Category: Greenhab Report

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 14FEB2020

GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on. Door opened today from 10:14 pm to 2:22 pm.

Average temperatures: 19.25°C

Hours of supplemental light: 19:30 to 00:00

Daily water usage for crops: 8.45 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 1.32 gallon

Water in Blue Tank: 142.5 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 1

Changes to crops: We harvested our corn today!

Narrative: Today was our last day in sim and my last official mission day as the GreenHab officer so it was time to see how our crops had done! Sadly our mungbeans have still not sprouted, but our corn grew even better than we expected! Amazingly, we got between 5 and 7 g of corn grown from Martian or Martian/Earth soil, and 86g of corn grown in Earth soil in just over a week! So a lesson for Mark Watney, next time grow corn, not potatoes!

Harvest: 7g spinach chard, 9g wild rocket, 2g corriander.

Support/supplies needed: NA

Other Notes: Same as yesterday: Can I clarify; the tap I can use is the big antique looking one at the tunnel entrance to the GreenHab with the big orange tape that says “do not use”? Also, Shannon, you would like me to pick all the plants in the two tier grey pot by the door (i.e. the chard, spinach and rocket on the top, and the sprouting spinach on the bottom) or just the top pot?

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 13FEB2020

GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on. The door opened today from 10:14 pm to 2:22 pm.

Average temperatures: 18°C

Hours of supplemental light: 19:30 to 00:00

Daily water usage for crops: 16.51 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0.52 gallon

Water in Blue Tank: 152.3 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 2

Changes to crops: I repotted the avocado into a larger pot with fresh soil and perlite and removed the prickly weed. Didn’t water the narcissus, so the pots can dry out.

Narrative: Today was a garden maintenance day. I repotted the avocado (which is doing surprisingly well!) into a much larger pot and removed the horrid prickly weed that was growing around it. I added some perlite to a few of the newly potted plants and tidied up the radish and carrot beds. Fresh carrots for dinner, yum!

More news on the Martian corn, it’s now growing out of all but 1 Martian pot (apparently Martian clay isn’t ideal for corn growing), even a little resilient sprout out of clay mixed with earth soil.

Our mungbeans are trying to sprout, but I don’t think the Martian climate is agreeing with them. We also harvested some of the older greens, in preparation for working on those plant beds tomorrow.

Harvest: 26g Chard, 7g Rocket, 8g Spinach, 42g Carrots, 12g Lettuce.

Support/supplies needed: NA

Other Notes: Can I clarify; the tap I can use is the big antique looking one at the tunnel entrance to the GreenHab with the big orange tape that says “do not use”? Also, Shannon, you would like me to pick all the plants in the two-tier grey pot by the door (i.e. the chard, spinach and rocket on the top, and the sprouting spinach on the bottom) or just the top pot?

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 12FEB2020

GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on. Door opened today from 1:20 pm to 5:20 pm.

Average temperatures: 26°C

Hours of supplemental light: 19:30 to 00:00

Daily water usage for crops: 8.98 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0.53 gallon

Water in Blue Tank: 169.3 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 1

Changes to crops: We planted some fresh lettuce, chamomile and mint! A new cucumber is growing on one of the plants. Also, the avocado seed has sprouted but there’s a prickly leafy plant also growing in the pot. Do I have permission to remove it? It’s definitely not avocado.

Narrative: Today we planted some more lettuce, since we’ve harvested quite a bit this mission. We also planted some chamomile and mint so the next crew can make some lovely fresh tea! Our corn is growing nicely, we now have corn growing out of purely Martian soil. Unfortunately no progress for our mungbeans, apparently they don’t like Mars.

Harvest: 21g Rosemary, 26g Butter lettuce, 2g Oregano, 1g Basil, 2g Chives.

Support/supplies needed: NA

Other Notes: Still a bit worried about the water level in the GreenHab tank (see previous GreenHab report). Please advise.

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 11FEB2020

GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on. Door opened today from 12:15 pm to 4:06 pm.

Average temperatures: 22°C

Hours of supplemental light: 19:30 to 00:00

Daily water usage for crops: 15.85 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0.53 gallon

Water in Blue Tank: 178.8 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 2

Changes to crops: We have a cucumber! The zucchinis and cucumbers are flowering, and the strawberry plant has begun growing a strawberry. The tips of the narcissus are incredibly dry and browning. They have been watered regularly so I’m concerned the heater is drying them out. Should we move them to a lower level?

