Sol 08 Journalist Report 20-NOV-2023
Last night Crew Inventor Scott Beibin (Ptelepathetique) performed an original music composition inside the Science Dome to demonstrate the way sound travels on through the Martian atmosphere.
This morning the crew rose before dawn, excited for the early morning’s adventure: an outdoor Ptelepathetique concert just after the glorious Martian sunrise.
It was also the most ambitious EVA our crew had enacted yet. Because this EVA included six people in sim suits and helmets, all carrying cameras, synthesizers, recording equipment and other gear, we used the RAM as a large airlock for the depressurization sequence and exit. This EVA also functioned as a practice scenario of an evacuation or a group migration to a new lander that has arrived nearby.
The RAM was the perfect size for our crew. Scott, Liz Cole (Crew Journalist), Hugo Saugier (Crew Documentary Filmmaker), Guillaume Gégo, Roger Gilbertson and Caleb Stein exited with no helmet bumping and then walked to an area by the science dome.
Don got us suited up quickly and we walked to the RAM, carrying our helmets in their cases, donned helmets in the RAM, performed a five-minute depressurization, and greeted the frosty sunny morning.
We walked to the beautiful red hills just north of the Observatory, where Scott performed another concert demonstrating the acoustics of Mars, this time for astronauts in sim suits. Scott Beibin collaborated with audio engineer John Knott to create a filter in a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) that simulates the way sound travels in the low-pressure CO2-dominated atmosphere of Mars, using data collected by the Perseverance Rover.
Later that morning, Liz captured NERFs of some geological features near the MDRS habitat.
In the Science Dome Guillaume sampled the prolific spirulina growth from Cécile Renauld’s (MDRS 261 scientist and PhD candidate at University of Mons) spirulina bioreactor.
Scott captured a LiDAR scan of the interior of the MASH. The MASH (Mobile Analog Space Habitat) is a converted mobile habitat with heating, cooling, food and water supply, and waste handling, designed and built by Donald Jacques, MDRS Crew 286 Executive Officer and Chief Scientist at Earthseed.