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GreenHab Report Inga Popovaite, Crew 228 greenhab officer Environmental control: Kept up at 65F at night; temp higher during the day. Doors open during the day; put a fan on today (Oct 1 2021) when temperature hiked to 110F Average temperatures: ~70-90F during the day; kept at 65F at night. Had to start the fan today when temperature hiked to 110F Hours of supplemental light: N/A Daily water usage for crops: 8-10 gallons (more on a hot day, less on a cloudy/cooler day) Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: Water in Blue Tank _____ gallons (~55% full) Time(s) of watering for crops: morning, afternoon, evening (3 times, checking soil moisture levels more often) Changes to crops: Seeds are sprouting and seedlings are growing rapidly. Zucchinis,cucumbers, Swiss chard, chives, marjoram, sage, and oregano just sprouted in the last couple days. Narrative: Mostly caring for the seedlings; bigger plants are watered once a day. Planted carrots, chamomile, banana peppers, lettuce. All the plants are very happy and growing fast. It is a nice Martian garden out there that yields fresh flavors to us every day. Current crops: Seedlings/sprouts: wild rocket, microgreens, tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, zucchini, Swiss chard, chives, marjoram, sage, oregano. Mature: green onion, spinach, cherry tomatoes, aloe, rosemary, basil, cilantro, mint, Swiss chard, aloe, thai hot pepper (ornamental). Harvest: Since last report: 111 g Cherry tomatoes 14 g Lettuce 6 g Swiss chard 22 g Green onion 15 g Microgreens 8 g Rosemary 14 g Basil 8 g Mint Total: 198 g of fresh bounty to supplement dried vegetable rich diet. Support/supplies needed: None Next GreenHab report: 04Oct2021 |
Journalist Report – October 01st
Journalist Report
Yuzo Shibata, Remote Agricultural Advisor
My Mind is Landing on Mars.
By Yuzo Shibata, Remote Agricultural Advisor
I live in Kyoto, Japan. It has about 1.5 million people and lots of universities and colleges. About 10% of the population is said to be students. There are also so many scientists here but this ancient capital filled with old temples and shrines seems to be able to change them into poets. I often discuss Mars exploration with scientists here. However, sometimes, the conclusion rather than scientific becomes poetic which is frustrating because I want to arrive at a scientific conclusion.
Also, we Japanese are a little weird ethinic group personifying everything including space rockets and probes with Manga and trying to communicate with them. For example, you can find some manga images of a little girl with solar panels named “HAYABUSA” (Japanese robotic spacecraft) on the net. Most Japanese people must love space exploration, but they don’t seem enthusiastic about manned exploration. They say, “Our friends, Curiosity and Percy have already lived on Mars. Why do you think you need to go there now?”
However, these thoughts might not be all bad. It may not be necessary to physically go to Mars by scientific and technological means, instead it might be good to take our mind to Mars by Poem and Manga power.
I wasn’t able to go to MDRS due to the pandemic as the GreenHab Officer this time, so I’m joining the mission as the Remote Agricultural Advisor from Kyoto now. From the viewpoint of cultivation, I pored over science papers about the climate of Mars over coffee. However, after I decided to be remote, I started reading science-fiction novels and comics, even reading poetry books such as Haiku (Japanese short form poetry) over tea. That might be because I unconsciously wanted only to take my mind to MDRS and Mars.
First, I read and watched “The Martian” again to get insight. (I’m not sure whether planting potatoes is a good solution, though.) However, this ancient capital filled with dynastic styled literature and beautiful four seasons gradually affects my mind. And now, I’m getting interested in the seasons on Mars rather than how to survive there.
The climate there is really hard to live in, so I can’t imagine how much people there would look forward to the winter solstice that comes once every two years. They must want to celebrate the day even more extravagantly than the Yule festival for the Germanic peoples. What should I plant for the festival? Chinese people eat dumplings and Japanese people take a citron bath. Also, It might be desirable to change the calendar based on earth’s seasons into a new one such as the Darian Calendar. The winter solstice would become New Year’s Day like ancient kingdoms in Mesopotamia and China.
Mars was called “Keikoku” in ancient China. It means “Confusion” in English because the movement and apparent brightness of this planet was unexpected. I’d like you to forgive me for confusing you with my excessive imagination taking my mind to MDRS and Mars. Now I promise to stop imagining and to concentrate on supporting the GreenHab Officer with scientific knowledge as the Remote Agricultural Advisor.
