Green Hab Report – Jan 12th

Crew 202 Greenhab Report 12-Jan-2019
Greenhab Officer:
Jake Qiu & Hermes Bolivar

Environmental Control:
Heating
Cooling w/ ambient air (1hrs)

40% Shade Cloth on
80% Shade Cloth on

Average Temperatures:
Low: 24.6°C
High: 39.5°C

Hours of Supplemental Light:
5

Daily Water Usage of Crops:
12 gallons

Water in Blue Tank (gallons):
51%, 151.5 gallons

Times of Watering for Crops:
1044
2031

Changes to crops:
* Threw away 2 pots of spinach due to it dying
* Radishes growing very well and one look almost ready for harvest
* Tomatoes looking lackluster
* Cucumbers still look bad, may need to move these pots to different locations
* Other crops display same progress

Narrative:
Watered plants throughout the day as needed. Showing Hermes from crew 203 the greenhouse for handover.
Experiment Results:
Date: SOL14 Crew 202 (SOL14 overall)

Watered Crew 201 experiments

Harvest:

Support/Supplies Needed:

Best Regards,

Jake

Sol Summary Report – Jan 12th

Crew 202 Sol Summary Report 12-Jan-2019

Sol: 14

Summary Title: Back on Earth

Author’s name: Cesare Guariniello and Oscar Ojeda

Mission Status: Nominal, the crew is back on Earth and met crew 203!

Sol Activity Summary: After breakfast, the crew began cleaning the habitat and the other facilities and got ready to meet crew 203. We had a short excursion with the Program Director and after dinner crew 203 is shadowing crew 202 for report training.

After a long trip, crew 203 was finally reunited in Grand Junction, had an amazing trip all the way to the station, and were warmly welcomed by crew 202. We joined the excursion and had our last dinner on Earth as we prepare for our mission

Look Ahead Plan: Tomorrow crew 202 will leave campus and crew 203 will receive field training

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Sunny and warmer

Crew Physical Status: In great health

EVA: none

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Operations Report, Greenhab Report, Astronomy Report, Journalist Report

Support Requested: None

Operations Report – Jan 12th

Crew 202 Operations Report 12-JAN-2019

SOL: 14

Name of person filing report: Kasey Hilton

Non-nominal systems: Suit #9

Notes on non-nominal systems: One of suit #9’s electrical connections was loose yesterday and had to be soldered, but after soldering the suit would not turn on

Generator (hours run): 17hr 15min; Turned on last night (11Jan2019) at 17:15; Turned off this morning (12Jan2019) at 10:30; Turned on tonight (12Jan2019) at 17:29

Solar SOC – Turned on (11Jan2019) 81%; Turned off (12Jan2019) 100%; Turned on (12Jan2019) 83%

Diesel Reading – 60%

Propane Reading – 31%

Ethanol Free Gasoline – Not in use

Water (auxiliary tank) – Not in use

Water (static tank) – 65%; 345 gallons

Auxiliary to Static tank transfer – No

Gallons transferred: Not applicable

Water in GreenHab – About 50%; 155 gallons

Water (loft) – At level marker 12

Static to Loft Pump used – Yes; At 20:19 to refill tank

Water Meter: 01400068

Toilet tank emptied: Yes, still very very stinky ://

Deimos rover used: No, still not functional

Hours: Not applicable

Beginning charge: Not applicable

Ending charge: Not applicable

Currently charging: Not applicable

Sojourner rover used: ASSIGNED TO DIRECTOR

Hours: Not applicable

Beginning charge: Not applicable

Ending charge: Not applicable

Currently charging: Not applicable

Spirit rover used: No

Hours: 67.2

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

Opportunity rover used: No, brakes are still not working correctly

Hours: 45.6

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

Curiosity rover used: No

Hours: 69.0

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

Notes on rovers: Brake fluid in Opportunity was replaced but the brakes are still not functioning properly

ATV’s Used: None (Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.2, 350.3)

Reason for use: None

Oil Added? No

ATV Fuel Used: None

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: None

Notes on ATVs: Nothing to report

HabCar used and why, where? Used to get water and dinner in town

CrewCar used and why, where? Used to pick up crew 203 in Grand Junction and get dinner in town