Narrative: Today was exciting as we harvested quite a bit from the GreenHab on Shannon’s recommendation for tonight’s dinner. Rosemary potatoes and salad! We are feasting like kings! The plants were watered this morning and this evening, and excitingly one of our Blue corn plants in Martian soil has begun to sprout. That’s right; Crew 221 has officially grown crops on Mars.

Harvest: 71g Cucumber, 20g lettuce, 6g butter lettuce, 14g onions, 4g rosemary.

Support/supplies needed: NA

Other Notes: Myself and the Crew Engineer noticed the water level in the GreenHab tank is much lower than expected. The water has just dropped below the level of the upper tap, meaning it is around 1/3 full (~100 gallons). We have been basing our water amount each day on subtracting the amount used every day from a full tank at the start of Sol 0. Due to the busy schedule of Crew 220, and the repairs being done by David and Atila, Crew 221 did not complete all the water refilling of the station prior to the start of our mission, and the GreenHab tank had to be refilled by Atila on Sol 1. We were told the GreenHab tank was filled to full (300 gallons), however we have kept a careful record of our water usage, and while our numbers tell us we should have 178.8 gallons, this is clearly not the case. We should have sufficient water in the GreenHab to get us to the end of our mission, however it will be cutting it close.

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 10FEB2020

GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on. Door opened today from 1:15 am to 4:25 pm.

Average temperatures: 21.5°C

Hours of supplemental light: 19:30 to 00:00

Daily water usage for crops: 15.85 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0.52 gallon

Water in Blue Tank: 195.2 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 2

Changes to crops: Same as yesterday: Pumpkin plants are flowering nicely. There are a number of soil-filled pots on the bottom level of the central shelf. They are labeled as bell peppers but in one week of monitoring I’ve seen no sprouting. I don’t think there are any plants in these pots.

Narrative: Once again it was a pretty hot day in the GreenHab so we opened the door for a few hours. Morning watering was uneventful; all the plants are doing well. Our Mars corn is starting to sprout (yay!), still waiting on our mungbeans. We harvested some yummy chard spinach and chives for our quinoa salad (finally getting some greens!).

Harvest: 9g Chard Spinach, 10g Rocket, 2g Chives, 3g Corriander

Support/supplies needed: NA

Other Notes: NA

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 09FEB2020

GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on. Door opened today from 1:05 pm to 4:25 pm.

Average temperatures: 18.33°C

Hours of supplemental light: 19:30 to 00:00

Daily water usage for crops: 14.7 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 1 gallon

Water in Blue Tank: 211.6 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 2

Changes to crops: Pumpkin plants are flowering nicely. There are a number of soil-filled pots on the bottom level of the central shelf. They are labeled as bell peppers but in one week of monitoring I’ve seen no sprouting. I don’t think there are any plants in these pots.

Narrative: Watered the plants this morning at 9:43am. Today was a little colder so we kept the GreenHab toasty this morning and opened the door for a few hours around lunch. We had omelettes for breakfast so harvested some lovely spinach and rocket to get some greenery! Our mungbeans and blue corn have yet to sprout but will continue to monitor.

Harvest: 9g Chard Spinach, 3g Spinach Lakeside, 6g Rocket

Support/supplies needed: NA

Other Notes: NA

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 08FEB2020

GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on. Door opened today for four hours from 2:45 pm to 6:52 pm due to very warm weather.

Average temperatures: 24.33°C

Hours of supplemental light: 19:30 to 00:00

Daily water usage for crops: 14.7 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 1 gallon

Water in Blue Tank: 227.3 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 2

Changes to crops: One of our succulents has died (picture attached). I managed to rescue three out of five, waiting on one, but sadly the other one is completely dead. Rest of the GreenHab looks really healthy, including the tomatoes. Ginger plant going strong and we have some new bell peppers and lettuce sprouting!

