Sol 11: Interview with: Engineer – The man who keeps the station in one piece

Hi everyone! Today is a new episode of “Interview with”. We are going to talk with François, our crew engineer I’ve been mentioning multiple times as our hero. I can’t wait to show you what we talk about but before, let’s talk a bit about this Sol 11 on Mars.

Today, we realised that we are closer to the end of this mission than we are to its beginning. For some members of the crew, it’s good news because they miss their families and friends and are becoming nostalgic about life on Earth. Apart from that, the crew is doing well, everyone is healthy and in good shape. This was mostly for the families who are reading this report, there is nothing to worry about.

For her second time as EVA leader, Julie decided to explore a very mysterious region of the surroundings of the station. This region is located far north from the station and it is called: the Special Region. Even on our map, the zone is partially hidden by red stripes that give it a forbidden aspect. My crewmates decided to go there to find out what was truly there with the idea of potentially going back tomorrow to map the area with the drone if it was worth it. They went as close as they could by the road with the rovers. Then, they climbed on a ridge and were amazed by the view. If you looked to one side of the ridge, you could see a really narrow canyon that would be very interesting to 3D map. If you then looked to the other side of the ridge, the landscape was now made of dunes with beautiful red colours. They climbed down the ridge and started to explore the canyon. I can’t wait to go there tomorrow to map the area with the drone and see this incredible view from the ridge with my own eyes!

In the meantime, Marion and I stayed at the Hab and performed the TELEOP experiment. I’m starting to appreciate to teleoperate this rover on the moon: going to a particular zone, grabbing a sample and docking it to the lander. It is pretty similar to a video game! It is definitely funnier that the « shape test » from the experiment of the University of Lorraine. But they are both really interesting human factors experiments.

Talking about the « shape test », those who were spared yesterday had to do it this afternoon. It is pretty funny to see them walk into their room full of life and joy and leaving it dead inside. I’m not exaggerating (ok maybe a bit), this is really hard when you are as tired as we are. But this was the last day, there won’t be human factors experiments this weekend and that is such good news.

Today we had also good news from the GreenHab. First, the soy beans Julie planted some days ago are starting to grow and we can already see a green thing making its way out of the soil. It was the first thing she had ever planted so she was really excited when she discovered it this morning. She has also recently put the Spirulina in the two solutions I talked about in a previous report. We hope the Spirulina will grow well and that we will see the difference between the two solutions which have, as you already know, two different concentrations of filtered and stabilised urine. It is fine if you don’t remember, we will do an episode of « Focus on » to talk in more details about this cool experiment, so stay tuned!

Maxime, our astronomer, also managed to find time to edit some observations we received from the telescope of New-Mexico during the night. He turned those observations of M-42, the object he made the telescope point at, into a really amazing picture. He will soon be able to explain you better than me his work as an astronomer in the next episode of « Interview with ».

But today it’s François’ turn! Let’s see what we talked about this afternoon in the RAM!

“-Hi François how are you? Can you introduce yourself for those who don’t know you yet?

-Yes sure! I am 21 years old, I am a student in aerospace engineering at Supaero, in France. I am currently doing a double degree in engineering physics at KTH, an engineering school in Stockholm, Sweden. In my curriculum, I also did an internship at the German Space Agency (DLR) on the optimization of rocket trajectories. And apart from my curriculum, I really like climbing and mountaineering.

-Ok cool! So, in the crew you are the Engineer, can you explain what does that means?

-My role is divided into 3 parts. The first consists of daily checks of the functioning of the station. We try to live as much as possible on our own resources or at least in the short circuit which implies having a total trust in the devices that surround us. I therefore check the water level every day in the tanks, the production of electricity, the level of charge of the suits and rovers, the filling of the toilets…
Then I have to fix everything that misbehaves in the station. A poor quality of water or air involves a change of filters… Right now, I work on the batteries of the suits that seem to work badly. I have access to the RAM (Repair and Assembly Module) where many devices are at my disposal to try to adjust these problems (multimeter, soldering iron…). But let me reassure you, most of the time, the station is fully functional.
Finally, and this is the part I prefer, I help other crew members in their personal experiments. I had to repair a 3D printer with Maxime for his experiment, help Julie make a water recycling system…

-Wow this is cool! And what is your favourite part of the job?