General notes and comments: Nothing to report

Summary of internet: Nothing to report

Summary of suits and radios: Suit #9’s electrical connection in the recharger was soldered last night but did not turn on again after, even though the battery has sufficient charge; Suit #7 has not been fixed yet; The new crew engineer has been made aware of the situation

Summary of Hab operations: Nothing to report

Summary of GreenHab operations: Nothing to report

Summary of ScienceDome operations: Nothing to report

Summary of RAMM operations: Nothing to report

Summary of any observatory issues: Nothing to report

Summary of health and safety issues: Nothing to report

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: Nothing to report

One last YEEHAW,

Kasey

Journalist Report – January 11th

MDRS Crew 202, Journalist Report

Sol 12 – 01/10/2018

Name the space movie (or show) given the following quote. Answer at the end of the Report:

At some point, everything’s gonna go south on you and you’re going to say, this is it. This is how I end. Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work. That’s all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem and you solve the next one, and then the next. And If you solve enough problems, you get to come home.

Holy smokes. It’s Sol 13. SOL THIRTEEN. Can you even believe it? It is our last day of simulation. Our last day of donning the suits for an extra-vehicular activity (EVA). Our last day of asking ourselves: “Is this what would happen on Mars?”

Today’s agenda: EVA #12 crewed by the Executive Officer, Engineer, Geologist, and Journalist, wrap up the final touches on research projects, and prepare the habitat for the next crew. Our last EVA as a crew was one for the books. Behind the habitat, there are these humongous rolling hills. Our Geologist needed a few final samples from the top of the hills, a mere 500 foot climb. With no feasible way to use the rovers, we set off on foot, finding grips through dried waterways where the snow had melted earlier that week. The 20 pounds of life support were definitely felt during the climb, but once you got to the top of the hill… It was breathtaking. Large plateaus appeared as castles overlooking their expansive plains which melted into rolling hills striped beige, reds, and browns. The hills are a maze leading into the scenic point mountain, the entirety of its peaks in view and the partially cloudy sky forced rays of light to illuminate its white peaks. Our habitat, our home, visible, nestled within the hills. A speck of life on the colorful terrain. No photo can do it justice. It was an incredible end to our Martian adventure.

It is our last day as just Crew 202 in the habitat. Upon our return from the EVA, work kicked into high gear. We conserved enough showers for each crew member to cleanse one last time before departing. This was a merciful act for the poor people on the plane home who have the unfortunate pleasure of sitting next to our mud-caked boots and dry shampoo spiked hair. We even had enough soap to do “laundry”. It was detergent filled water that reached two inches of a bucket, but (hopefully) the black color of the water after washing means our clothes are now clean. We swept the habitat, science dome, and green house, kicking up Martian dust storms that will inevitably settle back onto the floor when the new crew steps through the door. Final food inventory, taking note of how quickly all the semi-edible dust disappeared in the first week of the habitat. Strawberries finished on Sol 7. Oreos finished Sol 10. Salt… RIP Sol 12….

Tomorrow will be a strange day. The end of simulation means the end to our current way of life. We can step out of the habitat without a mic taped to our face, breathe in the Martian air, and feel the rays of the sun on our actual skin. We will show the new crew the ropes of living in the habitat and walk them through their new roles as Martians. It will be exciting to introduce strangers to this new world and reflect on how we felt first stepping in the habitat, a time that feels so long ago. There is tradition at MDRS of eating a final Earth meal for the incoming crew… and a first Earth meal for the current crew. Cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes await us tomorrow. REAL CHEESE. Cheese that doesn’t come from a tin can. Cheese that doesn’t become a horrifying glob in hot water. Creamy, luxurious cheese.

Tomorrow are our last reports, our last day on Mars, our last day as Crew 202. I’m sure the finality of it all will set in. Tonight, we discuss what we most look forward to returning to.