Narrative: Morning watering was a little late today due to the early EVA, but plants all look really healthy. Commander Maria and I set up a new experiment in the GreenHab, attempting to grow mungbeans in different ratios of Earth and Martian soil. We have several beds of mungbeans growing in 100% Earth Soil, 100% Martian Soil, 50%/50% Martian/Earth Soil and 70%/30% Martian/Earth soil. We will be monitoring the soil pH and nutrients to see if the Earth soil can populate the Martian soil with some healthy bacteria (Mark Watney style!). Evening watering was uneventful, all the plants save the succulent look pretty healthy. We should be ok to harvest herbs again tomorrow.

Harvest: NA

Support/supplies needed: NA

Other Notes: Sprayed one of the lettuce plants with pesticide. The bugs seemed to have fled the sprayed herbs and onto the lettuce. The lettuce plants in the hanging Ikea pots are having trouble with over-moist soil, as the pots have no drainage. Am I able to mix some perlite in with them to help absorb up the water? Also should I fertilize the plants at all while I’m here?

 

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 07FEB2020

GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on.

Average temperatures: 23.75°C

Hours of supplemental light: 19:30 to 00:00

Daily water usage for crops: 10 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0.5 gallons

Water in Blue Tank: 232.5 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 3

Changes to crops: Ginger has sprouted! The wilty tomatoes look much better today after a healthy watering. Butter lettuce also has bugs so I gave it a little spray with the pesticide. One of the strawberry plants has flowered!

Narrative: I performed a moisture check on all the plant beds to give me a better idea of their water needs. The lettuce plants take up water quite slowly, whereas the herbs and the tomatoes require at least two waterings a day. Luis and I also checked on our Blue Corn experiment. Unfortunately the Martian soil is basically like cement or clay when it gets wet and so the corn is likely struggling. We’ve halved the soil samples and mixed half with Earth soil to see if that makes a difference. Maria and I are also planning a mungbeans experiment, looking at different Martian soil to Earth ratios to see if we can grow anything in the next week. We will set that up tomorrow.

Harvest: NA

Support/supplies needed: NA

Other Notes: N/A

 

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 06FEB2020

GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on.

Average temperatures: 18.33°C

Hours of supplemental light: 19:30 to 00:00

Daily water usage for crops: 9.2 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0.5 gallons

Water in Blue Tank: 243 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 1

Changes to crops: Two of the four succulent plants seemed to have recovered a bit, yay! The leaves are more plump. Waiting on the other two. I repotted one of the sadder looking ones, as the soil was completely dry and barren and the roots didn’t seem healthy. Hanging lettuce pot on the bottom was fully soaked in water. As the pot has no drainage, will leave lettuce unwatered for the next day in the hopes that the soil dries out a bit. A few tomato plants are wilting. Rotated the plants on the bed. Ginger has almost sprouted, and the radish sprinklers, bell peppers and roma tomato have all sprouted.

Narrative: The plant beds were very moist this morning so I skipped the morning watering. Crew Engineer and I set up a new experiment in the GreenHab. We are going to attempt to grow Blue Corn from Martian soil! We have set up four trays on one of the benches, one as the control and three containing different types of Martian soil, mixed with some fertilizer. We’ve planted several rows of blue corn and will be watering it and monitoring the soil conditions each day.

Harvest: NA

Support/supplies needed: NA

Other Notes: Have sprayed the herb garden and the carrots and icy radishes with some pesticide to get rid of the small bugs. Will not harvest for the next few days. Also, slightly concerned about the wilty tomato plants. I have no experience with tomatos. Would this be a symptom of too much/little water? Or too much/little sunlight?

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 05FEB2020

GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on.

Average temperatures: 19°C

Hours of supplemental light: 19:30 to 00:00

Daily water usage for crops: 14.7 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: NA

Water in Blue Tank 252.7 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 2

Changes to crops: NA

Narrative: Crew Journalist Hemani took over morning watering today as the GreenHab Officer was off on an early EVA, collecting soil for some botany experiments. We harvested some butter letter and lettuce for our Mexican dinner feast! Evening watering was good, gave the plants a healthy watering as the soil was very dry for a few of the beds.

Harvest: 7g Butter Lettuce, 11g Lettuce

Support/supplies needed: NA

Other Notes: Watered the succulents and aloe. They don’t look any worse but not much better either. I would love some advice on how to help these succulents recover. Photos of the strawberry plants are attached to this email. As we were using the herbs and lettuce tonight for dinner, will spray the bug-infested beds tomorrow with the pesticide.