GreenHab Officer: Scott Dorrington
Environmental control: heater on automatic, supplemental lights automatic on 6pm (will adjust tonight to turn on at 10pm and off at 2am).
Average temperatures:
08:41: 92.3 F, 12%
09:17: 89.8 F, 19%
09:27: 90.0 F, 20%
12:26: 115.7 F, 10% Fan on
13:15: 99.3 F, 10%
14:16: 99 F, 10%
14:26: 105.6 F, 10%
15:04: 96.4 F, 10% Fan off
17:12: 77.2 F, 27%
17:28: 78.3 F, 30%
Hours of supplemental light: 4 hours overnight
Daily water usage for crops: 5 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0 gallons
Water in Blue Tank (200 gallon capacity): 131 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 9:20am water (2 gal), 12:56 water (3 gal) + mist, 14:16 mist, 17:30 mist
Changes to crops: None
Narrative:
Last night was the first night with the GreenHab heater back in commission. I checked in on the plants around 8:40 to find the temperature a nice warm 92 F. I think the plants enjoyed the warmth – there was no sign of wilting leaves on the tomatoes. I checked in again at 9:30 to give the plants their first watering of the day. I was off most of the day on EVAs, so requested assistance from the other crew members to monitor the temperatures in the GreenHab. I returned from the first EVA at 12:30 and found temperatures a bit warm at 115 F. I turned the fan on for 10 minutes, which cooled it back down to 100 F. I gave the plants their second watering of 3 gallons, and a good misting. I rearranged the tomatoes to keep them out of the afternoon sun. While out on my afternoon EVA, the crewmates monitored the temperatures again. They noted some anomalous activity with the heater in the GreenHab. In the afternoon, the fan was turned on in order to mitigate the heat. From yesterday’s observations, keeping the fan on low was effective in maintaining a near constant temperature in the midday heat. On a regular visit from the crew, they found that the fan had dropped the temperature to 99 F, however the heater had turned on. This was puzzling and certainly not ideal to have both heater and fan running simultaneously. The crew called for advice from Mission Support, who advised to turn off the fan, which would also turn off the heater. This was done, and it worked. The crew radioed to update me while on EVA. Without knowing the full details, my initial advice was to keep monitoring the temperature and if it did get too hot, to turn the fan on and monitor. This would not be ideal, but would be a temporary measure to make sure the plants did not overheat – until I could return and re-assess the situation. Mission control inspected the GreenHab and moved the thermometer into a cardboard box that shielded it from the sun – in order to give better readings. Following my return from EVA, I visited the GreenHab to investigate. The temperatures were beginning to cool down to around 75 F, and we observed the thermostat turn on the heater until temperatures raise to 78 F before turning off. We were relieved to see this nominal behaviour. It seems the heater and thermostat work as expected overnight to keep temperatures above 75 F, but might have some issues during the hot parts of the day. I aim to carefully monitor temperatures tomorrow to investigate further. In the evening, we harvested some herbs to add to Steve’s pizza. Following dinner, we were advised from mission support to adjusted the supplemental lights to start at 10pm and turn off at 2am.
Harvest: 6g basil, 5g parsley, 1g sag, 17g arugula
Support/supplies needed: None