Author: jburk

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Science Report April 25th

Hello Mission Support,

Here is the Science Report for 25 April 2018
Crew 193 – PHEnOM Gold Crew
Submitted by CGA Eric Shear

1. Emergency EVAC EVA: EVA 6 did not find any suitable locations for evacuation in Lith Canyon. The distance is very far from the hab, difficult to reach and quite exposed to the environment. Although it is beautiful! EVA 7 was to walk south alongside the Hab Ridge Road on foot, but was cut short due to warm conditions. Further investigation of possible locations will be done on future EVAs.

2. Sunspot and Solar Flare Monitoring: The sunspot from the previous observation has split into three smaller ones, and one prominence was seen. For photos, please refer to the astronomy report.

3. Shortwave Texting on EVA’s: After troubleshooting, one Beartooth device continues to not work today. We are awaiting tech support from the manufacturer. In the meantime, we continue to use the note app on our phones to communicate with our deaf crew member.

4. GPS Route Measurements: A GPS tracking route was successfully taken on EVA 7 with the Garmin GPSmap 60Cx. On this EVA, we walked 641 meters (roundtrip).

5. Waterless dish cleaning: Baseline testing was completed this afternoon. 2 swabs were taken from dirty dishes in the sink and two swabs were taken from dishes in the cupboard. The swabs were rubbed on a water/agor mix in petri dishes and will be watched over the next few days for bacteria growth.

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Astronomy Report April 25th

Astronomy Report
Name: Eric Shear
Crew: 193
Date: April 25, 2018

Sky Conditions: Clear

Wind Conditions: None

Observation Start Time: 08.30

Observation End Time: 09.15

Summary:

Our CGA continued his task of monitoring the sun for sunspot activity. The sunspot observed yesterday has now split into three smaller ones. One larger prominence was visible with the eye, but not with the Skyris camera. No flares or filaments were seen.

Photos were taken with the Skyris camera and the best image processed in Autostakkert, Registax, Photoshop, and PowerPoint to colorize and bring out contrast. The results are attached. The image labeled “prominence” is where the prominence was seen, but the camera did not pick up on it.

Objects Viewed: Sun

Problems Encountered: Skyris camera did not show the prominence that was visible with the eye, no matter how the image was processed.

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Journalist Report April 25th

Journalist Report – Earth-Date 25APR2018 / Sol 3
Author: Shawna Pandya

Never a dull moment on Mars! Over the past 24 hours, this intrepid and resilient crew has bonded over learning the basics of American Sign Language (fun fact: you can actually count to 999 on one hand) and sharing stories of diving with sharks, meetings astronauts, driving in Europe, chasing typhoons in Guam and scaling peaks in the Rockies (told you we weren’t dull!).

Our day today started with a rude wake-up at 0300 local time as the Commander and HSO went to investigate a persistent banging in the rear airlock (and the HSO learned a valuable life-lesson about
double-checking the security of the bolt on the outer airlock door in future instances).

The day continued with a set of adventures, as EVA Team 1 (Team Canada!) overshot their intended scouting site, landing in Lith Canyon instead of the Moon – luckily some good scientific data was still accrued, and the Team will attempt to shoot for the Moon again tomorrow. EVA Team 2 furthered their progress with the MDRS sign project in the RAM during their mid-day EVA, but responsibly chose to cut their EVA short some time later, realizing the real risk of heat stroke from working in the hot RAM at mid-Sol.

Science, GreenHab and Hab operations continued on as usual, and Gold Crew will cap the Sol off with an evening of R&R that includes a movie, some more team-bonding through shared adventures and ASL lessons, and a delicious Martian spread of spaghetti alfredo, spaghetti with Martian tomato sauce, and some good ol’ fashioned Hab-made cornbread.

Gold Crew 193 looks forward to greeting Sol 4 with enthusiasm, and facing any challenges the Martian winds bring the same way we always have – as a team, and with enthusiasm!

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Operations Report – April 24th

Crew 193 Operations Report 24Apr2018

SOL: 2

Name of person filing report: David Attig

Non-nominal systems: One piece EVA suit #10 and two piece EVA suit # 6 have issues

Notes on non-nominal systems: One two piece suit (6) has straps broken holding on neck ring, Visor on suit 10 is heavily scratched and deemed unuseable. See Sol Summary for more details.

Generator (hours run): 12

Solar— SOC 86 % (Before generator is run at night)

Diesel – 75 %

Propane – 60 psi.

ATV Fuel (Ethanol free gasoline) – 0.75 gallons.

Water (trailer) – 0 gallons.

Water (storage) – 550 gallons

Water (static) – 410 gallons

Trailer to Static Pump used – no

Water (loft) – Static to Loft Pump used – yes

Water Meter: 134008.9

Toilet tank emptied: yes
Date last emptied: April 24

ATV’s (Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.2, 350.3):
Honda Used?: Yes
300 Used? Yes
350.1 Used? No
350.2 Used? Yes
350.3 Used? No

ATV Oil Checked?: Yes

ATV Oil Added?: No

ATV Fuel Used: less than 1 Gallon

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: 0.5

Notes on ATVs: With 350.2, throttle cable gets pulled when handlebar is moved all the way to the left. Suggest not using this ATV for future (provided sufficient fuel in others).