-My favourite part is without hesitation the last of which I have just talked to you about, the one where I help the others in their experiments. The repair of the 3D printer is in particular a good memory. We spent 2 days with Maxime to disassemble and repair it, replace defective parts and see it again functioning was very satisfactory.

-And is there something you don’t like in your job?

-What I like the least in my activities may be the repetition of my activities with all the daily checks that are repeated and especially the emptying of the toilet. However, it is necessary so I do it with a good heart (and I especially hope that the crew will get me a burger after the mission for all the times I emptied the toilet). I think that the feeling of being useful to the crew and to a smooth running of the mission is an increasingly important motivation for me, as the mission advances. Indeed at the beginning of the mission, it is the excitement that motivates, realizing new tasks being always enjoyable. But the more the mission is moving, the more important it is to have a lasting motivation for the daily tasks.

-We will definitely offer you a burger when we come back on Earth, you deserve it! On a more personal subject, why did you choose to participate in a MDRS mission?

-I chose to participate in this analogue mission to approach even more the field of space exploration. During the 2 years of preparation, I had to discuss with many researchers, inquire about inhabited flights and Martian exploration missions … It was very beneficial for me. I also think that this mission is a good way to help the research at our level. We participate in experiments of laboratories on human factors which study our psychological and physiological evolution during the mission. I hope the data gathered will be relevant and will help them in their work.

-I hope too! Thank you very much for your time, it was a very cool interview and thank you one more time for the work you do every day in the station!”

That’s it for the interview with our Engineer, I hope you enjoyed it! Remember that next time it will be Maxime’s turn so stay tuned!

Sol 10: A day in a Martian’s life – What do we do every day on Mars?

Author : Pierre Fabre

Hi everyone welcome back! Today is a special report! I am going to describe the best I can what we do on a typical day (or Sol) on Mars! I hope you will enjoy this format !

7:10 – You wake up in your small individual room and turn on the light. On Mars you don’t stay in bed chilling on your phone because your HSO is waiting for you downstairs for the morning workout and moreover as there is no internet there is nothing to do on your phone. So, you get up and put on your sport clothes. You leave your room and say good morning to your crewmates who are little by little joining you at the upper deck. You hydrate a powder orange juice and drink it to give you some energy for the workout. Then you go downstairs where Julie is already installing the mats on the floor and taking care of the music.

7:30 – The workout starts. Some are still sleepy and some others like Julie are already full of energy! You start by a warmup with some running on the spot, jumping jacks, high knees, and butt kicks

Then you start the real workout:

-Legs: squats, squat holds, squat jumps, lunges, burpees… (I’m not going to lie, those exercises hurt but it kind of feels good after)

-Abs and back: crunches, knee to elbow, heels touching, superman, plank, flutter kicks

-Upper body: curl ups with resistance bands and push-ups

-Sometimes you also do some cardio training like air boxing

Then you stretch for a while. You stay with Julie to clean the lower deck while Marion goes to the GreenHab to water the plants and the others go up to start preparing the breakfast. You are lucky, your Commander likes to prepare pancakes for everyone.

8:00 – Breakfast! Everyone has their routine for breakfast. Some eat cereals, others pancakes or oats. You talk with your crewmates about the workout and about the incoming day and in the meantime, you complete the questionnaire about sleep for Marion’s experiment.

8:40 – Breakfast ends. You clean the table with your crewmates and go back to your room to prepare for the day.

9:00 – EVA briefing! The big map of the MDRS is on the table and the EVA leader of the day explains the destination, the objectives, who is your buddy, which rover you will take, who will be the HabCom and finally the timeline of the EVA.

9:10 – The briefing is over and you go to the lower deck with the others to suit up, test your radio, put your EVA shoes on, put what will be needed for the EVA in the airlock and go through the checklist with the HabCom.

9:25 – You step into the airlock with your crewmates. Then you wait 5 minutes until the depressurisation is over. Sometimes your HabCom puts some music in the radio, it makes the waiting funnier.

9:30 – Your HabCom gives the green light, you step out of the airlock, you are outside, on Mars. The EVA can start. You go to the rover you’ve been assigned to and give the battery data of the rover to the HabCom.

