Journalist Report – December 9th

NASA Spaceward Bound UT
9-13 December
Submitted by: Teresa Hislop, Crew Journalist

Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS)
Sol One

We learned how to be Martians. It’s simple really. Stay inside. Suit
up when going outside. Or die. And we don’t want anyone to die.

Sol One and MDRS Crew 217 is already a well-functioning team. “I
know you all will exceed expectations,” our Commander confidently
predicted.

Team members:

Crew Commander: Shannon
Executive Officer: Atila
Health and Safety Officer: Jen
Crew Engineer: Hope
Greenhouse Officer: Cynthia
Crew Journalist: Teresa
Crew Scientists: Kevin and Ann

We are the 217th crew to occupy MDRS and the first cadre of NASA
Spaceward Bound UT (NSBU) teachers. NSBU is the result of a NASA grant, written to give UT teachers (and vicariously their students) a Mars-like experience. We are NSBU pioneers.

Welcome to Mars!

MDRS is one of only two permanent Mars simulation stations in the
world; the other one is in the Arctic. It is the only station that
allows analog astronauts to do independent research. While we are
here, we will research halophiles, pothole ecosystems, and green
sediment formations.

Today, Sol One, was our last day on Earth; Tuesday through Thursday we will engage in a full simulation experience. While in sim, water is limited–550 gallons per 2-week mission– but energy is not.

After discussing regulations–like no TP in the toilets and separate
burnable trash from non-burnable– and responsibilities–like
submitting nightly reports and getting COM approval for all excursions, we explored Lith Canyon, licked fossil bones, and collected a few gypsum samples.

Dinner, writing bios, and to bed. The sun will come up tomorrow…ON MARS!!!

Sol Summary – December 9th

Crew 217 Sol Summary Report 9-DEC-2019
Sol: 0
Summary Title: The Last Day on Earth
Author’s name: Shannon Rupert

Mission Status: The teachers of the first NASA Spaceward Bound Utah mission have elected to do a full simulation beginning tomorrow
morning and ending Friday morning. We have an amazing group here and I’m really looking forward to the next week.

Sol Activity Summary: Once everyone arrived in the morning we met and determined our goals for the mission. We have set up the lower deck as a classroom for our teaching activities. Everyone got their teaching “bling, books and goodies” and their flight suits. After lunch, we did some out-of-sim exploration of Lith Canyon and are now settling in for our last day on Earth.

Look Ahead Plan: We will go in-sim in the morning and have both
teaching and lab activities planned.

Anomalies in work: Nothing to report

Weather: Partly cloudy and very warm for this time of year

Crew Physical Status: We are all super excited to be with a bunch of
like-minded people. Everyone is healthy and happy.

EVA: We did an out of sim EVA to Lith Canyon so that everyone could
experience the lay of the land without a suit.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Operations Report. GreenHab Report, Operations Report, HSO Beginning of SIM checklist, Bios/Photos, Mission Plan, Journalist Report and Photos.

Support Requested: Teachers need to be added to the eList. We may not be able to send all reports this evening as we don’t know how much internet we used this morning. We have decided to turn off the wifi from 6 am to 7 pm every day as everyone still wants to use their
phones for photos and in this way, we won’t have to worry about using
the internet.

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