Astronomy Report – March 8th

Crew 223 Astronomy Report Mar 08 2020

Name: Florian Delpech
Crew: 223
Date: 3/8/2020

MDRS ROBOTIC OBSERVATORY

Robotic Telescope Requested (choose one) MDRS-WF

Objects to be Imaged this Evening: IC1805; M35; NGC 2237 with little hope due to the weather

Images submitted with this report: N/A

Problems Encountered: For the observations of yesterday, all WCS registration failed.

MUSK OBSERVATORY

Solar Features Observed: N/A

Images submitted with this report: N/A

Problems Encountered: N/A

EVA Report – March 8th

Crew 223 EVA Report 08-Mar-2020

EVA # 7

Author: Florian Delpech (Astronomer)

Purpose of EVA: Change the batteries for MegaARES and LOAC.

Start time: 11:20 AM
End time: 12:08 PM

Narrative: This EVA was just aimed to change the batteries of LOAC and MegaARES. We also applied the protocol for non-verbal communication that worked another time without issue.

Destination: LOAC and MegaARES base

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 12S 518500 4250800

EVA Participants: Florian Delpech (EVA Leader, Astronomer), Valentin Bellemin-Laponnaz (GreenHab Officer)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road

Mode of Travel: Driving

Vehicles used (If applicable): Rovers Perseverance and Curiosity

Greenhab Report – March 8th

Crew 223 GreenHab Report – 07-03-2020 GreenHab Officer: Valentin BELLEMIN-LAPONNAZ

Environmental control: Ambient with Door open

Average temperature: 24.5°C
Low temperature: 20°C
High temperature: 30°C

Hours of supplemental light: 4 hours (from 9 P.M to 1 a.m.)

Daily water usage for crops: 7.9 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0 gallon

Water in Blue Tank— 135.2 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 2

Changes to crops: NA

Narrative: As it was a day-off, there aren’t many things to report. I watered the GreenHab at noon. This afternoon, I carried out day 3 of Music For Plants. Nothing to report now about the experiment.

Before dinner, I harvested Radish and Basil to make soup for the rest of the crew.

Harvest: 70g Radish / 10g Basil

Support/supplies needed: NA

Operations Report – March 8th

Crew 223 Operations Report 08/03/2020

SOL: 7

Name of person filing report: Luc FORTIN

Non-nominal systems: Nothing to report
Notes on non-nominal systems: Nothing to report

Saturday generator:
Off at 6:00 am
On at 8:57 pm SOC was 86%

Sunday generator:
Off at 7:30 am
On at 9:00 pm SOC was XX%

Diesel Reading – 68%
Station Propane Reading – 75%
Ethanol Free Gasoline – 5.5 gallons

Water (loft tank): 47 gallons
Water Meter: 149748.04 units
Water (static tank) – 280 gallons
Static to Loft Pump used – yes
Water in GreenHab – 135.2 gallons
Water in ScienceDome: 0 gallons

Toilet tank emptied: yes

Perseverance rover used: yes
Hours: 150.2
Beginning charge: 100%
Ending charge: 100%
Currently charging: yes

Sojourner rover used: ASSIGNED TO DIRECTOR
Hours: Nothing to report
Beginning charge: Nothing to report
Ending charge: Nothing to report
Currently charging: Nothing to report

Spirit rover: no
Hours: 134.1
Beginning charge: 100%
Ending charge: 100%
Currently charging: yes

Opportunity rover used: moved from campus to the shop to repair the brakes.
Hours: Nothing to report
Beginning charge: Nothing to report
Ending charge: Nothing to report
Currently charging: Nothing to report

Curiosity rover used: yes
Hours: 139.5
Beginning charge: 100%
Ending charge: 96%
Currently charging: yes

Notes on rovers: Nothing to report

ATV’s Used: yes (Honda, 1, 2 and 3)

Reason for use: I started the 4 ATVs during the engineer EVA for battery check. I had trouble starting the Honda ATV (same as sol 4). It sounds like a flat battery. We will try again to start it during the EVA tomorrow, and if not starting we will use the jumper cables or bring back the battery to charge it in the RAM.