The EVA can be an exploration EVA (like the one at the Moons or at Candor Chasma) or an EVA related to an experiment like the one we did today at North Ridge for the drone mapping experiment. By the way, it was really cool and I think I definitely broke the record of number of ascents of North Ridge in 1 hour!

For the sake of storytelling, let’s stay you leaves the station for a 3 hours and a half long exploration EVA.

In the meantime, those who stay at the Hab monitor the temperature in the GreenHab and open the door if it is too warm in it. They also work on their experiments, perform tasks for human factors experiments or start writing their reports. If the journalist is there, he can also take that opportunity to interview the other crew member. They also have to cook something good for lunch to feed the starving explorers.

12:55 – You come back with your crewmates from the long but incredible exploration EVA! Your back hurts a little, you are thirsty, tired and you smell bad but you are so happy because it was an amazing EVA and you can’t wait to tell everything you saw to your crewmates who stayed at the Hab. You ask your HabCom the permission to enter the airlock and finally step into it for pressurisation.

13:00 – Pressurisation is over. You enter the lower deck and your crewmates help you take off your spacesuit and you start telling them about the EVA even if you still have your helmets and they can’t hear a word of what you say. Then you go upstairs where it smells so good thanks to your wonderful crewmates.

13:10 – Debriefing and lunch. The EVA leader does a short debriefing about what went well and what didn’t. Every member of the EVA including you gives a short summary of how they felt and then the crew can finally start to eat! You thank a thousand times the cooks for their job in between two stories of the EVA you just did.

14:00 – The kitchen is being cleaned and you are answering another questionnaire for another human factors experiment. This time the experiment comes from the University of Bourgogne and the questionnaires are between 5 and 15 minutes long. When it is done, you take a break on the couch to talk with your crewmates while others, tired by the EVA, take a short nap in their room.

15:00 – Start of the afternoon’s activities.

These can change a lot depending on the day.

Sometimes, if it is your turn, you will have to perform some tasks for a human factor experiment. Today, it was TELEOP and the experiment created by the University of Lorraine (with the famous « shapes test » which is currently my number one nightmare).

If not, you will be able to work on your experiments or do the job related to your role. On a typical day, on our crew:

-François goes to the RAM to repair things (like our spacesuits) or helps other crew members on their experiments.

-Maxime goes to the Musk Observatory to observe the Sun or stay in the Hab to create beautiful pictures from observations made with a telescope in New Mexico.

-Marion goes to the GreenHab to take care of the plants or to the Science Dome for the Aquapad experiment.

-Julie take care of the spirulina and soja in the GreenHab or goes to the Science Dome to recycle our water.

-Clément manage our planning for the next days or takes and photoshops pictures.

-And I, work on my drone experiment or start writing the report you are currently reading.

18:00 – Relaxation break! After an afternoon of hard work, your HSO organise a relaxation session. You sit on the upper deck’s floor with your crewmates and Julie guides the session while your eyes are closed and you think to nothing but your breathing.

18:30 – Reports time! You write your report for the day and the EVA request for tomorrow because you will be the EVA leader. Some crewmates are also writing their reports while others are debating next to Clement’s laptop on which photos to choose for today. Your journalist is in his room trying to find inspiration to finish his report in time.

19:00 – Beginning of the communication window. One person is behind the laptop exchanging with the MDRS staff and sending the reports. We also send them our questions and doubts. We start to receive their answers and their feedbacks on our reports and pictures. In the meantime, you start to cook a delicious recipe with one of your crewmates!

20:00 – Most of the reports are already sent (sometimes the journalist report takes a little bit longer) and you start to enjoy your dinner! Everyone congratulates you for the food. The person in charge of the communication window keeps an eye on the laptop in case we receive an email

21:00 – End of the communication window. You help your crewmates clean the kitchen while your journalist is translating his report in French for the website and the families.

21:30 – You sit at the table with your crewmates on which Julie is preparing a team-building game. You play, you try to cheat, you laugh and before you realise it, an hour has passed.

22:30 – You say good night to your crewmates and go to bed, tired by your amazing day on Mars. You need to sleep because tomorrow will be another unique day on Mars and moreover, it will be your first time as an EVA leader! You fall asleep really quick and start dreaming about what you saw during this Sol 10…