Author: jburk

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EVA Report- February 7th

Crew 204 EVA Report 07-FEB-2019

EVA # 8

Author: Avishek Ghosh.

Purpose of EVA: A short duration EVA to demonstrate how to operate rover remotely.

Start time: 08:00 hrs.

End time: 08:45 hrs.

Narrative: EVA started on time with a bright morning under a moderate wind. EVA crew were able to communicate remotely with the rover group from Sipna Engineering college in India. The group was able to control the child rover remotely over wi-fi and performed a couple of iterations. Probably this is the first time a rover is controlled and operated remotely (around 13,000 km far) on MDRS terrains.

Destination: Surrounding of Hab; mostly close to both sides of the Greenhab.

Coordinates: 518100 E ; 4250750 N

Participants: Kunal and Sonal.

Roads and routes per MDRS map: Close to hab (Route 1103).

Mode of travel: Walking.

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Journalist Report- February 7th

Crew 204 Journalist Report 07-FEB-2019

Author: Sonal Baberwal (HSO & Crew Journalist)

Good Morning from Mars!

The morning seems early today. This was the day we all have been eagerly waiting for! A lot of hope and enthusiasm had been preserved for this day. Today the crew woke up pretty early than the regular schedule as the day had something special. We all started preparing for the EVA.

This has been really exciting because our rover is ready and scheduled to be operated from Earth (India). We got ready and suited up in the Spacesuit with heartbeats that could be heard loud. Will this attempt be a successful one? Is that a dream coming true that a rover will be operated from a remote location from Earth on MDRS terrains? Yes, it is possible! Salute to our technology and emerging IoT trend!

The rover had been operated for 51 seconds from Earth by Mr. Harish Ajankar from Sipna College of Engineering and Technology, India in front of the Professors of the University. The biggest challenge was to find a flexible time for the EVA that supports different time zones. Thanks to mission support for their cooperation and support to make this happen into reality.

It was a pretty good experience to observe the rover crawling on the MDRS terrains which have been operated from India. I believe this legacy will turn into an inspirational and motivational example for the young generation and someday participate in this simulation.

The day has been followed by daily activities. The evenings have been really good as we have been enjoying games and movies together living the final days of simulation to the fullest!

The day had been really interesting in terms of the activities we have been performing. Looking forward to a new sunrise. This is Sonal Baberwal, HSO and Crew Journalist reporting live from the upper deck of the Habitat! Stay connected to know more about our last days of the simulation.

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Sol Summary- February 7th

Crew 204 Sol Summary Report 07- FEB – 2019

Sol: 10

Summary Title: The 51 second excitation

Author’s name: Kunal Naik (Space_Bot)

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: What gives an excitation? A rover working from ~ 13000 km with live Audio/Video stream via rover will surely create one. Today was the judgment day for the child rover project. The crew woke up earlier than their assigned schedule, potato creamy soup is a good start of the day. The crew was on the run as the EVA was requested post breakfast.

SpaceBot and MarsBag carried out the walking EVA near the MDRS HAB premises. The main purpose of the EVA was to operate child rover from a remote location, India (13000 kms away). It was operated by students of Sipna College of Engineering. The demonstration was successful in exploring the Martian soil. The crew was happy as their project was a success. Still needs upgradation for sure.

Post EVA, the team discussed about the rover and Indian Mythology. Pre-Lunch, the crew members were on their assigned respective task. Lunch was prepared by CarbonFlight and SpaceBot, quite a lot food which will be used for dinner as well.

Post lunch, all crew members rested for a while. Carbon flight printed few bricks
for Martian habitat from his 3D Clay Printer a day ago and now they are dried and ready to be baked. There is a positive vibe from the Green Hab, every-day you eager to go to the GreenHab just to see the growth of the plants. The crew is still planning for some board games
post dinner.

Look Ahead Plan: The 3D clay printer has printed some bricks out of Martian soil composition which will be baked to test the inner dynamic structure and possibility to use the brick for future habitat. The End is 2 days short, the crew has scheduled the recleaning of the hab.

The sprouts and mix seeds have already started showing good results. Hoping to observe more growth.

Anomalies in work: None Encountered

Weather: Sunny

Crew Physical Status: Nominal

EVA’s location: Hab Premise

Reports to be file: 1) Operations Report 2) Green Hab Report 3)
Journalist Report 4) EVA Report 5) Photos

Support Requested: None

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Journalist Report – February 5th

Crew 204 Journalist Report 05-FEB-2019

Title: The Friendship Algorithm

Author: Sonal Baberwal

Good Morning from Mars! Hello Earthlings. So how does our day starts? The very first thing we do is go to the window and observe the beauty of this place. Seems like the mountains have covered themselves by a red blanket.