Movie (or Show) Answer: The Martian

Operations Report – January 11th

Crew 202 Operations Report 11-JAN-2019

SOL: 13

Name of person filing report: Kasey Hilton

Non-nominal systems: Nothing to report

Notes on non-nominal systems: Nothing to report

Generator (hours run): 17hr 20min; Turned on last night (10Jan2019) at 16:05; Turned off this morning (11Jan2019) at 9:25; Turned on tonight (11Jan2019) at 17:15

Solar SOC – Turned on (10Jan2019) 84%; Turned off (11Jan2019) 100%; Turned on (11Jan2019) 81%

Diesel Reading – 65%

Propane Reading – 34%

Ethanol Free Gasoline – Not in use

Water (auxiliary tank) – Not in use

Water (static tank) – 40%; 220 gallons

Auxiliary to Static tank transfer – No

Gallons transferred: Not applicable

Water in GreenHab – About 55%; 165 gallons

Water (loft) – At level marker 12

Static to Loft Pump used – Yes; At 20:41 to refill tank

Water Meter: 01399764

Toilet tank emptied: No

Deimos rover used: No, still not functional

Hours: Not applicable

Beginning charge: Not applicable

Ending charge: Not applicable

Currently charging: Not applicable

Sojourner rover used: ASSIGNED TO DIRECTOR

Hours: Not applicable

Beginning charge: Not applicable

Ending charge: Not applicable

Currently charging: Not applicable

Spirit rover used: No

Hours: 67.2

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

Opportunity rover used: No, brakes are still not working correctly

Hours: 45.6

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

Curiosity rover used: No

Hours: 69.0

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

Notes on rovers: Brake fluid in Opportunity was replaced but the brakes are still not functioning properly

ATV’s Used: None (Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.2, 350.3)

Reason for use: None

Oil Added? No

ATV Fuel Used: None

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: None

Notes on ATVs: Nothing to report

HabCar used and why, where? Not used

CrewCar used and why, where? Off site

General notes and comments: Nothing to report

Summary of internet: Nothing to report

Summary of suits and radios: I am in the process of fixing the charging issues for suits #7 and #9; One of the electrical connections inside of suit #9 is loose and has to be soldered, I think the same thing is wrong with suit #7

Summary of Hab operations: Nothing to report

Summary of GreenHab operations: The GreenHab door handle is loose but gets stuck when tightened; I am planning on checking the spring mechanism inside the handle

Summary of ScienceDome operations: Nothing to report

Summary of RAMM operations: Nothing to report

Summary of any observatory issues: Nothing to report

Summary of health and safety issues: Nothing to report

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: Nothing to report

Science Report – January 11th

Science Report 11 Jan 2019

Crew 202 – Martian Makers

Submitted by EXO Denys Bulikhov

1. Stress levels and decision making during Extravehicular Activity (EVA) by Denys Bulikhov.

Description:Extravehicular activity is an extremely demanding task, physically and psychologically. EVA exposes astronauts to significant physiological stress. Multiple studies have shown that human decision making is strongly influenced by stress. It has been demonstrated that stress changes participant’s attitude towards risk which in case of EVA may lead to dangerous consequences. This particular study is designed to investigate the possible influence of physiological stress experienced by participants during simulated planetary EVA on their decision-making. Different conditions of stress will be simulated (no EVA, regular EVA, some level of stress after EVA). The amount of stress will be evaluated through a procedure approved by Purdue’s Institutional Review Board, involving collection of saliva and appropriate measurements.

Results:All planned data was collected for this experiment. Crew cortisol levels and decision-making patterns were collected in calm conditions, after the EVA’s, and after the Cold Pressor test. Data has multi-directional character (no clearly visible patterns), but it is too early to identify if research questions were answered. The full analysis will be performed during the Spring semester at Purdue University.

2. Radiological mapping of MDRS and surrounding area by Denys Bulikhov.

Description:While Earth is protected from radiation by the thick atmosphere, Mars is much more susceptible to high-energy radiation from space. If astronauts have to spend extended periods of time outside the protection of caves and lava tubes, it is important to know areas with lower concentration of radiations. While the levels measured at MDRS will be relatively low, this project will show techniques to map radiation on Mars.

Two different Geiger counters will be used to measure the amount of ambient radiation at different heights in the areas surrounding the habitat. Some of the measurement will be taken by instrument mounted on a lightweight drone.