Deimos rover used: Yes
Hours: 124.0
Beginning charge: 99%
Ending charge: 98 %
Currently charging: Yes

Sojourner rover used: ASSIGNED TO DIRECTOR
Hours: Unknown
Beginning charge: N/A
Ending charge: N/A
Currently charging: N/A

Spirit rover used: No
Hours: 33.7
Beginning charge: 100 %
Ending charge: 100 %
Currently charging: No

Opportunity rover used: Out Of Service
Hours: 31
Beginning charge: N/A
Ending charge: N/A
Currently charging: N/A

Curiosity rover used: No
Hours: 23
Beginning charge: 100 %
Ending charge: 100 %
Currently charging: No

Hab Car used?: No
Where was Hab Car used?: N/A
Why was Hab Car used?: N/A

General notes and comments:

Summary of internet: By 8AM again today, we have used half of our allotted daily internet. Is there a way to monitor our internet over time without constantly logging on to check it? That way we could monitor usage and know if there is a peak time that it is being used.

Summary of suits and radios: Older style (silver front) radios appear to not transmit well enough to use in EVA. One two piece suit broke during EVA today, and 1 one piece suit was deemed unuseable due to scratches in the visor.

Summary of Hab operations: See Sol Summary report.

Summary of GreenHab operations: See GreenHab report

Summary of ScienceDome operations: See Science report.

Summary of RAM operations: We cut a board to use for a new sign in front of MDRS.

Summary of health and safety issues: None to report.

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: See Sol Summary.

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EVA 5 Report – April 24th

Sol 2 Crew 193 EVA 5 Summary

Earth-Date April 24 2018

EVA Gold Crew Members – Gold00 (CO Patil-Sabale) / Gold03 (CE Attig / Gold05 (CGA Shear)

EVA Objectives – Summary

Exploration of Tank Wash – Accomplished

Scouting and Mapping of Emergency Shelter Sites – Mapped

EVA Comfort, Well-Being, Safety and Optimization Study

Sign Material Preparation – Accomplished

Issues

One Beartooth device failed before this EVA, so the (deaf) CGA was forced to take his writable LCD tablet along for communication. The stylus went missing at the beginning of the EVA. For the duration of this EVA, we made do with hand gestures and the note app on our phones to communicate with the CGA. Fortunately, his stylus was recovered at the end of this EVA. We will continue to troubleshoot the Beartooth issue.

ATVs Used

Deimos rover

Blue ATVs #300 and 350.2

Refueled and recharged the vehicles at EVA end

Safety Measures & Preparation

Sunscreen/Sun protection – Yes

Adequate hydration – Yes

Adequate protection – Flightsuit/footwear/visor/glove precautions – Yes

EVA Objectives – Details

Exploration of Tank Wash – Accomplished

Preparation of Sign Materials in RAM – Accomplished

Emergency Shelter Discovery – Accomplished (at UTM coordinates 0518913, 4252915)

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Commander's Report – April 24th

Commander, PHEnOM Gold Crew, MDRS #193

Mission Sol 2 (Earth Day April 24th, 2018)

Woke up to a beautiful Martian morning! Weather on Mars has been beautiful boosting the crew’s exploratory spirits!

After a quick breakfast our first EVA crew, our XO and HSO set on to explore the southern sites of Phobos Peak and Kissing Camel ridge. The crew that stayed back worked on engineering (CE), astronomy (CGA) and greenhab (CO). The crew enjoyed a scrumptious lunch of Thai green vegetable curry and chicken curry with brown rice. It was refreshing to have fresh green bell peppers and tomatoes from our greenhab while cooking those curries!

The afternoon EVA was adventurous as we, the CE, CGA and me, set out to first locate the shelter the previous crew had marked.
We then headed to the Tank Wash area where amongst small canyons, river beds and stream beds we found 2 caves big enough to house 7 to 8 people during an emergency evacuation or to take shelter during storms.

The coordinates for the cave that we think is an ideal emergency shelter are (0518913, 4252915).
We worked in the RAM for the rest of our EVA on the new MDRS signpost project.

The challenge in this EVA was the lack of means to communicate with our CGA who is hearing impaired. His beartooth device malfunctioned. We got creative and used sign language plus typing text in my phone to communicate with him. I feel content knowing we have been able to work around issues, involve him in our EVA’s and he is having as much adventure and fun while working on research and exploration during the EVA’s.

Our CE and I spent some time planning the new MDRS signpost project, we plan to do it in stages.
We are making good progress on our science, gathering useful data. The crew is healthy and doing great!

It has been amazing to see how the crew has been using their skills and expertise to work around problems, come up with unique solutions and make the best of every situation and available tools while working together as a team. Be it fixing and putting up the signpost during an EVA yesterday, or the emergency engineering EVA to secure the RAM for which our HSO volunteered to go in my place or the way she has been using the medical tools available to collect our health vitals before and after the EVA’s, or the way our CE found the GPS unit in the hab and got it working for our GPS Route Measurements project. I am proud to be a Commander of this stellar team!

