Sol: 5
Summary Title: Sol Five: E.L.F. is alive!
Author’s Name: Adriana Brown
Mission Status: Nominal
Sol Activity Status:
Crew 289 awoke to greet sol 5 at 7:30 AM in our Martian abode. Breakfast was by Nathan (ENG) who prepared a giant vat of oatmeal with various sweet toppings. After morning comms with Purdue Mission Control, the EVA crew consisting of Nathan, Adi (SCI), Riya (GHO), and Gabe (HSO) set out at 10:30 AM to conduct further LiDAR scans. The first scan took place on the MDRS campus and the second at Hab Ridge. Both scans utilized two methods: Adi flying the drone with a LiDAR equipped phone mounted to it (utilizing his soon-to-be-patented rubber band method) and Riya on the ground with an elevated phone mount. This was also the first EVA without a CO/XO, and we are proud to report they performed like champs! Once our comms window opens, they will be able to process a 3D reconstruction of their sites, including our Home Sweet Hab.
Meanwhile, Adriana (CO), Sara (XO), and Eshaana (GEO) remained at the Hab, preparing potato gratin with a rehydrated sour cream, lemon pepper, and GreenHab-dill sauce. Once the EVA crew returned, the team sat down to a pleasant and starchy lunch filled with conversation around Eshaana’s creative questions (our Crew Geologist loves to get morbidly existential!). Then, as usual, the team dispersed to continue independent research. Riya went to the GreenHab to water the plants and then the Science Dome to check on her hydroponics set up (spoiler alert: they’re sprouting!) and test the soil pH. Nathan and Adi jammed out on the lower deck, working on their sensors and E.L.F. (and their Coldplay karaoke), respectively. Excitingly, E.L.F. has received his new batteries and has all the power of a kid in a candy store. They grow up so fast! Adriana spent some time in the Science Dome organizing her samples and notes and set up her experiment testing carbonate percent weight with a few samples (sand, silt, and a bentonite from Hab Ridge) collected so far. On the upper deck, Sara continued working on her project coding past MDRS reports and Eshaana troubleshooted her mini farm sensors and drew up a schematic of the farm set up. Gabe is gearing up to complete the day’s swabbing to monitor dust accumulation in the Hab.
Tonight, Adriana is preparing one of her specialities: enchiladas! The crew appears to be excited, which means the culinary stakes are higher than ever. The crew is also planning out their necessary EVAs and data to wrap up the end of the first half of the mission before our rest day on Sunday. The team is functioning as a well-oiled machine (as evidenced by our faster EVA prep times and increased data collection!), and I am confident the sol will end with the standard late night kitchen table conversations, characterized by more laughter than actual talking.
Look Ahead Plan: EVA #7 to test robotic capabilities and EVA #8 to sample a sediment section on Hab RIdge
Anomalies in work: None
Weather: Sunny and clear
Crew Physical Status: Nominal
EVA: LiDAR scanning manually and using the drone during EVA #6 to campus/Hab Ridge
Reports to be filed: Journalist Report, Greenhab Report, Operations Report, Sol Summary, Astronomy Report, Photos, EVA report, EVA request
Support Requested: None
Operations Report – December 29th
Crew 289 Operations Report 12-29-2023
SOL: 5
Name of person filing report: Nathan Bitner
Non-nominal systems: None
Notes on non-nominal systems: None
ROVERS
Spirit rover used: No
Hours: (Before EVA)
Beginning Charge: (Before EVA)
Ending Charge: (On return from EVA, before recharging)
Currently Charging:
Opportunity Rover used: No
Hours: (Before EVA)
Beginning Charge: (Before EVA)
Ending Charge: (On return from EVA, before recharging)
Currently Charging:
Curiosity Rover used: No
Hours: (Before EVA)
Beginning Charge: (Before EVA)
Ending Charge: (On return from EVA, before recharging)
Currently Charging:
Perseverance Rover used: No
Hours: (Before EVA)
Beginning Charge: (Before EVA)
Ending Charge: (On return from EVA, before recharging)
Currently Charging:
General notes on rovers: Rovers are functioning properly.
Summary of Hab operations:
WATER USE: 13
Water (static tank): 409
Static tank pipe heater (on or off): on
Static tank heater (on or off): on
Toilet tank emptied: no
Summary of internet: Internet is nominal
Summary of suits and radios: Suits and radios nominal. The batteries we switched yesterday were both charged by this morning, the original problem was probably caused by a loose connection.
