: 96
Currently charging: yes
Spirit rover used: yes
Hours: did not check
Beginning charge: 100
Ending charge: 90
Currently charging: yes
Opportunity rover used: yes
Hours: not recorded
Beginning charge: 100
Ending charge: 94
Currently charging: yes
Curiosity rover used: No
Hours: 88.8
Beginning charge: 100
Ending charge: 100
Currently charging: yes
Notes on rovers: Nothing to report
ATV’s Used: (Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.2, 350.3) Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.3
Reason for use: Testing and Field work
Oil Added? No
ATV Fuel Used: 3 Gals.
# Hours the ATVs were Used today:4
Notes on ATVs: Battery in the Honda appears to be going downhill. We
will keep an eye on it and take jumper cables when we use it.
HabCar used and why, where? No
CrewCar used and why, where? Yes, to Hanksville for curry and a test
for live online event tomorrow
General notes and comments: We need a new hose for the compressor.
Current one has several leaks that have been taped.
Summary of internet: Nothing to report
Summary of suits and radios: Nothing to report
Summary of Hab operations: Nothing to report
Summary of GreenHab operations: David will send a full report today.
Summary of ScienceDome operations: Things are rockin’ in the lab.
Plant work and soil work in progress.
Summary of RAM operations: Nothing to report
Summary of any observatory issues: Nothing to report
Summary of health and safety issues: First aid kits have been used and
so not all have the necessary supplies to be useful. They should be
gone through and restocked. I will try to get this done before the
next crew arrives.
Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: Nothing tonight,
thank you.
Greenhab Report – April 17th
GreenHab Officer: David Murray
Environmental control: Ambient with door open 10:10 to 19:15
Shade Cloth: 80%
Low Temperature: 17 C
High Temperature: 33 C
Relative humidity: 17%
Hours of Supplemental Light: 0
Daily Water Usage for Crops: 20 L total
Water in Blue Tank: very low, needs refilling
Time(s) of Watering: 10:15 and 15:50
Changes to Crops: None.
Narrative: Temperatures were high again today but the GreenHab stayed fairly cool. The fan was running on the highest setting from 11:00 until around 19:00. Crops are looking healthy but I think it’s been too hot for the flowering tomato plant. The fertilizer and lower temperatures from yesterday seemed to help but it’s still showing signs of stress. Harvested parsley and sage that was used in the crew’s lunch and dinner.
Harvest: 21 g parsley, 1 g sage
Sol Summary – April 17th
Crew 210 Sol Summary Report 17-APR-2019
Sol: 5
Summary Title: Plants to the north and plants to the west
Author’s name: Paul Sokoloff
Mission Status: Nominal
Sol Activity Summary: Today we continued our outreach efforts on social media, including answering questions on our Reddit "Ask a Martian Anything", and uploaded a Facebook update video. Four of the crew went to Copernicus Valley to continue transect and quadrat sampling, where we discovered new plant records for the MDRS area, including a stinkweed (Cleomella palmeriana). After a beautiful ride out and back, we returned home to the hab for lunch. In the afternoon we hiked up to the top of Hab Ridge just to the west of MDRS to finish our quadrat sampling. We returned to the hab around 6, and we plan on spending the evening processing samples and pressing plants in the Science Dome.
Look Ahead Plan: Tomorrow AM we will conduct livestream outreach broadcasts (one in French and one in English) in partnership with Discover The Universe and Live It. In the afternoon we will continue to process samples in the science dome, and will meet to discuss next steps for our multi-year program.
Anomalies in work: No problems.
Weather: Bright and Sunny
Crew Physical Status: Good. One crew member slipped into a sinkhole on Sagan Street but caught themselves before falling far, and is OK (one very slight scrape). No problems afterwards
EVA: Four crew members took ATVs to Copernicus Valley in the northwest corner of the MDRS operation area in the morning for quadrat sampling. In the afternoon four crew members hiked up to Hab Ridge for additional quadrat surveys.
Reports to be file: GreenHab Report, Operations Report, Photo Report
Support Requested: None.
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