Author: jburk

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EVA Report – January 08th

EVA #9

Author: Cesare Guariniello

Purpose of EVA: Study and collect geological samples from the upper layers of the area (Skyline Rim, Dakota Sandstone)

Start time: 11:09

End time: 13:35

Narrative: First of all, the EVA crew is grateful to the Program Director Dr. Shannon Rupert and to the Assistant Program Director Atila Meszaros for authorizing the use of the ATV, providing ATV training, and trusting us with the logistics of this EVA for possible contingencies. With the snow almost completely melted in all locations, Cow Dung Road was wet in a few points, but in perfect conditions. Brahe Hwy was a little muddier than the main road, but still safe with the ATV. However, right at the intersection of Brahe Hwy and Copernicus Hwy 1574 south, the road became very muddy. Notwithstanding the absence of snow and ice, the EVA crew decided to be conservative. To avoid risk of losing friction on slopes due to the amount of mud on the tires, we elected to turn around without reaching the intended final destination. Sticking to the submitted roads and routes, we added stops on our way back to study locations close to the road about 100-150ft above the elevation of the habitat. The first stop (35 minutes) was at the intersection of Brahe Hwy and Copernicus Hwy, where we collected samples of crystalline gypsum from the region of the Moon. The second stop (40 minutes) was at the intersection of Brahe Hwy and Cow Dung Rd, in the region of the Glistening Sea, where we collected fluvial pebbles and crystalline gypsum, and studied the area of the water stream flowing towards the East. The third stop (20 minutes) was at the intersection of Cow Dung Rd and the Stream Bed Connector, where we walked to the entrance of the small canyon carved by the stream and identified sand deposits. Due to the decision to abort the intended destination and turn around, the EVA lasted 2 hours less than proposed, but yielded an interesting study of the crystalline salts, possible ancient evaporites, in the lower portion of the Cretaceous layers (Dakota formation). Once back to the habitat, the EVA crew scraped most of the mud from the ATV and polished the EVA suits from the mud. During an engineering EVA, the Crew Engineer and Executive Officer evaluated the remaining mud on the ATV, which will be further scraped once dry.

Destination: Skyline Rim (intended). Turned around along Copernicus Hwy 1574 (actual)

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): E515300, N4251250 (intended). E515907, N4254093 (actual)

Participants: Cesare Guariniello (CMD), Ellen Czaplinski (GEO), Alexandra Dukes (JOU)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Rd, Brahe Hwy 1572, Brahe Hwy 1575, Copernicus Hwy 1574

Mode of travel: driving and walking

Vehicle used: ATV Honda, 300, and 350.1

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GreenHab Report – January 08th

Greenhab Officer:
Jake Qiu

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

40% Shade Cloth on
80% Shade Cloth on

Average Temperatures:
Low: 25.6°C
High: 36.7°C

Hours of Supplemental Light:
5

Daily Water Usage of Crops:
9.5 gallons

Water in Blue Tank (gallons):
65%, 197.5 gallons

Times of Watering for Crops:
0621
1201
1615
1820

Changes to crops:
* Moved location of tomatoes
* Moved location of some trays of microgreens
* Carrots starting to look better after fertilizer
* Cucumbers seem to have same progress
* Other plants are showing either normal or good progress

Narrative:
Watered plants throughout the day as needed. Did light watering throughout the day
and moved the tomatoes on tiered bench at far right corner.

Experiment Results:
Date: SOL10 Crew 202 (SOL14 overall)

Watered all 21 trays as needed. Some trays of microgreens are looking lackluster while
other are looking great. May be due to the spatial location of the trays.

Watered Crew 201 experiments

Harvest:

* 3g – Cilantro

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Sol Summary – January 08th

Sol: 10

Summary Title: Take me home, muddy road

Author’s name: Cesare Guariniello

Mission Status: While our return to Earth is getting closer, the crew is in full activity with the final part of their data collection and research project.