Results:Due to the extreme cold weather during the first week, electronic Geiger counter failed to work along with multiple batteries. Measurements with drone were not performed since only the electronic Geiger counter was small enough to be installed on the drone. Radiation readings were collected with analogue Geiger counter and manually recorded along with coordinates of the measurements’ locations. This proved to be very difficult in the spacesuit wearing thick gloves.

Ambient radiation readings were collected in 32 different points around MDRS. The levels were between the lowest 10 uR/h (point 3 around Cactus rd) and the highest 30 uR/h (point 3 around Kissing Camels Ridge). One location between Lith canyon and Dinosaur Quarry had a high reading of 127 uR/h (dark spot on the stone wall, which most likely were fossilized remains), however it wasn’t an ambient radiation but emition of specific material/mineral. The final result of this research will be a map of MDRS and surrounding area with specific points and associated ambient radiation levels.

3. Study of microbial ecosystem in microgreens by Jake Qiu.

Description: The human microbiome encompasses many types of microbial organisms within different taxa groups. The human microbiome encompasses many types of genus including Firmicutes and Bacteroides as well as known microbial pathogens – even in healthy individuals. In long-term space travel, it is common practice to sterilize all equipment and consumables. Unfortunately, there are still sources of microbial contamination due to us – humans require synergistic relationships with microbial lifeforms to maintain good states of health. Thus, when we travel outside of Earth, not everything is sterilized and there are still essential plants that will need to be grown for essential nutrients. In the ecological environment of the rhizosphere – the roots of the microgreens; there are many different microbes that can be harmful to the growth of the plants. There is a need for further investigation on how the human microbiome can impact the rhizosphere of microgreens. I propose to investigate how human-associated microbes can impact the phenotypic properties of the microgreens as well if it harbors any potential pathogens that is a concern for long-term Mars colonization.

Daikon Radish microgreens was used as the candidate organism due to their essential vitamins and fast harvest date. Vitamins are crucial in human biology and required for long-term planetary exploration. Unfortunately, they have a quick degradation rate in comparison to other nutrients in shelf-stable products. Growing microgreens in space and planetary colonization provides an answer to these essential nutrients, thus I am using Daikon Radish microgreens which was chosen as the candidate organism to test how human associated microbes impacts the rhizosphere of microgreens.

Results:Three conditions will be tested: grey water, soil, and control. Grey water will be extracted from the kitchen water, toilet water, and dirty dishes. Soil condition will be extracted from the soil in pots of radishes in the greenhouse. Control will be boiled water. Each condition will be used to inoculate the Throughout growth, each day will be sampled with a swab to obtain microbes and will then be fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde. On harvest date, daikon radish microgreens will be characterized with an analog scale and graduated cylinder to obtain fresh weight and fresh volume. Shoot length and leaf size will be determined by ruler.

All extracted microbial swabs will be processed back at Purdue University to obtain community structure of all conditions throughout growth. Bacterial DNA will be extracted from swabs through genomic DNA extraction kits. Amplicon sequencing will be performed on either the hypervariable region V4-V5 of the 16s rRNA gene or full-length 16s rRNA gene. Genomic sequencing will be analyzed either by Nextgen sequencing or nanopore sequencer. Sequence analysis can be determined by QIIME to understand the community structure of the rhizosphere.

4. Composting and recycling waste on Mars by Kasey Hilton.

Description:The purpose of this project was to log and analyze the waste produced at the Mars Desert Research Station. Due to the restricted amount of storage available during space travel and limited resources in a Martian habitat, reducing and reusing as much waste as possible is vital. Analyzing and sorting the trash allows for the creation of a compost pile. A compost pile would not only provide a way for waste to be reused that would otherwise take up space but would also provide plants with nutrients needed to grow and would introduce microorganisms into the environment. For a healthy compost, a 1:25 ratio of nitrogen rich to carbon rich waste is needed. A log of human waste was also collected as a secondary resource in case trash alone could not create the proper ratio of nitrogen to carbon rich waste. This was achieved by each of the crew members tallying what kind of waste they produced in the bathroom. Finally, the trash from the campus was separated into compostable and non-compostable. The compostable waste was then sorted into carbon rich and nitrogen rich and the non-compostable was sorted in to recyclable and non-recyclable.