Summary of Greenhab operations:
WATER USE: 5.3 gallons
Heater: on
Supplemental light: off
Harvest:
Dill – 4g
Cilantro – 8g
Summary of ScienceDome operations: Dissolved sediments from EVAs using HCL, weighpaper, glass stirring rod, 50mL beakers x 3, a scale, small plastic bags, latex gloves, deionized water, a spatula.
Changed lights and set up sensors in the hydroponics project.
Dual split: Heat or AC: On
Summary of RAM operations: (Tools used, work done): Used soldering iron for robot construction project inside RAM.
Summary of any observatory issues: All systems nominal
Summary of health and safety issues: No health or safety issues
Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: We are planning two EVAs tomorrow and were wondering if the suits had enough charge to last four and a half hours of total use. We would be checking the charges between one 2 hour and one 2.5 hour EVA.
Journalist Report – December 29th
Sara Paule, Crew 289 Journalist & Executive Officer
12.29.2023
Sol 5
We have reached an all-important milestone here at Crew 289: Everyone now has call signs! There are a number of philosophies for generating useful call signs, for example, clarity on the radio or really encapsulating each other’s personalities in a single word. Our philosophy, well, maybe you should judge for yourself based on the back stories.
Adriana (CO) – Rocky
Geologist Rocky got her call sign when serving on Crew 272. Serving for her second stint at MDRS in 2023, she will celebrate back-to-back Martian new year’s! She earned her name based on her passion – rocks – and her very full flight suit pockets. She is trying hard to return to Earth with fewer rocks this rotation than last. We’ll see how she does!
Riya – Pots
You might think that GreenHab Officer Riya got her nickname in association with her duties growing plants. While an apt appellation in that regard, you’d be incorrect about the origin story. Instead, early on in mission she told a joke in the kitchen that just didn’t land (turns out I wholly misheard her). When I just stared at her blinking for a bit, the whole crew started laughing. Turns out, she asked me what you get when you spell “stop” backwards. So, in some ways, I guess I cursed her with her moniker but, I don’t feel badly because we discovered today that it fits in so many ways when she declared, “I want to take ceramics! I want to learn to throw pots!” And, that was not a joke.
Sara – Zinger
Despite my lack of facility with humor as demonstrated from the above anecdote, amusingly, I earned my call sign for my jokes. When I am comfortable around people, I will attempt humor and sometimes it lands. Yesterday I had a few good ones (one in association with the alien dog incident). They stood out in comparison to zero jokes from the prior days.
Gabe – Terminator
Our Health and Safety Officer nearly lost his job to a robot and that’s how he earned his sobriquet. One of the projects Riya is noodling with is designing a portable health facility that could be taken out with folks on EVA – a robot. When we realized that Gabe would need to become a robot to keep his job, he earned his name. We justified it in that Gabe is an astronomer and “terminator” is also the word used for the shadow line of the dark versus light side on a planet. Really, that’s just an excuse though.
Eshaana – Butter
One evening, Eshaana was trying to teach Adi an American accent. Delivered with an amazingly good, yet terrifyingly perfect valley girl, her word of choice for tutelage was “butter.” Apparently, she cultivated an American accent during her time fundraising for Purdue and while surely great for that purpose, it makes the team shudder every time. But-ter.
Aditya – Michelin
Don’t believe him when he tells you he got his call sign for his ability as a chef. While his cooking is solid, he got it because his puffer coat makes him look a bit like a tire. That makes perfect sense, right?
Nathan – Shrub
Our crew engineer interacted with a plant. Once. A shrub. In fact, he took a picture of it when GreenHab Officer Riya insisted he do so. He’s since pointed out a number of them on EVAs so now he’s Shrub.
As you can tell, the crew is really coming together. The camaraderie is really great as is the science. Today was a good day for both. We discussed bucket list travel locations, hotspots at Purdue, movies, books, favorite superheroes, and space science. Everyone also made solid progress on their various research projects. There was a lot of quiet time this afternoon and evening throughout the hab as folks processed data, troubleshot projects, and engineered sensors and robots. A morning EVA also was very productive. The team generated LiDAR scans of the hab and HabRidge with carefully engineered scanning equipment – an elevated monopod (phone on a stick) and FLiDAR (drone with a phone). Post-processing, we will be able to compare scans and methodologies. You need a flair for creative problem solving, ingenuity, and persistence to get things done on Mars. A sense of humor isn’t strictly necessary but it surely makes everything much more pleasant for everyone.
