December 2022 – Page 14 – Mars Desert Research Station

December 1, 2022December 8, 2022

Journalist Report – November 30th

Crew 269 Journalist Report
Date: 30 Nov 2022
Sol: 3
Author: Barbara Braun, Health and Safety Officer

Crew 269 is settling into life on Mars! This morning the crew had fresh pancakes for breakfast, courtesy of Green Hab Officer Matt Eby. After health and safety checks, three members of the crew (Tech Officer Trevor Jahn, Crew Engineer Ashley Kowalski, and Green Hab Officer Matt Eby) prepared for a long EVA to continue collecting 3D model data. The crew was able to demonstrate an augmented reality headset at various locations in the area of the Hab and the Marble Ritual rock formation. The team also checked on the placement of the mirrors deployed on Sol 1 and mapped the area around the mirrors using “Goose,” our mini-rover. Before setting out, the EVA crew was able to consult with “tech support” via the time-delay Discord server to determine how to clean its main EVA camera, which had a small piece of debris on one of its internal mirrors.

While the EVA crew conducted its mission, the three remaining crew members (Commander Kristine Ferrone, Executive Officer Alli Taylor, and Health and Safety Officer Barbara Braun) set up the compact fitness gear in the lower deck of the Hab. The HSO gave a demonstration of the fitness gear to the Commander and XO and discussed fitness goals and protocols for the mission. The team took turns working out using the fitness gear and videos and several members of the crew rewarded themselves with quick “Navy-style” showers in the Hab!

Once back from his EVA, Green Hab Officer Eby visited the Green Hab to harvest some microgreens, which he and Crew Engineer Kowalski used to supplement a Martian dinner of seared Spam (yes, Spam!) over scalloped potatoes and peas. The crew had a dessert of rice pudding and settled in to review the 3D footage from the day and to plan the next day’s adventures.

December 1, 2022December 8, 2022

GreenHab Report – November 30th

GreenHab Officer: Matthew Eby
Environmental control: Heater on, door closed, 20% humidity.
Average temperatures: 68-deg F at time of watering. Range prior 24 hours: 68-deg F – 85-deg F
Hours of supplemental light: 0 hours
Daily water usage for crops: Approximately 3 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0 gallons
Water in Blue Tank: Approximately 230 gallons (Based on a 250 gallon capacity, visually 90-95% full)
Time(s) of watering for crops: 4:30 PM
Changes to crops: None
Narrative: Today a small hand harvest of microgreens was carried out to provide fresh greens for crew dinner and to thin out the bed to promote further growth. In addition, the remnants of the radish bed were harvested (consisting largely of small stems), in preparation for reseeding the bed. Only limited water was applied to the pea plants as part of the plan to investigate if overwatering is the cause of the observed yellowing on the leaves.
Harvest: 1.00 oz of Microgreens, 0.55 oz of Radish stems
Support/supplies needed: None needed at this time.

December 1, 2022December 8, 2022

EVA Report – November 30th

EVA # 3
Author: Trevor Jahn, Technology Officer
Purpose of EVA: Demonstrate Augmented Reality Programs, and collect data for future EVAs using a Remote Control Rover named Goose.
Start time: 12:10 pm
End time: 2:59 pm
Narrative: Trevor, Ashely, and Matt made their way out the airlock for their 3-hour EVA today at approximately 12:10 pm, with them they brought the crew’s remote control (RC) rover, now named Goose, an augmented reality (AR) headset, and a tote bag full of support equipment for Goose and the AR headset. The trio first conducted their AR demonstration at the crew habitat to the right of the airlock door from the outside, after their demonstration was complete, they proceeded to the corner of Cow Dung Road, and the road branching off the habitat, using crew rovers Curiosity and Opportunity, where they performed the second AR demonstration. The crew continued onto Marble Ritual in the crew rovers following completion of their work at the crossroads of Cow Dung Road and the road branching off the habitat. Curiosity and Opportunity were parked on the side of Cow Dung Road close to Marble Ritual, where the crew disembarked and made their way to the deployment location of the Mirror Sample experiment, and upon locating the Mirror Samples the crew conducted another AR demonstration before returning the crew rovers and preparing Goose for deployment and data collection. Goose was remote controlled heading south along Cow Dung Road until the crew were nearly parallel with the Mirror Samples, which were due west from their location. Goose’s data collection instruments were activated at the edge of Cow Dung Road, and the crew navigated Goose to the Mirror Sample location without difficulty. Goose made a lap around the Mirror Samples before the crew turned off data collection. The EVA was well ahead of schedule at that point, and the crew took the opportunity to take additional photos, before returning to Cow Dung Road with Goose along the same path. Data collection, using Goose, resumed from Marble Ritual, and the crew continued North along the road to see if they could reach the crossroads of Cow Dung Road and Galileo Road before 2:30 pm, when they would need to return to the crew rovers and make their way back to the crew habitat and airlock. The crew did not make it to Galileo Road before reaching their turn around time, but turned around after turning off Goose’s data collection, and driving Goose back to the crew rovers. The crew made it back into the airlock with time to spare before their EVA concluded at 3:00 pm.

Destination: Marble Ritual and Galileo Road
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): stop 1: (~518400, ~4250900), stop 2: (~518400, 4250800), stop 3: (~518550, ~4251000), stop 4: (~518500, ~4251000), stop 5: (~518550, ~4251000), stop 6: (~518950, ~4251500), stop 7: (~518550, ~4251000), stop 8: (~518400, ~4250900)
Participants: Matt Eby, Ashley Kowalski, Trevor Jahn
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Rd (0110) to Marble Ritual, and almost to Gateway to Candor
Mode of travel: Rovers (Curiosity and Opportunity), Walking