Results:Although all the final numbers for how much waste was produced have not been calculated yet, it was obvious that the station’s trash did not produce enough carbon waste to create a healthy compost. Human waste would have to be added in order to create a proper ratio of nitrogen and carbon rich compounds. It was originally hypothesized that there would not be enough nitrogen rich waste, but in the end there was actually a large excess of nitrogen rich waste. Outside of paper towels and wipes there was a lack of carbon rich waste. Carbon rich waste is typically things like wood chips and leaves, and since those things aren’t found on Mars, it would have to be made up for with other kinds of waste.

5. Classroom outreach via asynchronous Q&A by Alexandra Dukes.

The original mission plan for outreach included three projects: Question and Answer Classroom Outreach, Age Focused Research Descriptions, and a Mars Cooking Demonstration.

The Question and Answer Classroom Outreach was intended to be a focused interaction between selected schools in California and Nevada in which the crew would answer questions via video sent by students. This project evolved into a new outreach initiative called “Crew 202 20 Questions”. These videos capture crew members in their working environment and picks their brain about their role at MDRS, their research, and their general thoughts on space exploration. We believe these videos could be used in classrooms as a way to engage students in different aspects of space exploration including chemistry, geology, biology, and psychology. This could also be used as a tool for general public outreach to give insight into MDRS and why everyone should be excited about the future of human space exploration!

The Age Focused Research Descriptions were intended to be descriptions of key research projects described for three different age groups: K-3, 6-8, and 9-12. The last two weeks were spent observing the crew during their research projects and gathering as much information as possible. The plan going forward is to create the three descriptions for one research project a month up to five research projects (one per crew member excluding the journalist). These descriptions will be delivered to each crew member and be used to facilitate outreach.

The Mars Cooking Demonstration was intended to be a Food Network style video on how to cook on Mars aimed toward general public outreach. This idea has evolved to become a picture by picture recipe guide on how to cook biscuits and gravy out of the dehydrated Mars ingredients. The pictures will be taken on Sol 14 and a “Mars recipe” will be posted online in the next few months. We believe this will be a great way to shed light on what it is like to live on a Mars simulation and give future Martians a few tips on how to make their dehydrated food dust, not only edible, but delicious!

6. Analysis of mineralogy and regime of sand dunes and fluvial processes by Ellen Czaplinski.

Description: Features found in the MDRS study area, such as paleo channels and dunes, provide opportunities to access exposures that detail their depositional environment and the role that water played in their formation. Further, studying inverted channels and dunes near MDRS contributes to our understanding of the sedimentation processes that shaped these features, providing an Earth analogue to ones found on Mars. These characteristics are suitable to support the important task of determining efficient spectroscopic techniques for in situ sample analysis to prepare for future crewed missions to Mars. Spectral information of samples around the MDRS are useful in comparing this area to Mars. Smectites like montmorillonite and nontronite are common around the habitat and are two of the most common clay minerals found on Mars. Studying clay minerals is relevant in that the identification of specific clay minerals can offer information such as the geochemistry of the primary rocks. Analyzing these types of clays in the IR is important, since IR spectroscopy techniques have the ability to differentiate 1:1 versus 2:1 silicate-layer type clays, as well as different chemical compositions of clays (montmorillonite versus nontronite).

Results: In total, Crew 202performed 12 EVAs during our two week stay, 10 of which geologicalsamples were collected and returned. EVA destinations included Kissing Camel Ridge W, Greenstone Rd, Hab Ridge, Marble Ritual, Stream Bed Connector, Galileo Rd 1104/Cactus Rd 1104, Beige Moon, Gray Moon, Glistening Seas, and Lith Canyon. The geological samples were organized based on their EVA number, collection location, and initial observations. Using the TREK portable spectrometer, we have taken spectral measurements of all samples. After the mission, we will then characterize the minerals present in the samples.