GreenHab Report – October 01st
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GreenHab Report Inga Popovaite, Crew 228 greenhab officer Environmental control: Kept up at 65F at night; temp higher during the day. Doors open during the day; put a fan on today (Oct 1 2021) when temperature hiked to 110F Average temperatures: ~70-90F during the day; kept at 65F at night. Had to start the fan today when temperature hiked to 110F Hours of supplemental light: N/A Daily water usage for crops: 8-10 gallons (more on a hot day, less on a cloudy/cooler day) Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: Water in Blue Tank _____ gallons (~55% full) Time(s) of watering for crops: morning, afternoon, evening (3 times, checking soil moisture levels more often) Changes to crops: Seeds are sprouting and seedlings are growing rapidly. Zucchinis,cucumbers, Swiss chard, chives, marjoram, sage, and oregano just sprouted in the last couple days. Narrative: Mostly caring for the seedlings; bigger plants are watered once a day. Planted carrots, chamomile, banana peppers, lettuce. All the plants are very happy and growing fast. It is a nice Martian garden out there that yields fresh flavors to us every day. Current crops: Seedlings/sprouts: wild rocket, microgreens, tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, zucchini, Swiss chard, chives, marjoram, sage, oregano. Mature: green onion, spinach, cherry tomatoes, aloe, rosemary, basil, cilantro, mint, Swiss chard, aloe, thai hot pepper (ornamental). Harvest: Since last report: 111 g Cherry tomatoes 14 g Lettuce 6 g Swiss chard 22 g Green onion 15 g Microgreens 8 g Rosemary 14 g Basil 8 g Mint Total: 198 g of fresh bounty to supplement dried vegetable rich diet. Support/supplies needed: None Next GreenHab report: 04Oct2021 |
Sol Summary Report – October 01st
Sol Summary Report
Lindsay Rutter, Crew Commander 228
Sol: 4
Summary Title: Homeland of the Gods
Author’s name: Lindsay Rutter
Mission Status: Nominal
Sol Activity Summary: We started our day at 0700 enjoying pancakes made by Dave. During the morning, each crew member worked on their own projects. Jin and I would be embarking on the first science EVA of the mission and we both thoroughly prepared for it. I was sterilizing my regolith collection equipment and determining best practices for regolith collection, knowing the limitations of the spacesuit. Jin was refining his geographical collection procedure.
After a quick lunch, Jin and I began suiting up for our endeavor. Waiting giddily in the airlock, we
pumped ourselves up by playing Multi-Axis Trainer from the First Man soundtrack. As we approached my favorite road in the solar system (Cow Dung Road), we noticed a space vehicle, filled with space tourists. They stopped and took our pictures (as tourists do).
Jin and I successfully located our targeted destination, an inverted river channel called Jotunheim, located west of Galileo Road. I was able to collect five samples of dark red regolith from the Jotunheim geographical feature, while Jin collected important metadata, including sample collection time, altitude, and GPS coordinates (WGS84). In Norse mythology, Jotunheim is the “Homeland of the Gods”, and I concur with whoever coined this geographical structure. Taking in the entire landscape was breathtakingly subliminal.
Despite the successful sample collection, we identified several operational areas for improvement that we can incorporate when we return to Jotunheim for another science EVA, this time to collect endolith and non-endolith rocks. We experienced radio blackout with HABCOM several times and I experienced issues with VOX functionality on my radio, which eventually lost battery power. We will perform a viewshed analysis of the radio blackout and bring a spare radio in our follow-up EVA science mission.
In the evening, Inga harvested several herbs from the GreenHab, which we used as toppings to the vegetable soup Jin and I concocted. We ended our hard-worked day with some treats. Some of us dared to try a tangy orange mystery drink that is apparently popular here at MDRS and Jin made us some cookies.
Look Ahead Plan: Inga and Dave will perform EVA #4 tomorrow, exploring a less-explored area South-West of Robert’s Garden
Anomalies in work: We have significantly less water remaining in our static tank than expected and have confirmed a few minor leakages around the HAB, although these small leakages should not add to anything close to the loss of water we are observing. We will continue to investigate.