GreenHab Report – December 29th
Crew 289 GreenHab Report : 29-12-2023 (Sol 5)
GreenHab Officer: Riya Raj
Environmental Control: Heater on, fan off, door closed.
MORNING
Average Temperatures:
Avg Temp – 9:37 am (68.1°F)
Relative Humidity – 10 %
**After Watering:
Avg Temp – 9:40 am (63°F)
Relative Humidity – 76%
Used 4.2 gallon to water all the plants (includes misting amount)
AFTERNOON
Avg Temp – 2:44 pm (87.6°F)
Relative Humidity – 10%
**After Watering:
Avg Temp – 3:25 pm (82.4°F)
Relative Humidity – 25%
Used 1.1 gallon to water all the plants (includes more misting)
Hour of supplemental light: 10pm-2am (4 hours)
Daily water usage for crops: Sol 5 – 5.3 gallons
Water in Blue Tank (200-gallon capacity): 180.75 gallons
Times of Watering for Crops: Sol 5 – 9:40 am & 3:25 pm
Changes to Crops: Added cling wrap to the new spinach plant, carrot pot, and Eshaana’s mini farm!
Narrative:
Sol 5:
Today was an interesting day lolz, especially with the EVA! I went into the greenhab a little earlier to quickly water the plants to get them ready for the higher temperatures later in the day. Eshaana tended to her cute little solar farm by adding cling wrap to the pot to retain moisture! Since she is growing kale and C4 grass, the soil moisture is a big deal! I then went to the Science Dome to take some water over for my hydroponics setup (2 Liters in each module). I already see some kale seeds cracking into baby leaves!! I did test the pH and water temps of the hydroponics modules as well (reported in my research paper).
After our LiDAR scanning EVA, I came back to the greenhab to add some cling wrap on the carrot plants. I noticed that the carrots are the only plants that are quickly losing water. Condensation should definitely help! I actually started sweating in the greenhouse which was new lolz! There is also some new baby lettuce leaves! Adriana made some potato gratin and a yummy sour cream/dill sauce to go with it! She also made some amazing enchiladasfor dinner and she used the cilantro that was harvested! Today was super fun!!
Sol 4 Harvest:
Dill: 4 grams
Cilantro: 8 grams
Support/supplies needed: None
EVA Report – December 29th
EVA Report #06
Author: Aditya Arjun Anibha
EVA Date: 29th December 2023
Start time: 1038
End time: 1144
Purpose of EVA:
Elevated Monopod and Drone LiDAR Scanning of the MDRS Hab and nearby Hab Ridge
Narrative:
The Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) commenced at 1038, led by Aditya (Crew Scientist) and Riya, (Crew Greenhab Officer) with the participation of Nathan (Crew Engineer) and Gabriel (Crew Astronomer). The crew started by scanning the MDRS Hab by using the drone for a top-down view with a LiDAR-enabled phone attached to it piloted by Aditya and co-piloted by Nathan and Gabriel while Riya used an elevated monopod to conduct a thorough 360-degree scan of the Hab. The drone was initially unstable but managed to successfully carry the weight of the drone and perform much better than expected. Although it was wobbly, it was sufficiently controllable to conduct LiDAR scans over the Hab. The scans were conducted starting from the RAM, followed by the main Hab, the Greenhab, the Sciencedome, Observatories and Solar Panels. Once complete, the crew then embarked on further Martian exploration by heading north using walking path 1103. After walking about 0.5 km and approaching the turn along 1103, Aditya launched the drone with LiDAR enabled phone to scan the hab ridge and nearby areas. After scanning was complete, the crew started to return to the Hab, during which Riya LiDAR scanned the nearby hab ridge using the elevated monopod. The team returned to the Habitat with airlock pressurization commencing at 1144. Overall, the EVA was executed with a resounding success with exploration, research and safety properly balanced and prioritized.
Destination: Hab Ridge
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): N4250500, E517900
Participants: Aditya Arjun Anibha (Crew Scientist), Riya Raj (Greenhab Officer), Gabriel Skowronek (Health and Safety Officer), Nathan Bitner (Crew Engineer)
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Use walking path 1103 and walk northward up to Hab Ridge
Mode of travel: Walking
Journalist Report – December 28th
Sara Paule, Crew 289 Journalist & Executive Officer
12.28.2023
Sol 4
When exploring Mars, you never quite know what you are going to discover. Today we set out in search of additional oysters. Yesterday, the crew explored north of the hab but today we set out south along Cow Dung Road in the area of Zubrin’s Head to the furthest destination our crew has yet to visit. Adriana (CO) and Eshaana (GEO) suited up again, this time leading me (XO) and Nathan (ENG) into the field. Unfortunately, while we explored extensively, covering a radial walking distance of 2 km and climbing up and down the local formations, devil’s toenails proved elusive despite comparable sediment layers to the formations examined yesterday at Hab Ridge.