Some EVAs did not allow us to take the TREK with us (e.g. The Moons/Glistening Seas/Stream Bed Connector since the ATVs were our mode of travel). In these cases, we were only able to take spectra in the lab, therefore not able to compare in situ spectra to laboratory spectra. While there are no extensive dune fields present near MDRS, many of our EVA destinations included areas where enough sand was present to form ripples and cross-bedded sandstones. These samples were collected at several locations (Greenstone Rd, Kissing Camel Ridge W, Cactus Rd 1104, and Lith Canyon). Other features of interest on our EVAs included large rock falls of
Cretaceous boulders that originally rested atop the hills (e.g. Kissing Camel Ridge).

These boulders were also found at the base of hills on Cactus Rd, Stream Bed Connector, and Lith Canyon. At every location of the Cretaceous-aged boulders, we used a rock hammer to chip off a piece of the boulder and noticed a mineral faint green in color that formed a thin line adjacent to the sandstone layer. It is no surprise that many of our samples included clays, sandstones, and mudstones, as these are some of the most common geologic samples around MDRS. We also collected many samples of smooth, dark rocks and mixtures of clay minerals that appear to be altered (possibly due to heat).

Greenhab Report – January 11th

Crew 202 Greenhab Report 11-Jan-2019
Greenhab Officer:
Jake Qiu

Environmental Control:
Heating
Cooling w/ ambient air (1hrs)

40% Shade Cloth on
80% Shade Cloth on

Average Temperatures:
Low: 24.0°C
High: 37.8°C

Hours of Supplemental Light:
5

Daily Water Usage of Crops:
11.5 gallons

Water in Blue Tank (gallons):
54%, 163.5 gallons

Times of Watering for Crops:
0803
1417
1923

Changes to crops:
* Most plants display same progress
* Microgreens were harvested
* 2 pots of spinach is dead, will toss

Narrative:
Watered plants throughout the day as needed. Microgreen project has been harvested
and obtaining experimental data is still ongoing.

Experiment Results:
Date: SOL13 Crew 202 (SOL14 overall)

Watered all 21 trays as needed.

Watered Crew 201 experiments

Harvest:

Support/Supplies Needed:

Crew 202 Mission Summary – January 11th

Mars Desert Research Station
Mission Summary

Crew 202 – MartianMakers
Dec 28th, 2018 – Jan 12th, 2019

Crew Members:
Commander and Crew Astronomer: Dr. Cesare Guariniello
Executive Officer: Denys Bulikhov
Crew Engineer: Kasey Hilton
Health and Safety Officer and GreenHab Officer: Jake Qiu
Crew Geologist: Ellen Czaplinski
Crew Journalist: Alexandra Dukes

See Mission Patch

Acknowledgements:
The Crew of MDRS 202 would like to express their gratitude to all the people who made this mission possible: our deepest thanks to Dr. Robert Zubrin, President of the Mars Society; Dr. Shannon Rupert, MDRS Director and Program Manager, who made us feel warmly welcome at MDRS campus; Atila Meszaros, Assistant Director, who for the first time experienced being the only resident manager of MDRS, and performed greatly with our crew; Dr. Peter Detterline, Director of Observatories, who trained and assisted our Crew Astronomer before and during the mission; David Murray, GreenHab Team Lead; Michael Stoltz, The Mars Society Liaison, Media and Public Relations; the Mission Support CapCom who served during our rotation: Sylvain Burdot, Johanna Kollewyn, Andrew Foster, Justin Dingman, Bernard Dubb, Samuel Cadavid, and Makiah Eustice; Purdue MARS, which initiated the crew selection for this mission; all the departments and people at Purdue University who supported this mission; and all the unnamed people who work behind the scene to make this effort possible, and who gave us a chance to be an active part of the effort towards human exploration of Mars.

Mission description and outcome:
MDRS 202 “MartianMakers” is the second all-Purdue crew at MDRS. This mission had an ambitious plan, and it was greatly successful. All crewmembers performed to the highest standards and provided good work on their research projects, as well as support to projects of the other crewmembers. With a little help from meetings and information provided before the mission, the crew adapted to life at MDRS very quickly, and even when tiredness began creeping in, the morale was always high, as demonstrated by a healthy number of smiles and happy faces up to the very last day. As expected, we found out that patience and flexibility are the most helpful qualities in a simulated mission where the crew lives in close quarters for an extended period of time. The research projects that required Extra Vehicular Activities (EVA) provided enough data despite very cold days, and the fresh snow which accumulated twice during the rotation and melted down leaving muddy trails behind. The research described below touched many aspects of human exploration of Mars, ranging from geology, microbiology, astronomy, and potential use of waste to the psychological and social aspects of the mission. The crew was also involved in various outreach projects, which is an important objective of MDRS.

