Crew 306 EVA Report 01-01-2025
EVA # 11
Author: Ryan Villarreal
Purpose of EVA: The first objective of this EVA was to test Crew Journalist Rodrigo Schmitt’s DRONE project for GPS and Li-DAR data collection capability. The second objective was to collect EMF meter readings from the region for Crew Geologist Elizabeth Howard’s research.
Start time: 10:02
End time: 12:55
Narrative: The EVA Crew stepped out of the airlock at 10:02 and proceeded to drive Perseverance and Opportunity South along Cow Dung Road until reaching the intersection of Trail 1101 and White Rock Canyon. The crew dismounted the rovers and took a short walk to the bottom of White Rock Canyon to begin testing the DRONE system. The DRONE was unable to collect data due to an issue connecting wirelessly via SSH to the data collection system. The crew spent 30 minutes troubleshooting before determining it would need to be investigated back at the HAB where the onboard computer could be directly accessed. The crew then continued the mission of EMF readings by walking out of the canyon and North along Cow Dung Road, placing the EMF reader at the start of trail 1101. The crew activated the reader and buried it, marking the location for later retrieval. As the EMF reader needs to be active over a period of time, the crew continued to hike West on trail 1101 to scan for potential iron-containing rocks along the trail for Crew Commander Jesus Meza’s research. The crew stopped at the base of Barrainca Butte before turning around and taking the same trail back to the EMF reader. The crew recovered the EMF reader and returned to the parked rovers and drove back to MDRS, arriving at 12:55. From this EVA, potential drone locations were marked for EVA #12, and approximately 1.5 hours of EMF readings were recorded. The crew also gathered 4 samples of potentially iron-containing rocks for analysis by Crew Commander Jesus Meza. The communication issues for the DRONE system were investigated after the EVA and were successfully resolved for EVA #12.
Destination: White Rock Canyon at (520250E, 4247500N), and Barrainca Butte at (519000E, 4247400N)
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): Rovers were parked at (520216E, 4247499N), and the crew hiked to White Rock Canyon (520297E, 4247567N), before then hiking to Barrainca Butte (519050E, 4247313N).
Participants: Crew Engineer Keegan Chavez, Crew Journalist Rodrigo Schmitt, and Health and Safety Officer Ryan Villarreal
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road taken South to White Rock Canyon. Rovers were parked on the road at (520216E, 4247499N) and the crew proceeded on foot Northeast into the White Rock Canyon. The crew then proceeded Northwest to Trail 1101, which was taken to Barrainca Butte.
Mode of travel: Rovers along Cow Dung Road from the MDRS campus until disembarking at (520216E, 4247499N) and proceeding on foot.