While we were not able achieve our primary objective, the EVA was still eventful. Today, without our HSO on EVA, I was tasked with carrying our first aid kit. This small taste of the figurative (and literal) weight that our HSO Gabe experiences when traversing the landscape was eye opening. To be sure, I was deeply thankfully we had no need to use it despite some rougher terrain, such as scattered fist-sized rocks and even loose packed sand. In fact, at one point on the decline of the absolute smallest sandy slope, I lost traction completely and fell directly on my padded behind. (No damage done to myself or any equipment.) At that particular moment I was not even recording anything so I cannot even use photodocumentation of our explorations as a viable excuse!
Other highlights include, of course, additional Martian rock samples and as ever, the stunning beauty of this planet we are temporarily inhabiting. We also took a moment for fun – can’t be all work no play! In a call back to Adi’s now famous teapot power pose (originally stolen from Riya), we were able to capture a crew shot in front of a hunk of holey Martian rock.
On the decidedly surreal front, we did have an encounter with an alien during the expedition. Most unexpectedly, a dog-shaped creature in a cape, blocked our passage during our transit out to Zubrin’s Head. Despite our close presence in the rovers, the creature was undeterred from its own explorations and remarkably recalcitrant about moving out of the road. Eventually we were able to pass the lifeform at slow speed and proceed with the EVA but for a few tense moments it was unclear if we were in danger of an altercation while the alien stared us down with its dead eyes.
On the return to the hab, the EVA team was greeted by pizza. Delivery is not possible on Mars so ours was painstakingly made by the team back at station. Riya (GHO), Gabe (HSO), and Adi (SCI) collaborated on two veggie and cheese pies with grilled broccoli and grilled chicken on the side. The dehydrated mozzarella and Colby cheese, rehydrated and melted worked quite well as did the roti-based pizza crust. A heavenly sight to behold, one was dubbed the “Mona Pizza.” Unfortunately, we were too hungry to preserve it for the Louvre so da Vinci is still safe from being shown up by Crew 289 on the art front. (He’d better watch out in the realm of engineering though.)
Riya was chef extraordinaire today serving instrumentally in pizza and also provided us with delicious crepes topped with rehydrated strawberries, Nutella, and peanut butter. We have dinner still to look forward to post-comms window. And, maybe we will have a rematch of last night’s rousing game of Uno. Personally, I interpreted the landmark moment of our first game, whether or not it created new, enduring rivalries, as a sure sign the crew is settling in well all together in our Martian base.
Speaking of settling, living on Mars requires a different mindset. Using resources, especially water, responsibly is one of the primary preoccupations of the crew whether researching, cooking, hydrating, washing dishes, or for hygiene. Having demonstrated responsible rationing to date, CO Adriana rewarded the crew today with our first showers. Ever experimenting, the crew consensed that for this shower we would use the bucket method and later on in mission we would try the “navy shower” method to cross-compare water usage of the two different methods. Those who have already partaken of their shower agreed that it was truly a pleasant reprieve to clean with water and soap rather than baby wipes.
Okay, one resource that is essential to our research is computational power. Comms window was a rare treat tonight. If you look closely, you’ll notice 9 laptops and tablets to 7 people. Gabe was dual wielding computers to compare his data on his personal laptop to his photometry info on a separate laptop with special astronomy software. Adi decided that was too cool to not copy. Researching and progress reporting are going well!
GreenHab Report – December 28th
Crew 289 GreenHab Report : 28-12-2023 (Sol 4)
GreenHab Officer: Riya Raj
Environmental Control: Heater on, fan off, door closed.
Average Temperatures:
Avg Temp – 10:13 am ( 71.4°F)
Relative Humidity – 13 %
**After Watering:
Avg Temp – 10:14 am (68°F)
Relative Humidity – 56%
Used 3.1 gallon to water all the plants (used more earlier in the day to help with heat)
Avg Temp – 3:30 pm (83°F)
Relative Humidity – 10%
Used a spray bottle to keep the air moist during the heat
**After Watering:
Avg Temp – 3:45 pm (75°F)
Relative Humidity – 52%
Used 3.1 gallon to water all the plants (used more earlier in the day to help with heat)
Hour of supplemental light: 10pm-2am (4 hours)
Daily water usage for crops: Sol 4 – 5.1 gallons
Water in Blue Tank (200 gallon capacity): 186.05 gallons
Times of Watering for Crops: Sol 4 – 10:14 am & 3:45pm
Changes to Crops: Tied a few more cucumber plants and composted more things!