This complete isolation is helping ourself to learn more about self. To make us aware of our weaknesses and overcome them with lot of courage. I have been learning many soft skills from the crew. When you observe someone for a lot of time, you eventually start becoming like them. I couldn’t stop sanitizing my hands before everything because of cleanliness habits of Space Bot. I couldn’t work hard all day and wait for the evening for mind refreshing games and movies that had been eventually taking place because of Cosmos. Nothing ever taught me to be such a brave heart and good sense of humor like the Commander of the crew. I am thankful to Mars Desert Research Station for this opportunity to get oneself analyzed.

Today had been really an interesting day. Space Bot had successfully assembled and tested the rover inside the RAMM and further did a demonstration to test remotely which was operated by Harish Ajankar of Sipna College of Engineering and Technology, India.

Commander Avishek Ghosh had interesting results in his composition of soils that he had been analyzing along with continuing his research in 3D printing.

Our GreenHab officer Cosmos had been welcoming the new sprouts that have spread their leaves in this soil. He had been engaged in taking care of the GreenHab with regular activities.

Followed by the delicious lunch cooked by the Commander, Rice and Lentils are just the Martian thing. Myself and Space Bot performed a short walking EVA around the Hab. Our main objective was to capture images via rover and operate it outdoor. This was a total new experience where we walked in strong winds and felt like a plastic bag drifting throughout the wind wanted to start again (Katty Perry, Fireworks). We had been on the top of the mountain where it was beautiful to observe our Hab from the top waving to the commander. It had been difficult to believe that we climbed the top of the mountain and observing the new perspective of nature. I wish I had words to describe about the view.

The day had been really interesting in terms of the activities we have been performing. Looking forward to a new sunrise with a hope in better weather conditions to support the EVA. This is Sonal Baberwal, HSO and Crew Journalist reporting live from the upper deck of the Habitat! Stay connected to know more about the application of our results.

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Journalist Report – February 5th

Crew 204 Journalist Report 05-FEB-2019

Title: The Friendship Algorithm

Author: Sonal Baberwal

Good Morning from Mars! Hello Earthlings. So how does our day starts? The very first thing we do is go to the window and observe the beauty of this place. Seems like the mountains have covered themselves by a red blanket.

This complete isolation is helping ourself to learn more about self. To make us aware of our weaknesses and overcome them with lot of courage. I have been learning many soft skills from the crew. When you observe someone for a lot of time, you eventually start becoming like them. I couldn’t stop sanitizing my hands before everything because of cleanliness habits of Space Bot. I couldn’t work hard all day and wait for the evening for mind refreshing games and movies that had been eventually taking place because of Cosmos. Nothing ever taught me to be such a brave heart and good sense of humor like the Commander of the crew. I am thankful to Mars Desert Research Station for this opportunity to get oneself analyzed.

Today had been really an interesting day. Space Bot had successfully assembled and tested the rover inside the RAMM and further did a demonstration to test remotely which was operated by Harish Ajankar of Sipna College of Engineering and Technology, India.

Commander Avishek Ghosh had interesting results in his composition of soils that he had been analyzing along with continuing his research in 3D printing.

Our GreenHab officer Cosmos had been welcoming the new sprouts that have spread their leaves in this soil. He had been engaged in taking care of the GreenHab with regular activities.

Followed by the delicious lunch cooked by the Commander, Rice and Lentils are just the Martian thing. Myself and Space Bot performed a short walking EVA around the Hab. Our main objective was to capture images via rover and operate it outdoor. This was a total new experience where we walked in strong winds and felt like a plastic bag drifting throughout the wind wanted to start again (Katty Perry, Fireworks). We had been on the top of the mountain where it was beautiful to observe our Hab from the top waving to the commander. It had been difficult to believe that we climbed the top of the mountain and observing the new perspective of nature. I wish I had words to describe about the view.

The day had been really interesting in terms of the activities we have been performing. Looking forward to a new sunrise with a hope in better weather conditions to support the EVA. This is Sonal Baberwal, HSO and Crew Journalist reporting live from the upper deck of the Habitat! Stay connected to know more about the application of our results.

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Science Report – February 5th

Crew 204 Science Report 05-FEB-2019

Science report

Title: Happy hour germination

Author: Avishek Ghosh

1. Sprouting of seeds

Team: Sonal Baberwal, Avishek Ghosh

It feels great to see the initial stage of germination and plant growth in different soil compositions that are prepared by varying the amount of garden soil and carbon dust (extracted from charcoal) by combining with MDRS soil and JSC-MARS-1. The JSC-MARS-1 and it’s organic mixtures seem more promising as compared to local MDRS soil mixtures. The plants that are transferred from regular garden soil to JSC-MARS-1 Mixtures are surviving and growing even the germinated seeds started sprouting.