Weather: Sunny and hot with few clouds
Crew Physical Status: Healthy
EVA: EVA 3 to the Jotunheim (see EVA reports filed separately)
Reports to be filed: Journalist Report, EVA report, EVA request, Science Report, Crew photos, GreenHab report, Operation Report
Support Requested: None
Sol Summary Report – October 01st
Sol Summary Report
Lindsay Rutter, Crew Commander 228
Sol: 4
Summary Title: Homeland of the Gods
Author’s name: Lindsay Rutter
Mission Status: Nominal
Sol Activity Summary: We started our day at 0700 enjoying pancakes made by Dave. During the morning, each crew member worked on their own projects. Jin and I would be embarking on the first science EVA of the mission and we both thoroughly prepared for it. I was sterilizing my regolith collection equipment and determining best practices for regolith collection, knowing the limitations of the spacesuit. Jin was refining his geographical collection procedure.
After a quick lunch, Jin and I began suiting up for our endeavor. Waiting giddily in the airlock, we
pumped ourselves up by playing Multi-Axis Trainer from the First Man soundtrack. As we approached my favorite road in the solar system (Cow Dung Road), we noticed a space vehicle, filled with space tourists. They stopped and took our pictures (as tourists do).
Jin and I successfully located our targeted destination, an inverted river channel called Jotunheim, located west of Galileo Road. I was able to collect five samples of dark red regolith from the Jotunheim geographical feature, while Jin collected important metadata, including sample collection time, altitude, and GPS coordinates (WGS84). In Norse mythology, Jotunheim is the “Homeland of the Gods”, and I concur with whoever coined this geographical structure. Taking in the entire landscape was breathtakingly subliminal.
Despite the successful sample collection, we identified several operational areas for improvement that we can incorporate when we return to Jotunheim for another science EVA, this time to collect endolith and non-endolith rocks. We experienced radio blackout with HABCOM several times and I experienced issues with VOX functionality on my radio, which eventually lost battery power. We will perform a viewshed analysis of the radio blackout and bring a spare radio in our follow-up EVA science mission.
In the evening, Inga harvested several herbs from the GreenHab, which we used as toppings to the vegetable soup Jin and I concocted. We ended our hard-worked day with some treats. Some of us dared to try a tangy orange mystery drink that is apparently popular here at MDRS and Jin made us some cookies.
Look Ahead Plan: Inga and Dave will perform EVA #4 tomorrow, exploring a less-explored area South-West of Robert’s Garden
Anomalies in work: We have significantly less water remaining in our static tank than expected and have confirmed a few minor leakages around the HAB, although these small leakages should not add to anything close to the loss of water we are observing. We will continue to investigate.
Weather: Sunny and hot with few clouds
Crew Physical Status: Healthy
EVA: EVA 3 to the Jotunheim (see EVA reports filed separately)
Reports to be filed: Journalist Report, EVA report, EVA request, Science Report, Crew photos, GreenHab report, Operation Report
Support Requested: None
GreenHab Report – October 01st
GreenHab Report
Inga Popovaite, Crew 228 greenhab officer
Environmental control: Kept up at 65F at night; temp higher during the day. Doors open during the day; put a fan on today (Oct 1 2021) when temperature hiked to 110F
Average temperatures: ~70-90F during the day; kept at 65F at night. Had to start the fan today when temperature hiked to 110F
Hours of supplemental light: N/A
Daily water usage for crops: 8-10 gallons (more on a hot day, less on a cloudy/cooler day)
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes:
Water in Blue Tank _____ gallons (~55% full)
Time(s) of watering for crops: morning, afternoon, evening (3 times, checking soil moisture levels more often)
Changes to crops: Seeds are sprouting and seedlings are growing rapidly. Zucchinis,cucumbers, Swiss chard, chives, marjoram, sage, and oregano just sprouted in the last couple days.
Narrative: Mostly caring for the seedlings; bigger plants are watered once a day. Planted carrots, chamomile, banana peppers, lettuce. All the plants are very happy and growing fast. It is a nice Martian garden out there that yields fresh flavors to us every day.
Current crops:
Seedlings/sprouts: wild rocket, microgreens, tomatoes, radishes, cucumbers, zucchini, Swiss chard, chives, marjoram, sage, oregano.
Mature: green onion, spinach, cherry tomatoes, aloe, rosemary, basil, cilantro, mint, Swiss chard, aloe, thai hot pepper (ornamental).
Harvest: Since last report:
111 g Cherry tomatoes
14 g Lettuce
6 g Swiss chard
22 g Green onion
15 g Microgreens
8 g Rosemary
14 g Basil
8 g Mint
Total: 198 g of fresh bounty to supplement dried vegetable rich diet.
Support/supplies needed: None
Next GreenHab report: 04Oct2021