Narrative:
Sol 3:
I started off today as usual by heading to the GreenHab while on the way to do my work in the Science Dome. We made relatively easy dishes today, so I did not harvest anything. We made parmesan broccoli with the pizzas so I used the leftover dehydrated broccoli (powdery) to put in the soil along with more orange peels and coffee grounds. I have been keeping up with the humidity by using the mister spray bottle. I will continue to mist occasionally throughout the day, depending on EVAs too. I also took pH level readings of most of the plants just to check if everything is healthy!
Soil pH Levels:
Static Water Tank (8.45)
Carrots (7.71)
Cucumbers (7.5)
Tomatoes (6.63)
For Eshaana’s plants, we are thinking of using plastic food wrap to help with the condensation. This can help with water conservation too! I can try to use this for the tomato plants as well. I also noticed that the kale, lettuce, and arugula that I harvested a few days ago, are now growing more baby plants! The radish also doesn’t seem too sad and the stems seem to be stronger. With the carrots, I will have to keep checking on it since the leaves look depressed lolz…
Sol 3 Harvest: None
Support/supplies needed: None
EVA Report – December 28th
EVA Report #05
Author: Eshaana Aurora
EVA Date: 28th December 2023
Start time: 1105
End time: 1329
Purpose of EVA:
Collection of Oyster Fossils to Sample Western Interior Seaway Shelf Deposits
Narrative:
The Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) commenced at 1105, led by Adriana, with the participation of Eshaana (Crew Geologist), Nathan (Crew Engineer) and Sara (Crew Journalist). The crew embarked on their Martian exploration utilizing the Spirit and Curiosity rovers, navigating from Cow Dung Road to the south until reaching Kissing Camel Ridge and then headed southwest until a quarter mile away from Zubrin’s head. Spirit and Curiosity initiated the mission with full charges – Spirit at 100% and 239.6 hours, Curiosity at 100% and 262.0 hours. The crew’s primary objective was to search for and collect samples of oyster fossils within the Tununk shale layer of the Martian terrain while navigating in EVA suits. This was the second chosen location for the oyster sampling.
Throughout the mission, the crew captured vivid photos and delved into the local geology, leading to the discovery of multiple bentonite beds which are extremely relevant geological time markers. With respect to oyster fossils, the chosen location did not seem to contain any despite having relatively the same stratigraphy and facies, including the dark gray layer discovered in EVA#04. However, the crew continued to take in the beautiful Martian rock formations and views, nonetheless. The crew initially stopped at a location that comprised the remnants of Dakota sandstone then moved up through the Tununk shale finally ending in the Ferron sandstone layer, which was a white to tan colored, quartz rich, top layer. This was the same quartz sand that we found during EVA #04 with a fine to medium grain size which was poorly consolidated.
Additionally, on the walk to Barrainca Butte the crew spotted extensive amounts of pebble to cobble sized chert. The crew also discovered some reddish beds which were poorly lithified and could perhaps be a subsequence in the Tununk Shale layer therefore the crew was able to witness the gradual switch between rich sandstone to clay like mudstone layers quite comprehensively. The major observation, however, was the bentonite swarms present which could perhaps be the reason for lesser oyster fossil preservation as there could have been major paleogeography changes resulting in poor oyster preservation conditions during that era. Heading towards the late middle Turonian, sea level is low and dropping and it’s dropping so perhaps that would explain the lower oyster content.
With one last strike of her rock hammer and a quick examination of the loosened debris, the crew commander determined that the chosen location was indeed devoid of oyster fossils and the crew began its way back to the rovers soon after, taking in the landscape and gathering beautiful chert and agate rocks along the way. Albeit the outcome of the EVA was not completely fulfilled, the crew commander explained how intriguing this absence of oysters truly was. On the scale of a large inland sea that spanned approximately 5500 km, having such a stark contrast of oyster fossil extent just within 4 km is definitely quite remarkable. Therefore, with a long rover journey ahead of us, the crew headed back to the Hab, feeling even more contemplative about the planet’s fascinating geologic history.