But, the MDRS local soil and it’s organic compositions seems to hold less capacity to provide enough nutrients to the plants which started dying on the first day of transfer. At the same time, the water is drying out quickly from these mixtures.

Although it is the initial stage of the investigation, however, more iterations through a long duration observation are required to derive the conclusions.

2. Experimental Greenhab preparation

Team: Pranit Patil, Sonal Baberwal, Avishek Ghosh

The crew is happy to see new seeds are sprouting and growing quickly. A few of them are actually turning into the green with leaves. Initially, after transfer, the plants were surviving during the first day but slowly started dying on local MDRS soil mixtures.

3. Rover assembly and integration

Kunal Naik (Space_Bot)

The technical difficulties in rover were resolved this morning. The battery test and camera have performed well during the EVA. The rover started rolling on MDRS terrains.

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Operations Report – February 5th

Crew 204 Operations Report 05- FEB – 2019

SOL: 8

Name of person filing report: Kunal Naik (Space_bot)

Non-nominal systems: None

Notes on non-nominal systems: N/A

Generator (hours run): Turned on this evening by 1840 (5th Feb),
Stopped by this morning 0830 (5th Feb)

Solar— SOC % – Turned off Gen (5th Feb) 100%, Turned on Gen (5th Feb) 74%

Diesel Reading – 36%

Propane Reading – ~ 64%

Ethanol Free Gasoline – 10 gallons

Water (Auxillary tank) – Not in use gallons

Water (Static tank) – around 68%, ~ 340 gallons

Auxillary to Static tank transfer – No

Gallons transferred: Not Applicable

Water in GreenHab – ~ 207 gallons

Water (loft) – 12 marked level

Static to Loft Pump used – yes

Water Meter: 01408311 units

Toilet tank emptied: Yes

Deimos rover used: No, still not functional
Hours: N/A
Beginning charge: N/A
Ending charge: N/A
Currently charging: N/A

Sojourner rover used: ASSIGNED TO DIRECTOR
Hours: Not Applicable
Beginning charge: Not Applicable
Ending charge: Not Applicable
Currently charging: Not Applicable

Spirit rover used: Not Used
Hours: 72.1
Beginning charge: Not Used
Ending charge: Not Used
Currently charging: Yes

Opportunity rover used: Not Used
Hours: 47.6 hours
Beginning charge: Not Used
Ending charge: Not Used
Currently charging: Yes

Curiosity rover used: Not Used
Hours: Not Used
Beginning charge: Not Used
Ending charge: Not Used
Currently charging: Not Used

Notes on rovers: None

ATV’s Used: None

Reason for use: N/A

Oil Added? N/A

ATV Fuel Used: Nope

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: N/A

Notes on ATVs: N/A

HabCar used and why, where? Used to go to the town

Crew Car used and why, where? Off Campus

General notes and comments: None

Summary of internet: Nothing to report

Summary of suits and radios: Nothing to report

Summary of Hab operations: Nothing to report.

Summary of Green Hab operations: Nothing to report

Summary of Science Dome operations: Nothing to report

Summary of RAMM operations: Used some engineering tools for Rover.

Summary of any observatory issues: Nothing to report.

Summary of health and safety issues: Nothing to report.

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: None

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Greenhab Report – February 5th

Crew 204 Green Hab Report – 5-FEB-2019

GreenHab Officer: Patil (Cosmos)

Environmental control: Heating and Cooling w/ ambient air (5 hrs)

Shade Cloth (40%)

Average temperatures:

Low: 16.4°C

High: 25.9°C

Hours of supplemental light: 5 Hours

Daily water usage for crops: 12 gallons

Water in Blue Tank: ~ 207 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops:

TIME NOTED TEMPERATURE(° C ) / HUMIDITY(%)
[AT TIME OF WATERING]

1) 09.00 AM 18.6° C / 48 %
2) 12.00 PM 25.3° C / 55 %
3) 15:00 PM 23.7° C / 41 %
4) 18:00 PM 19.9° C / 52 %

Changes to crops: None

Narrative: Today was the blissful day for us in midst of winds. We learned that Gardening is the most therapeutic and blissful act we could do. It made us forget every difficult weather conditions around. We were enjoying the smell of things in soil, by getting dirty without feeling guilty. It took little time to grow sprouts but one tiny leaf appeared from one of sprout as a light of joy with a new era of life. And slowly-slowly browns started turning into greens with a sprinkle of water and martian warmth.

Harvest: None

Support/supplies needed: None

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