As commander, I am extremely proud of this crew, which was capable to keep the highest level of fidelity and realism in the situation. The crew properly followed safety and research protocols, worked as a tightened group, and in the structured daily schedule was capable to mix long hours of research and exploration activities with personal and team-bonding time. The pace kept throughout the mission was adequate for the objectives proposed in the mission plan, but at the same time slow enough, as expected in a long-term Martian settlement. The crew began preparing their projects long before the mission, collected useful and interesting data during their time and MDRS, and has plans for use of the data after the completion of the mission, as well as ideas for laying foundations for continued collaboration of Purdue crews with the MDRS program and for supporting MDRS with products and manuals for future crews.

Picture 1: MDRS 202 Crew posing in front of the habitat with a "thank you" sign for the Mars Society. Left to right: Commander and Crew Astronomer Cesare Guariniello, Crew Journalist Alexandra Dukes, Crew Engineer Kasey Hilton, Health and Safety Officer and GreenHab Officer Jake Qiu, Executive Officer Denys Bulikhov, and Crew Geologist Ellen Czaplinski

Summary of Extra Vehicular Activities (EVA)
After being trained in the use of rovers and in the safety protocols for EVA, the crew had twelve excursions during rotation 202, two of which being traditional short EVA to Marble Ritual. The EVA served four research projects: study of mineralogy and regime of sand dunes, stress levels and decision making, autonomy for crew EVA, and radiological mapping of MDRS. Due to snow in the first days and mud in the last days, the crew could not reach the end of Cactus Rd in the East side, and Skyline Rim in the West side, but explored various areas of interest in the Morrison Formation and Dakota Sandstone. The crew optimized the time on the field, limiting the driving time to 15-25% of the entire EVA duration.

Table 1. Summary of EVA, indicating Sol of execution, duration, distance covered, and time percentage spent in the field

EVA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total
Sol 2 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Duration (h:mm) 0:36 0:47 2:43 1:54 2:58 2:10 1:45 3:10 2:26 2:47 1:46 1:35 24:37
Distance (miles) 1.0 1.0 6.2 3.5 6.3 4.9 4.7 6.3 10.5 9.5 3.0 1.2 58.1
% not driving 89% 88% 82% 89% 85% 75% 77% 83% 73% 79% 81% 100%

Picture 2: Figure 2. Three-dimensional view of the EVA performed by MDRS 202 crew

Research Projects:

1.
Title: Fuzzy Logic Decision Making in support of autonomy for crew EVAs
Author: Cesare Guariniello
Description, activities, and results: The project compares decision-making based on a fuzzy-logic intelligent machine with decision-making by the crew when events occur during EVA. During the longest EVA, the Commander suggested potential events, including failed communications, rover failures, crew injury, unexpected environmental conditions, and asked the crew to describe what they would decide for the rest of the EVA in that situation, and why. For some events, the decision was unanimous (evaluate the criticality of the situation, then proceed), when the perceived risk was low, and the objective of the EVA were not even partially accomplished. Other events entered gray areas, in which the crew at times did not consider the potential risks to exceed the potential gain from continuing the EVA or moving to a secondary objective. In these cases, the decisions of the machine were more conservative.

2.
Title: Stress levels and decision making during Extravehicular Activity (EVA)
Author: Denys Bulikhov
Description, activities, and results: The project evaluates decision-making patterns at different level of stress, including calm conditions, after long EVA, and after the Cold Pressor test. This data will identify potential areas of danger due to misjudgment and faulty decision-making in conditions of stress. All planned data was collected for this experiment, and the first results have been evaluated. Due to a bug in the application used to analyze the data, final results will be available after the end of the mission, with an updated version of the application.

