Category: Journalist Report

CREW 279 – Journalist report – 12APR2023

Journalist report, Aglaé Sacré, Crew Journalist

SOL 10: A busy day and a birthday

This morning, the four boys of the team left for EVA all together to discover new places so that Augustin can make a new mapping! They went to the Tharsis Montes (a little wink to the 2022 team of MARS UCLouvain who had named their team the Tharsis crew).

During this time, the girls took the opportunity to rest, work on their experiments and prepare some delicious hummus and tapenade to enjoy a good meal after 4 hours of EVA.

After this good meal, part of the team went back to EVA to discover some cavities that Augustin had observed on one of his mappings.

Tonight is a special evening, we stayed up until midnight to wish a happy birthday to our executive officer Agnès! A great time spent all together!

CREW279 – Journalist Report – 11APR2023

Journalist Report, Aglaé Sacré, crew journalist

SOL9: A starry sky

This morning three members of the team did an EVA to make a new mapping for Augustin’s experiment!
During this time, the rest of the team took the opportunity to spend a quiet morning and work on the beginning of the results analysis of their respective experiments.

The 3D printer has finished printing the first part of Augustin’s experiment with LunariaOne! The result is great, we can’t wait to show you! The purpose of this object would be to collect lunar soil (regolith).

This afternoon, we organized the rest of the mission’s EVA’s so that all the experiments would be finished on time!

In the evening, Ttele organized a series of games to relax all together, a great moment of cohesion in order to bring us even closer together!
The sky was incredible yesterday, our astronomer took the opportunity to capture the moment.

CREW 279 – Journalist Report – 10APR2023

Journalist Report : Aglaé Sacré, crew journalist
SOL 8: A sunny day

Today the day starts early. Considering the high temperatures, the EVA starts one hour in advance, at 8 am. For two hours, our three explorers continued to measure the radioactivity around the station for Thomas’ experiment.
The result of the addition of his data to Augustin’s mapping is impressive!
The other members of the team took the opportunity to sleep one hour more than usual!
During the night, we had a visit from little rodents.

As a little treat of the day, cinnamon rolls were made by our executive officer Agnès! A good way to rest with the heat today… and it’s not over yet.
This afternoon, we launched a 3D print for our GreenHab Officer experiment in collaboration with the company LunariaOne.

We also finalized our mid-mission video which is coming very soon!
Our astronomer could once again observe the sun which was very present today. And in the evening, he was able to observe the stars which were magnificent!

A great day again!

CREW 279 – Journalist Report – 09APR2023
Journalist Report: Aglaé Sacré, Crew journalist

SOL 7 : The EVA’S day
Today is Sunday, who says Sunday says rest?
Not for the Crew Ares, on the program today: 2 EVA’s.
This morning, 3 of us left for the first EVA to check the bacteria samples and the weather balloon placed two days earlier at North Ridge.
After a well-deserved break and a delicious meal, it is already time for the second EVA of the day. This time, it is a new mapping for Augustin’s experiment. It is at Condor Chasma that he collected his data today!
During this time, the team remaining in the base took the opportunity to make a big cleaning of mid-mission!
Our astronomer was able to observe the sun today, the first pictures are superb! We can’t wait to share more with you!
Five hours of EVA is tiring and makes you hungry! That’s why Aglaé, our crew journalist, welcomed the explorers with delicious almond and chocolate chip cookies.
After a well-deserved snack, the experiments could resume during the late afternoon.
Before sending our reports we were able to finish the puzzle in the Hab and proudly indicate on the back of the puzzle the name of our mission like others before us !
See you tomorrow for new adventures!

CREW 279 – Journalist Report – 08APR2023

Journalist Report : Aglaé Sacré, Crew Journalist
SOL 6: Report’s Day

SOL 6, the half of the simulation has arrived and thus the time of the mid-mission reports.

First, we sent a report summarizing the progress of our experiments on site. These have progressed a lot and the results are starting to come out.
We have also made a mid-mission video to present all that we have already done, we will show it to you soon!

This morning, 4 members of the team left for 4 hours of EVA to go to distant parts of Mars. Once again, a new mapping was made.
They also discovered tree fossils.

This lunch, Ioana prepared us a delicious nasi goreng! Yummy!

We wanted to take advantage of this mid-mission to thank again all our sponsors for allowing us to realize this project! We can’t wait to share our results in a few weeks!

CREW 279 – Journalist Report – 08APR2023

Journalist Report : Aglaé Sacré, Crew Journalist
SOL 6: Report’s Day

SOL 6, the half of the simulation has arrived and thus the time of the mid-mission reports.

First, we sent a report summarizing the progress of our experiments on site. These have progressed a lot and the results are starting to come out.
We have also made a mid-mission video to present all that we have already done, we will show it to you soon!

This morning, 4 members of the team left for 4 hours of EVA to go to distant parts of Mars. Once again, a new mapping was made.
They also discovered tree fossils.

This lunch, Ioana prepared us a delicious nasi goreng! Yummy!

We wanted to take advantage of this mid-mission to thank again all our sponsors for allowing us to realize this project! We can’t wait to share our results in a few weeks!