It is only Sol 2 and I feel happy with the progress we are making already! Will keep the momentum going 🙂

Thank you for being with us Mission Control (MDRS Director) and Mission Support! Appreciate it.

Signing off for this sol,

Warm Regards,
Commander, (Gold 00), Crew #193
Mars Desert Research Station

(P.S. Abbreviations Legend: CO – Commander / XO – Executive Officer / CE – Crew Engineer / HSO – Health Science Officer / CGA – Crew Geologist and Astronomer)

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Science Report – April 24th

Here is the Science Report for 24 April 2018

Crew 193 – PHEnOM Gold Crew

Submitted by XO/Science Officer Doug Campbell

1. Emergency EVAC EVA: Both EVAs today had objectives of identifying more sites which would be possible shelters during an emergency evacuation. EVA 4 was able to identify a cave on the south side of west kissing camels ridge which would be an excellent shelter for all possible issues. EVA 5 located the shelter site that was proposed on EVA 1 on the north ridge. EVA 5 also located another possible evacuation site in the Tank Wash area. Further investigation of possible locations will be done on future EVAs.

2. Sunspot and Solar Flare Monitoring: Please refer to the astronomy report.

3. Shortwave Texting on EVA’s: Beartooth devices did not work today. Will need to troubleshoot the devices this evening. Hand sign language was used instead to communicate with Eric as backup means of communication was left on an ATV.

4. GPS Route Measurements: GPS was taken on EVA 5 which has just returned to the hab. Data will be analyzed for a more fulsome report tomorrow.

5. Waterless dish cleaning: No progress today. Initial testing of dirty dish bacteria growth will commence tomorrow with a plan to do testing on every second day due to the amount of supplies brought by gold XO for the research.

6. The MAG (Maximum Absorbency Garment) utilization study: No progress today

7. Spacesuit Helmet Fogging: Neither crew experienced fogging of the masks today. Both crews used a defogging spray and non-scratch cloth on the masks prior to their EVAs today.

8. Crew Comfort, Health and Safety on EVA: Measurements of the crew’s weight, blood pressure, SpO2 and pulse were taken before and after the EVA. Maximum heart rate was tracked by a mobile monitor during the EVA when the astronaut felt that they were working very hard (normally climbing a large hill). Gold 01 is able to track his heart rate over the entire course of the EVA thanks to mobile technology. Results can be exported and used in this study. Analysis will be done as the mission continues.

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Sol 2 Summary – April 24th

Crew 193 Sol Summary Report 24APR2018

Sol 2

Summary Title: Every Sol We Hustlin’…

Author: Dr. Shawna Pandya, Crew Health and Safety Officer

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: EVAs 4 & 5 complete, focusing on science, exploration, and sign-work. In-hab activities consisted of usual maintenance, operations and science. As a team, we managed to fit in some bonding and learn some basic ASL (American Sign Language) phrases from our deaf crewmate. Crucially, I learned to say, “I NEED MY COFFEE!!” in American Sign Language.

Look Ahead Plan: EVA 6 will plan for refueling the ATVs, then North-ward exploration along ‘The Moon’ – objectives: exploration; visor fogging study; emergency shelter scouting on EVA study; crew comfort, health, well-being and safety on EVA study; GPS accuracy on EVA. EVA 7 will plan on continued work in the RAM on the new MDRS sign, as well as visor fogging and crew comfort studies. In-hab activities will focus on the usual maintenance, operations and science. Time permitting, we are for some more crew training in ASL.

Anomalies in work:

1)Team on EVA 5 was forced to use 1 Rover, as the Beartooth communication with our deaf crewmate failed, and the LCD board was taken instead, and could not be safely transported in the ATV.

2)Will be decommissioning spacesuit 7, as the visor is deemed too scratched to allow for safe visualization.

3)One of the two-piece spacesuits came apart at the mechanical neck-ring/backpack interface while on EVA. It will be decommissioned.

Weather: Clear skies in AM, partly cloudy and gusty in PM.

Crew Physical Status: Some blisters, otherwise nominal.

EVA:

EVA 4 – Southeast exploration along Phobos Peak and Kissing Camels’ Ridge E & W; continued work on scouting, crew comfort, visor fogging studies.

EVA 5 – Measurements taken for second MDRS sign; East-ward exploration along Tank Road; continued work on scouting, crew comfort, visor fogging studies.

Reports filed:

GreenHab
EVA 4 Report
Science Report
Astronomy Report

Reports to be filed:
Commander or Journalist’s Report
Operations Report
EVA 5 Report
Photo & Photo of the Day Report

Support Requested:

-Additional fuel for ATVs.

-Requesting location of dropship of supplies that include Vicks Lozenges.

-Happy to attempt to replace the visor on spacesuit 7 if Mission Support can provide us with the appropriate procedure and supplies.

-Happy to attempt to repair the two-piece spacesuit if Mission Support can provide us with the appropriate procedure and supplies.

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