3.
Title: Study of microbial ecosystem in microgreens
Author: Jake Qiu
Description, activities, and results: The project studies the evolution of microbial ecosystems in microgreens treated with different types of water, to compare the community structure between different conditions and estimate the possibility that microbes introduced in the environment by astronauts develop any pathogenic strains. Multiple trays of microgreen were grown, and microbes were studied with a NASA DNA sequencer. Phenotypic properties were evaluated in-situ, while full results on microbial community require post-processing in laboratory that will be executed after the end of the mission.

Picture 3: MDRS 202 GreenHab Officer setting up microgreens for the experiment on microbial exosystems

4.
Title: Analysis of mineralogy and regime of sand dunes and fluvial processes
Author: Ellen Czaplinski
Description, activities, and results: many features in the MDRS area were studied during 10 of the 12 EVA, and sand samples were collected in various locations. The in-situ portion of the project was completed by collecting visible and near-infrared spectra of more than 90 geological samples in the area, mainly including clays (illite and montmorillonite) and gypsum. The work will proceed after the end of the mission by comparing samples collected in the field with samples taken in laboratory.

Picture 4: Crew Engineer Kasey Hilton points at a rock she just collected for crew geologist Ellen Czaplinski

5.
Title: Composting and recycling waste on Mars
Author: Kasey Hilton
Description, activities, and results: this project studied the waste produced at the habitat, to evaluate the nitrogen and carbon content. This is very important when planning to use the waste to create a compost pile, which would provide a way for waste to be reused and provide plants with nutrients. A healthy compost requires a 1:25 ratio of nitrogen-rich to carbon-rich waste. Human waste can be used to modify the ratio towards carbon-richer compost, therefore an anonymous journal of human waste production has been kept, in order to evaluate the amount of compost that could be produced. Due to the lack of carbon-rich waste and to the large amount of food, which is nitrogen-rich, the waste produced at the habitat resulted highly nitrogen-rich and would require human waste added to modify the ratio of nitrogen to carbon.

6.
Title: Classroom Outreach via asynchronous Q&A
Author: Alexandra Dukes
Description, activities, and results: Questions of interest about MDRS and living on Mars were prepared for the crew. Each crew member was videotaped answering the questions in a “73 questions” Vogue format, and the videos will be used for outreach after the end of the mission.

7.
Title: Messier objects for outreach
Author: Cesare Guariniello
Description, activities, and results: with the support of Dr. Peter Detterline and Dr. Shannon Rupert, the Crew Astronomer and Atila Meszaros helped improving the focus of the MDRS-WF telescope. In the months preceding the mission and during the mission itself, the Crew Astronomer captured and processed images of various deep-space objects, including M1, M31, M33, M42, M51, M78, IC405, the Rosette Nebula, the Horsehead Nebula, the Rosette Nebula, and comet C46P/Wirtanen. The images will be used for outreach and education.

Picture 5: M31 Andromeda Galaxy imaged with the MDRS-WF telescope

8.
Title: Radiological mapping of MDRS and surrounding areas
Author: Denys Bulikhov
Description, activities, and results: Addressing the problem of radiation on Mars, this project simulated a possible activity that astronaut will perform on the surface of Mars, and ambient radiation readings were collected in 32 different points around MDRS. The levels were between 10 μR/h around Cactus Rd and 30 μR/h around Kissing Camel Ridge. However, one location on the southern wall of Lith Canyon had a reading of 127 μR/h, possibly due to the presence of fossilized remains in the area. A map of MDRS with associated ambient radiation levels will be produced after the end of the mission.

9.
Title: Students outreach on projects towards Martian mission
Author: Alexandra Dukes
Description, activities, and results: The ongoing project is producing descriptions of the research performed by members of MDRS 202 aimed at different levels: K-6, 7-12, and college.

10.
Title: Photometry of faint objects
Author: Cesare Guariniello
Description, activities, and results: this project used the MDRS-14 telescope before the beginning of the mission, to evaluate the photometry of Pluto and Makemake. Due to weather conditions and some remaining problem with the centering of the telescope, preference went to imaging with the MDRS-WF telescope, and more photometry will be performed after the end of the mission.

11.
Title: MARSter Chef
Author: Alexandra Dukes
Description, activities, and results: the project showcases how the rehydrated food available at MDRS is used to prepare delicious breakfast meal

Mars Desert Research Station Crew 202

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