Sol Activity Summary: this morning started with yoga and meditation, in view of a long EVA. After breakfast, due to the current conditions of the road and to the intended destination of the proposed EVA, the crew worked out the details of the EVA with the Program Director and Assistant Program Director. After receiving the "go, but be careful", three crew members departed on their ATV. I have never visited the Skyline Rim region, after giving up my place to a crew mate last year and have been craving this excursion into the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary for a long time. Unfortunately, even this year I was not able to reach the area (already planning for next year. Third is the charm, right?), after encountering a thick layer of mud along Copernicus Hwy 1574 south and deciding to abort the primary destination out of safety concerns. The ATV would probably have made it, but the risk of getting stuck due to muddy tires was a possibility, and since these layers have been there for 145 million years, there is a good chance that they will be there next time I am around! The EVA had a few intermediate stops on the way back home. In the meanwhile, the crew members in the habitat swept the science dome for the fourth time in the mission and began a deep cleaning of both the lower and the upper deck of the habitat. Luckily, the EVA crew managed to scrape most of the thick chunks of mud from their boots, and to clean their EVA suits and flight suits without destroying the great job made by the rest of the crew. After an afternoon of work and some rest, we are now ready for a relaxed evening.

Look Ahead Plan: Tomorrow we will attempt an EVA in the area of Lith Canyon, pending condition of the area and behavior of rover batteries (they performed well since the temperature increased)

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Sunny and warmer, snow almost completely melted

Crew Physical Status: Tired and in good health

EVA: The Commander, Crew Geologist, and Crew Journalist rode the ATVs towards Skyline Rim, but turned around short of the final destination due to excessive amount of mud on the road. Stops on the way back provided insight into the late Jurassic / early Cretaceous layers

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Operations Report, Greenhab Report, EVA report, EVA request, Journalist Report

Support Requested: None

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Journalist Report – January 7th

MDRS Crew 202, Journalist Report

Sol 9 – 01/07/2018

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

Astronauts? You mean, sit on top of a rocket and launched into space? Sounds dangerous; when do we go?

As we catapult into our second week on Mars, the crew cannot believe how fast the days have flown by! How is it possible that our time is almost over here on the Red Planet? It seems like yesterday we had just arrived as a fresh, wide eyed and bushy tailed crew. In a mere week, we are old veterans, working through the routine, a family of determined Martians still bent on completing our ambitious mission goals. Making sure every day counts towards our research and our life as a Crew.

It is at this approximate half way point that we reflect on our key simulation question: Would this be done on Mars?

Mars is approximately one tenth the mass of Earth and one third the gravity. Unfortunately, science has not found a way to simulate different celestial body gravities for long durations of time. Get on it science. It takes from 6 to 8 months to travel to Mars from Earth when Mars is near its closest point to Earth (~55 million km away) which occurs every two years. Imagine how Mark Watney felt while waiting for his Crew to make the journey all the way back to Earth and circle back around to rescue him from Mars! We are very thankful to have more than potatoes in our pantry. This equates to a maximum of a 22 minute delay in communication one way, 44 minutes round trip to send a message and receive a response. This will force future Martians to be heavily independent when it comes to all aspects of their life including habitat maintenance, research, and emergency procedures. Here on Mars Desert Research Station, we are given a two hour communication window with our “CapCom”, with whom we transmit reports about the state of our campus, extra-vehicular activity requests, and summaries of our research progress. This is all performed through email and is received spontaneously during these two hours. Not quite like Mars, but we do our best to simulate the communication by having limited internet (~500 MB per day) and transmitting text messages similar to those that would be used on Mars. Mars is desolate, isolated, and magnificent. Check, check, and check. While we cannot simulate the gravity, and the communication isn’t a perfect fidelity, we feel we have truly experienced as close to on Mars as we could achieve in our 2 week mission and could not be more excited about what our last week holds.

While confined in a small space with six people, in a sitcom-like environment, there are several lifestyle debates that have risen from the crew. Two of which we would like to invite our fellow Earthlings to weigh in on: Which way does the toilet paper hang? What is defined as a nap? These seem fairly trivial – It depends on the person. No. Not in this crew. These have been heated topics for several days and we are determined to debate it until we perish and turn to dust with our gravestones eternally making our arguments.