Oil Added? no

ATV Fuel Used: Nothing to report

Hours the ATVs were Used today: Nothing to report.

Notes on ATVs: Nothing to report.

HabCar used and why, where? The HabCar is parked at the MDRS Campus.

CrewCar used and why, where? The CrewCar is in Grand Junction.

General notes and comments: Nothing to report

Summary of internet: All ok.
Summary of suits and radios: Suits 7, 10 were used during the EVA.
Summary of Hab operations: Nothing to report.
Summary of GreenHab operations: Nothing to report.
Summary of ScienceDome operations: Nothing to report.
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 to report

Sol Summary – March 8th

Crew 223 Sol Summary Report 08-March-2020

Sol: 7 Summary Title: Half a day off
Author’s name: Aurélien Mure – Crew Commander

Mission Status: Crew resting

Sol Activity Summary:

No alarm to wake us up today. Daylight saving time took an hour of sleep from us and we did not have a sport session today so everybody woke up at 9:00 am. We took a common breakfast and played a little game as the daily EVA was just planned to change the batteries of our experiments.

During the EVA we cooked for lunch. The crew took the time to record some scenes for a French scientific TV show for kids in the afternoon. Then, the normal activities of the end of the afternoon started. It was a rest day planned but in fact, we were quite busy.

Look Ahead Plan: Start well the second week

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: cloudy and windy, rare showers at 5:00 pm, 10°C at 10:00 am, 10°C at 5:00 pm

Crew Physical Status: All crew members safe and sound.

EVA: LOAC and MegaAres batteries changed

Reports to be filed: Journalist report, Operations report, EVA request, Green Hab report, EVA report, Astronomy report, HSO report, Art report

Support Requested: None

Journalist Report – March 8th

Crew 223 Journalist Report 08Mar2020

Author: Clément Plagne, Crew Journalist

Sol 7: Learning and Teaching

Sunday is a rest day. We’re not fully inactive (a two-week mission is far too short to allow that), but we at least got a break to get some more sleep and recover from the daily sports sessions and long EVAs. Batteries don’t know about rest days and still needed a short EVA to be taken care of. Like yesterday, this was accomplished through a fully silent EVA, to allow for those who didn’t get to try out the procedure yet to attempt it as well. They were done swiftly, and the morning carried on in the Hab as we played and cooked. There’s a lot to unwind from even a week inside the Station, so taking the time to do that was very much needed for everyone.

We’re all students from the same engineering school, all belonging to one club focused on the exploration of Mars. And while an MDRS mission is a lot of work to prepare, it’s still only two weeks in the year.

So, we and the club members who don’t go to the MDRS get busy with other activities: mainly intervening in local middle and high schools to discuss space, astronautics, and science in general. While being on our own to learn about things we love is a great experience, going out and teaching others about the same thing and seeing their interest grow is just as great.

It was, therefore, a pleasant surprise to learn that an educational science TV show in France was interested in our mission, and wanted us to record a visit of the station to be featured in an episode about living in space.

Being the Crew Journalist, it fell upon me to be the talking head and spend time in front of the camera. I don’t think my crewmates minded, as it was an awkward experience all around. It took a while to get the hang of it, but overall it turned out to be great fun, with the blooper reel being far longer than anticipated. It’s a whole lot easier to do science, all things considered. It’ll remain a fun memory from a slower day, and, if the footage is usable, I can’t wait to not see myself broadcasted once I’m back home.

The end of the day was as calm as its beginning, with Blandine’s relaxation sessions working wonderfully as always. Sometimes too much, but at least we didn’t hear any snoring this time, so that’s a plus. We’ll all try to get our work done as early as we can to lay down and watch a movie, as we didn’t get the chance so far.

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