CREW 279 – Journalist Report – 07APR2023

Journalist Report : Aglaé Sacré, Crew journalist
SOL 5 : The balloon is in the air!

This morning after a good breakfast, part of the team warmed up with a little sport session to start the day. The EVA can begin.

After several days of preparation of her bacteria, Agnès was able to go and place her bacteria in the Martian environment during the EVA.
We also placed a balloon that will collect meteorological data to bring data to the experiments. We went up to North Ridge to have a view of the balloon from the station.

Back at the station, a nice plate of chili con carne was waiting for us, spicy but perfect to get our strength back! Our Health and Safety Officer even concocted some beautiful and delicious cookies for us!

This afternoon, our astronomer was able to make his first solar observations, so excited to see the results as the simulation progressed!
During this time, we enjoyed playing games and we took the challenge of the MARS puzzle present in the station.

On the program of our evening, a good couscous and especially a game night to spend an evening all together.

CREW 279 – Journalist Report – 06APR2023

Journalist Report, Aglaé Sacré, crew journalist

SOL4: The drone flies!

This morning 4 members of the crew went to Kissing Camel Ridge to do a second mapping via a drone. After climbing for several minutes, they were able to enjoy a 360 degree view of the surrounding area.
During this time, the team in the base maintains constant contact with the team members outside.

After the meal, we gathered around a board game to spend some time together before starting the afternoon and the experiments.
We were able to get the images of the first mapping, the one of the station. We are very happy with the result and we can’t wait to see the next images.

Gwenaël, our astronomer, took out his camera during the EVA to capture some beautiful views and great moments!

The afternoon was rather relaxing. Due to a problem in the Science Dom, we had to put some experiments on hold. Some of us took the opportunity to relax and read a book, while others, including our engineer who is conducting an experiment on the benefits of music on astronauts’ stress, played several pieces of music on the ukulele! A great relaxing afternoon!

As every evening we submitted our reports and sent our EVA request for tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, Agnes will go to deposit her bacteria so that they can live in Martian conditions!

After a good dinner, our Health and Safety Officer once again invited us to participate in a team building evening in order to end the day together in a good atmosphere!

CREW 279 – Journalist Report – 05APR2023

Journalist Report – Aglaé Sacré, crew journalist
SOL 3: Mapping and radiation

This morning we had the chance to eat delicious pancakes with fruit and syrup! A real happiness to start the day!

The training ‘s EVA are over, we can get down to business. Two experiments were able to progress this morning.
The first one was our Crew scientist’s experiment. Thomas could start to take measurements of the radiation of the ground with his scintillator. With this instrument, he is looking for gamma emitting isotopes. He made a grid of points all around the base and he must go to every point and measure to complete his grid with data.

With his drone, Augustin started the mapping of the station. He was able to test two software programs to take images to see which one was best suited to the situation and the terrain. He then rendered these images in 3D via a process on another software.

After a long EVA, our 4 explorers were welcomed with a good plate of mac and cheese! A good way to refuel!

The afternoon was again reserved for personal experiments, Agnes was able to carefully select her colonies of bacteria, 6 colonies of each strain, which she put in a liquid culture medium before separating them into two groups.

The 3D printer is functional! We will be able to start printing tomorrow morning!

Unfortunately, the sun was not shining, and we could not observe it today, we cross our fingers to be able to see it soon.

In the evening each of us prepares his report to be ready to send it at 7 pm.
Ioana, our engineer, must check a series of measures for the good functioning of the station: water measurement, check of the walkie-talkies and the suits, management of the toilet…

Tonight, the kitchen team of the day will prepare a delicious omelet! After this good meal, the team will meet to share a board game all together to close the day.

CREW279 – Journalist Report 04APR2023

Journalist Report : Aglaé Sacré, crew journalist
SOL2: Surviving Mars temperature

Second day on the planet Mars!
This morning, we had a breakfast based on freeze-dried fruits! A real treat!
The other half of the crew went to discover the Martian lands in very cold temperatures, it is sure, we are on Mars.

After discovering the surroundings, Thomas, our scientist, started his experiment with Be.Sure, which consists in measuring the radiation doses received, so he buried his dosimeter which will serve as a reference. Each of us also wears a passive dosimeter to be able to process all the data at the end of the experiment.

Short lunch break, today Agnès and Ioana have been busy preparing bread for us! A real success with a superb soup!

After having eaten well, our commander and our astronomer gave us a course of communication to help with the next EVA, in a first time we learned to direct ourselves with simple signals by pointing at a point and by giving its distance. We also learned some simple signals from the diving techniques.

This afternoon the experiments are fully launched, what a joy to be able to work with such a view! Agnes has started to cultivate her extremophiles, they have already found their place on the planet Mars, they are ready to take up the challenge of surviving under the environmental conditions of the red planet. Thank you to BCCM for helping with this incredible biological experiment.

After dinner, our safety and health officer proposed a little team building at the beginning of the mission in order to spend a nice moment all together! A nice evening to end this SOL 2.