Author: jburk

Journalists Report March 19

At 3:00 am, Dean arrived with all kinds of electronic and mechanical goodies.

After allowing him a short nap, 3 of us assembled a bicycle and mounted it to a friction trainer. Dean hooked up a battery and ancillary monitoring devices. Each crew members will ride for an hour per day for at least 2 days. Energy will be stored in the battery, and used to power the 3D printers. This activity keeps us in shape, maintains high crew morale, and creates electrical power
independently.

Kevin hooked up a 3D printer in the RAM and printed a microscope slide holder, a soil sieve base, and a mold for making protein gels (used for Western blotting). How wonderful that these aids to science can be made right on Mars without the necessity of transporting them up here!

In the afternoon, Kevin, Tiffany and Julielynn went on an EVA to scout the turn off the main highway to Cow Dung Road. As there is no signage, they plan to drone map the area to create a 3D printed map which might be a helpful aid to pinpointing the intersection.

In the evening, Julielynn trained all crew members in needle decompression skills to treat a potentially fatal tension
pneumothorax. She employed her leading-edge 3D printed medical simulation training devices. While this was fascinating and exciting it was kind of scary for those of us who are not in the medical profession! But being on Mars, where the nearest hospital is months away, it’s a handy skill to know!

Cheers,

Julielynn Wong, MD, MPH, FACPM
Chief Medical Maker

Author: Diane Rothberg

We spent this beautiful, sunny day out of sim, as we’re waiting for so much to arrive…3D printers, drones, a bike, and two additional crew members.

Still getting the hang of water conservation, which is tricky when you have to wash a sticky oatmeal pot, as well as last night’s pots holding clingy, aging leftover soup and rice.

Today’s lunch of spaghetti bolognaise prepared by Tiffany and Kevin was a huge hit, especially after we supplemented it with fresh basil from the Greenhab.

Our commander, Julielynn, did some much-needed cleaning and organizing around the hab and the science dome, and came up with creative ideas as to what items we should 3D print to make life easier here on Mars.

Kevin, our health and safety officer checked all CO2 detectors and fire alarms.

We received a safety briefing from David, and we all got rover check out and a chance to drive them before we have to do it in a bulky space suit.

Late in the afternoon, we were checked out on the space suits, and now, our Mars simulation truly begins!