On the toilet paper front, everyone is an over the roll hanger expect our Crew Engineer. She prefers an under orientation… which is wrong. This has turned into a war of flipping the toiler paper back and forth in the small, motorhome sized bathroom for the duration of our mission.

Naps are common on Mars because it is exhausting being a Martian! Carrying 20 lbs backpacks on 2-3 hour extra-vehicular activities typically leads to crashing on the couches in the living area to recharge before continuing the research projects or preparing to cook dinner. Our Crew Engineer has been known to take 2-3 hour naps after strenuous activity. Our Executive Officer feels this is far too long to be defined as a “nap” and considers this “falling asleep”. The Commander has sided with the Executive Officer. The Geologist and Journalist are on the side of the Crew Engineer, defining naps as sleeping during the day for any duration of time. Our Health & Safety Officer is usually asleep during these debates.

We are in a stale mate on both fronts, and would like to hear Earth’s opinion. Should future Martians place their toilet paper over or under? How should naps be defined in the Martian schedule?

Movie (or Show) Answer: The Right Stuff

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Operations Report – January 7th

Crew 202 Operations Report 07-JAN-2019

SOL: 9

Name of person filing report: Kasey Hilton

Non-nominal systems: Nothing to report

Notes on non-nominal systems: Nothing to report

Generator (hours run): 19hr 37min; Turned on last night (06Jan2019) at 13:24; Turned off this morning (07Jan2019) at 9:01; Turned on tonight (07Jan2019) at 16:26

Solar SOC – Turned on (06Jan2019) 72%; Turned off (07Jan2019) 100%; Turned on (07Jan2019) 79%

Diesel Reading – 70%

Propane Reading – 41%

Ethanol Free Gasoline – Not in use

Water (auxiliary tank) – Not in use

Water (static tank) – About 60%; 320 gallons

Auxiliary to Static tank transfer – No

Gallons transferred: Not applicable

Water in GreenHab – About 65%; 200 gallons

Water (loft) – At level marker 12

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

Water Meter: 01398787

Toilet tank emptied: Yes

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: Yes

Hours: 66.2

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 57%

Currently charging: Yes

Opportunity rover used: No

Hours: 45.4

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

Curiosity rover used: Yes

Hours: 64.5

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 69%

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: Not applicable

Oil Added? No

ATV Fuel Used: None

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: None

Notes on ATVs: All ATVs were started to prevent the batteries from freezing

HabCar used and why, where? Not used

CrewCar used and why, where? Off site

General notes and comments: Nothing to report

Summary of internet: Internet is not refreshing correctly; SystemControlCenter.com will show that we have no data left at the beginning of the day before anyone has turned electronics on or will show that we have 1GB but will be very slow

Summary of suits and radios: Battery in suit #9 was replaced because the battery had a voltage less than 12V

Summary of Hab operations: Side panel on west side of Hab is loose and waving in the wind, making a lot of noise; A bolt on the exhaust pipe on west side of Hab came loose

Summary of GreenHab operations: Nothing to report

Summary of ScienceDome operations: Hot plate in ScienceDome starts producing a burning smell once the temperature is raised above 200C

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: We replaced 3 suit batteries in the last two days and replaced a charger last week, I think there are only two more back up batteries left and no back up chargers left in the suit supply box

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EVA Report 8 – January 7th

Crew 202 EVA Report 7-Jan-2019

EVA #8

Author: Denys Bulikhov (EXO)

Purpose of EVA: Collection of geological samples and ambient radiation readings

Start time: 10:55

End time: 14:05

Narrative: EVA 8 crew took Cow Dung Road up to the Galileo Rd and then down to the Cactus Rd. Crew came back to the same spot where EVA 6 crew investigated geological samples 2 days ago. EVA 8 crew attempted to find the lost trail since the snow melted down a little. EVA 8 crew drove around 0.5 mile around the plateau looking for the trail without any success. At the farthest point crew left the rovers and walked to one of the canyons where they collected geological samples, ambient radiation readings and took photographs on the rim of the canyon. Later they again attempted to locate the trail collecting the samples on the way. Trail was not found. After Spirit rover reached 60% of charge, EVA 8 crew came back to the hab.