The crew encountered quite a few aliens while driving to and from the site with a particularly stubborn canine alien blocking our path midway, but the EVA progressed seamlessly, with an estimated radial walking distance of 2km, resulting in yet another resounding success. The team returned to the Habitat with airlock pressurization commencing at 1324 along with Spirit at 36% charge and 240.0 hours and Curiosity at 30% charge and 262.5 hours.
Destination: Hab Ridge
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): N4250500, E517900
Participants: Adriana Brown (Commander), Eshaana Aurora (Crew Geologist), Sara Paule (Crew Journalist), Nathan Bitner (Crew Engineer)
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Drive on Cow Dung Road 0110 southward until Zubrin’s Head, then walk further southwest to Barrainca Butte
Mode of travel: Walking and Driving (Spirit and Curiosity)
Crew Photos – December 28th
Sol Summary – December 28th
Sol: 4
Summary Title: Sol Four: Chert Galore
Author’s Name: Adriana Brown
Mission Status: Nominal
Sol Activity Status:
Sol 4 began at a brisk 7:30 AM with nutella and strawberry crepes by Riya (GHO) (my personal favorite breakfast so far). Luckily, the crews’ friendships survived last night’s game of UNO (especially notable for Nathan and Adi). The crew used their morning comms window to send messages to our mission control at Purdue, which is staying busy sending us requested reference materials, saving our uploaded sensor data, and advising on robot and drone projects. It’s nice to know we have friends in Earthly places.
After breakfast, Adi (SCI), with the help of much of the crew, worked on designing a mount for the drone which started as a full Lego brick harness and ended as three strategically placed rubber bands. No one can say we over-engineered this one! Meanwhile, Adriana (CO) consumed stratigraphy papers and a large bowl of cereal in preparation for the day’s EVA to Barrainca Butte. At 11:00 AM, the crew departed. Adriana, Eshaana (GEO), Nathan (ENG), and Sara (XO) drove southward of the Hab and then walked on foot to Barrainca Butte. During their drive, they were forced to stop when a small, high-pitched canine alien with an exceptionally poor sense of self-preservation decided to make its home in the center of Cow Dung Road. Luckily, the alien was soon called away and they continued. Their journey was strikingly beautiful. As they traversed over the plain towards the Butte, they trod over sloping river-cut sandbanks, delicately scattered ripples, and brilliantly colored rocks of green, blue, red, and orange (and every color in between). As you may be able to guess from the title of this report, many of these rocks were chert. Although a common mineral, it is one of surprising variety and can contain a truly astounding palette of colors.
Although no oyster fossils were found, Adriana was pleased to note a "bentonite swarm" that will be useful in constraining the ages of previously collected oyster samples. Eshaana was kind enough to pose as her "bentonite model" so that the scale of the swarm can be evaluated back at the Hab. Even without fossils, the crew still returned with heavier pockets thanks to the chert scattered about. Fortunately, just as the EVA crew felt hunger gnawing at their stomachs, they depressurized and entered the upper deck of the Hab to the delicious aroma of homemade pizza with freshly dissolved Tang. With a full stomach, Adriana went to work in the Science Dome to organize her field notes, label oysters, and catalogue her samples. In the GreenHab, Riya was busy testing the pH of the soil and water and composted coffee grounds and leftover dehydrated broccoli. Excitingly, we have new kale, lettuce, and arugula sprouts. Meanwhile, Gabe was the first crew member to embark on potentially the most exciting EVA yet. After gathering all his gear (towel, shampoo, conditioner), he walked on foot down Hab Stairs road until reaching his final destination: the shower. Other crew members soon followed.
This evening, Adriana and Eshaana discussed different geological hypotheses from their field notes and observations so far, diving deep into Tununk stratigraphy and the near-MDRS paleoenvironment. The Hab is filled with the sounds of report-writing, robot whirring, sizzling Indian dishes, freshly delivered research equipment from Earth (thank you, Mission Support!), and the nightly lower deck conversations by Nathan and Adi (if you have any burning questions about relativity, dark matter, or the fundamental nature of our existence, please send them through the proper communication channels!). Here’s to another productive sol for Crew 289!
Look Ahead Plan: LiDAR scanning with drone (EVA #6 to Hab Ridge)
Anomalies in work: None
Weather: Sunny with few clouds
Crew Physical Status: Nominal
EVA: geologic EVA #5 to Barrainca Butte
Reports to be filed: Journalist Report, Greenhab Report, Operations Report, Sol Summary, Astronomy Report, Photos, EVA report, EVA request
Support Requested: None
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