From Analysis to Catalysis
““Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it.” – René Descartes
We all have experienced moments in our lives where a problem makes us feel trapped, confused, or lost altogether. In fact, more likely than not, this might have happened to you today, yesterday, or the day before, and the feeling of discontentment is commensurate to the difficulty of the issue at hand. The most straightforward path to circumvent the situation is illustrated by an acronym present both in aviation, safety and mindfulness literature: STOP. In aviation and safety, STOP stands for Stop, Think, Observe, Plan, while the mindfulness technique indicates, very similarly, Stop, Take a breath, Observe, and Proceed. One word, however, is a suitable representation for these steps in both cases: analysis.
The word itself comes from the Latin ana- ‘up’ + luein ‘loosen’, literally meaning "loosen up" (or, in today’s generation slang, "take a chill pill"). The analytical process, much valued in the world of STEM (not to be confused with STOP!), is associated with breaking down and deeply understanding the constituent elements of the subject at hand. This usually requires the student or the scientist to take a step back, give themselves a moment’s worth of peace, watch the problem from an unattached, bird’s eye perspective, and finally come up with a game plan for a solution. Conversely, the catalysis takes place in the final implementation, which regularly is found to be a smoother and less stressful counterpart to the analysis stage. This is a process that can take up to months or even years, but Mars is not fond of waiting patiently. We need to move fast.
In Sol 10, Crew Montes reassessed our strategies with respect to multiple of our research projects. First, the DRONE team (Spy, Mr. Fix It and I) went out on an EVA to Barranca Butte to collect more data and samples for the electromagnetic frequency detector, the iron-rich energy generation project, and, of course, the DRONE. Even though we faced more technical challenges with the software for the DRONE, we were able to collect plenty of data for the other two experiments.
Once back to the hab, we started by fixing the remote hotspot connection to the DRONE, which is now running as smoothly as the finest rock on Mars. Moreover, having two electrical and computer engineers in the team felt like a gift from the heavens as Spy and Mr. Fix It assisted me with analyzing how the GPS and IMU sensors could be better integrated with the on-board Raspberry Pi computer. Instead of writing the script from scratch without internet connection – which at times felt like a blindfolded astronaut in the middle of a sandstorm -, the two of them patiently instructed me about the beauty of tech datasheets, which we are now using to reconfigure the code. With this, we hope to get the necessary data for all sensors to successfully create the mappings of the terrain accordingly later on.
In the meantime, Messiah worked on improving the methodology behind gathering iron-rich samples for crafting solar panels. As he worked on the samples, however, the process of analysis kicked in: Messiah realized that his approach was successful in generating an amazing 0.5 V of electrical voltage, but the sensitivity to light was lower than expected. This suggested, however, an interesting pivot in the research: instead of crafting a solar-panel like structure, Messiah’s idea is now to use the Martian soil as a source of energy for a chemical battery, which is yet another promising avenue for improving in-situ operations on Mars. And hopefully, with this power we could also increase the temperature downstairs up a notch – it’s starting to get chilly in the bathroom.
Finally, Murph kept working on her mycoponics research, discovering unexpected pitfalls and planning accordingly. She found that, exposed to low gravity and the environmental conditions at the hab, water sticks to the mycelial tube, and this stagnant liquid is a breeding ground for bacteria that slows down mushroom growth. This means that the mushroom chambers need to be under pressure to mitigate contamination and allow the liquid to fall more smoothly. With this discovery, she quickly devised a strategy to use a valve that will allow for the easy removal of the tubes from air inlets. This new chamber design will be conducted back at Purdue, but the last few sols will be valuable for testing out ideas and troubleshooting on-site. Don’t worry though, Murph – these test subjects are not going to be cooked after we’re done.
Overall, our experiences today demonstrate not only an essential step in the scientific process, but also a fundamental part of problem-solving. Developing new solutions for complex problems more often than not involves reiterating on the most basic level, requiring us to re-examine what we either took for granted or used as a baseline for all subsequent steps of our project. Maybe even more important is the representation of how this analytical process can be valuable in our own lives, to solve everyday problems that frequently mess up our mood and distance us from feeling like a "chill guy".
Next time you find yourself troubled by an impossible situation, taking a step back and looking for the threads you ignored can be the solution you needed all along. In the words of Carl Jung, that which we need the most will be found where we least want to look.
Hermit out.