Destination: Cactus Rd, canyons

Coordinates: N520500, E4252000

Participants: Denys Bulikhov (EXO), Kasey Hilton (ENG), Jake Qiu (HSO)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road, Galileo Rd, Cactus Rd.

Mode of travel: Driving and walking

Vehicles used: Spirit and Curiosity.

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Sol Summary 9 – January 7th

Crew 202 Sol Summary Report 07-Jan-2019

Sol: 9

Summary Title: Some thoughts to home

Author’s name: Cesare Guariniello

Mission Status: Second week is proceeding according to plans, all research projects working as expected, with much data collected and some more work to do once back on Earth

Sol Activity Summary: After a cookies and movie night yesterday, strong wind caused a noisy night in the habitat, but the morning routine of stretching got all of us ready to go as usual. In the morning and early afternoon, three crew members performed a long EVA, while the crew astronomer worked in the Musk solar observatory and the crew geologist sorted and analyze the rocks collected in the last few days. The late afternoon and evening were also spent in working on research projects.

At the beginning of this week, a though begins to crawl in: we will be back on Earth and outside this habitat at the end of the week. However, there is still much more to do, and while we think of home, school, work, and ice cream, we are still Martians, ready to put our effort into the research we are doing and into the many daily activities that keep our habitat up and running.

Look Ahead Plan: Tomorrow we will have an EVA towards Skylim Rim to study and collect samples from the Mancos shale layer

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Windy and sunny, with snow melting and muddy trails

Crew Physical Status: The expected amount of tiredness, but morning routines is helping with any soreness

EVA: The Executive Officer, Crew Engineer, and Health and Safety Officer had an EVA to Cactus Road and the Canyon area, where they collected samples for the crew geologist and measurements of radiation

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

Support Requested: None

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Journalist Report – January 6th

Sol 8 – 01/06/2018

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

“Space,” it says, “is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.”

—

Morning Song: Someone New by Hozier.

Morning Routine: Stretching.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Blueberries.

EVA #7: Collect. More. Rocks.

But none of that matters today. The routine, the unbelievably scenic views, the amazing science being done during this mission. None of it… Because today, after eight days… Eight long, dry shampoo filled, wipey scrubbed, hair stiff as uncooked spaghetti noodles days. I. Finally. Took. A. Shower.

While on Mars, water is a limited resource just like anything else. It’s hard to find on Mars; therefore, it must be conserved. Our mission instructions allot us a 2 minute Navy shower every 2-3 days. The instructions for a 2 minute Navy shower: Step 1: Turn on the water. Step 2: Jump in the water. Step 3: Rinse and jump out. Step 4: Turn off the water. Perform Steps 1-4 in under 45 seconds. Step 5: Scrub your body with soap in 15 to 30 seconds. Step 6: Repeat Steps 1-4 to rinse the soap off. It is a stark change from my 45 minute showers back on Earth, and it is not particularly pleasant, but it gets the job done.

But why did I wait 8 days? Our habitat holds enough water for 1-2 people to take a shower per day. Added bonus, our water heater has a mean personality and rarely works, no matter how nicely we ask. Our Engineer caved first. She described her shower has having a brief moment of warmth. Our Commander and Executive Officer experienced the same sensations of freezing water, pleasant warmth, and scalding, burn your skin off, temperature, then back to freezing cold. Our poor Geologist only felt the ice chattering cold. There was one common reaction to taking a shower across the crew, we have been reborn. It is as if you are a new person, slipping into a fresh skin like a recently molted lizard. Nobody particularly smells on this crew (or maybe we have just gotten used to each other’s smells), but in an effort to conserve water, I endured the dry shampoo and baby wipe scrub downs until I couldn’t possibly take it anymore! And I swear my hair has never felt so soft as it does today. In fresh clean clothes. With my fresh clean body.

That’s it for today. That was the highlight. We are always thinking of our loved ones. We hope they don’t miss us too much, and we want them to know that we are having a fantastic time on the Red Planet. We can’t wait to share all of our adventures with them when we return… And take a 45 minute shower. With working warm water. And ice cream.

—

Movie (or Show) Answer: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

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