Day: March 4, 2022

[title Sol Summary – March 3th]

[category sol-summary]
Crew 263 Sol Summary 03-03-2022

Sol: 10

Summary Title: Depressurisation in the Hab

Author’s name: Cerise Cuny

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: This morning Léa leaded the second EVA for the LIBS experiment. This time, the team had a lot more time than two days ago and was able to reach its goals in the area of Stream bed connector. They were very aware of the constraint of the Martian conditions, carrying the EVA suits was very tiresome and painful for the shoulders. Without the suits, there is no doubt they would have been able to do more, and that is exactly why it is interesting to try out the LIBS in those SIM conditions.

For lunch, the only non-French crew member Elena did an absolutely delicious tortilla, bringing Spain on Mars. She cooked for an hour and it was absolutely worth it. She had help from Nicolas and Mathéo to flip the very heavy frying pan: it is a three people’s job.

In the afternoon, in addition to undertaking Human Factors experiments, preparing EVA Requests, writing various reports, some of us went through old pictures: a nostalgic moment, missing our families. In the end of the day, we simulated a depressurisation in the Hab and followed an emergency protocol written by children of underprivileged backgrounds of Toulouse, France. Upon our return to France, we will give them feedback, underlining which parts where relevant and explaining why some others were not. By engaging with these children we hope to inspire the next generation of Space engineers and show them the educational path to reach their dreams.

Look Ahead Plan: Tomorrow, if the weather and the roads condition allow it, the EVA team will try to reach Candor Chasma to study another area of interest for its primary sulfate deposits. Valentine and Nicolas will try reaching Toulouse with the HF antenna in the morning. We hope this time if will be successful.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: A few clouds, no wind.

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: EVA 14, nominal.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Request (n°15), EVA Report (n°14), Operations Report, Journalist Report, HSO Report.

Support Requested: We would be very grateful for clean kitchen cloths. Unfortunately we didn’t think to bring any laundry detergent ; if some is provided, we can hand wash them. We found two kitchen cloths tied up in a cupboard, we don’t know if they are clean or not. Astronomy Wifi: our astronomer is wondering if last evening’s requested support on the Astronomer Wifi went through or not.

[title Journalist Report – March 3th]

[category journalist-report]

Sol 10 – On the field

Author: Nicolas WATTELLE

I had the chance to be part of today’s EVA, and it was deeply interesting living it from the inside. Actually, it might be one of the first thing human would do on Mars: deepen the knowledge of Martian geology, to go further than the work current rovers are doing. Of course, they are efficient and provide a great analysis, but a human action would very probably be more precise and more efficient. Firstly, because you are not constrained by the remote control of a device millions of miles away… And in such a specific field as geology, one of the greatest advantages of being a human in flesh on Mars is the ability to adapt, and see what machines can not see. This experiment is thus focused on the operational aspect of conducting such a study in a hazardous context like the EVA one.

Léa was leading the operations, Mathéo, Valentine and I were here in support and sometimes operator. We headed to Stream Bed Connector (a little further than the first geology session). Marine and Léa had chosen this place to record data on a geological era transition, between two times named Cretacean and Jurassic. Here we are in the middle of a tectonic plate, which means that the transition is well conserved, and so is easily observable: a perfect terrain for training! There are many analysable outcrops here, on their bottom we can find the oldest layers, on their top the earliest ones.

And what strikes me the most was the almost constantly questioning that had ben running in the crew made of 4 martionauts. Should we go there? Should we go that far? Should we take altitude to have a greater view on the outcrop, despite the fact that our suits make our moves sometimes uncertain and energetically costly? Should we take that risk to provide a potential “ground-breaking” data?

This is where simulation is teaching us many things, and very useful for the future aerospace engineer we might become. The first rule here, is always to place SAFETY before science, before comfort, before anything else… Be aware: we are on Mars and a tiny deviance on Earth may be a huge problem here! And after more than a week journey in the MDRS I can assure you that we learned many things, and our precautions before leaving the airlock have been multiplicated since the moment we entered. As an example, one of our nightmares is the loss of communication. Several times, we had to shorten EVAs because of a headset that slightly moved out of our ear and complicated the communication: grey tape has become our best friend. On the field, precautions are pervasive even if it creates frustration for some of us (I acknowledge being part of these ones), but this is the game, you have to play by the rules! We are on Mars, try to survive before playing space cadets!

Each time we come back in the airlock, no matter if the EVA went well or not, we have new ideas to facilitate the next outing, and this is why I like it, why we are here.

For the rest of the day, the crew was mainly focused on human factor experiments. It is not always a pleasure, but we keep up doing it!