Category: Journalist Report

Sol 7 – Back to the Grind

Today’s clear skies allowed the warm sun to erase any lingering Martian frost and set the stage for our most ambitious EVA yet. The vast canyon surveyed in EVA 3 was but a tantalizing preview of the wonders that lay below. We had to return.

A team of 4 led by our commander, Max Fagin, suited up and departed the airlock around 10:30 am, reaching the turn-off to the Maxwell Montes around 11:15. But instead of walking north along the canyon’s ridge as we had done previously, the team searched eastward for a safe passage into the canyon itself. They succeeded and soon found themselves immersed in a sprawling labyrinth of rocky channels. Invigorated by the thrill of discovery, the team pressed on, and after some wandering was able to locate the base of the enormous stratified walls identified in EVA 3. The team’s geologist, Cesare Guariniello, studied the crossbeded layers of sandstone and salt with a trained eye, but the wander through the maze of chasms had cost the team time. Before long it was time to head back. The EVA team returned at 3:30 pm, exhausted, but with smiles on their faces.

Nothing exciting is planned for this evening and I’m sure today’s EVA crew will appreciate the downtime. Last night we played our first few trial runs of the self-made cooperative Mars-themed card game which we have named “Mars Quest”. We plan to iterate on the rules slightly, as the game felt a little too easy. But the team still greatly enjoyed the experience.

Justin Mansell, MDRS Crew 186 Journalist

[Sol 6] [Astronaut’s Day Off]

Today was a cold and gloomy day. Even if this wasn’t our day off, I reckon that the crew would have been less than enthusiastic about any EVAs. But the weather has been a perfect excuse for a slow day around the hab.

Our commander, Max Fagin, allowed the crew to sleep in past the usual wake-up time of 7:30 am. Instead of an early breakfast, he cooked us a brunch of French toast and scrambled eggs. The crew was skeptical of the powdered and freeze-dried eggs at first, but warmed up to the taste after a few bites.

Members of the team have since spent the day tending to odds and ends for our various experiments. A sprinkling of tenuous Martian snow dusted the landscape in the late afternoon and has served to make the metallic bulkheads and thick pressure doors of our habitat feel almost cozy. Tonight our executive officer, Kshitij Mall, will treat the crew to a dinner of noodles and fish. Afterwards the crew will relax over a cooperative Mars-themed card game written by myself during today’s free time.

All in all, though the day has been slow, it is a welcome break before we continue with our second EVA to the distant Maxwell Montes tomorrow.

Justin Mansell, MDRS Crew 186 Journalist

[Sol 5]

Temperatures have plummeted and the night left a thin dusting of frost that lingered in the shadows throughout the day. Last night the team planned one of our most complex EVAs yet. One that would require the maximum compliment of 5 crewmembers on EVA at once. The goal: locate elusive hematite “blueberries” (named for their rounded shape and color) that could indicate the presence of liquid surface water in the distant Martian past.

The convoy travelled south to revisit areas explored on EVA #2. This time the team focused our search around a possible ancient stream bed. But alas, the search was unsuccessful. Still, the EVA traversed a variety of terrain and allowed all members of the EVA to gain experience identifying the different geologic formations. Back at the hab, our health and safety officer, Sam Albert, has begun cataloguing microbial samples from around the hab to better understand the microbial environment.

I am also happy to report that last night’s pizza was a hit, if not only due to Cesare’s magic touch that saved the dough. The crew was able to fit in some astronomical observations of the double Martian moonrise before relaxing over a television show. Tomorrow we will continue these leisure activities and have dedicated the day to relaxation to mark the halfway point of our mission.

Justin Mansell, MDRS Crew 186 Journalist

P.S. Photos attached. Photo of the day: 05Jan2018 Building a microbe catalogue.jpg

[Sol 4]

Today proved relatively restful for most of the team. Cesare Guariniello, our geologist, cooked chocolate pancakes for the crew after an early morning yoga session once again led by Kshitij Mall, the executive officer. Though a hearty EVA to the north in search of salt deposits was planned, it was cut short by unanticipated difficulties with one of the ATVs. The EVA team of 4 returned just after 1 pm and, given the strenuous expeditions of the last few days, was more than happy to spend the remainder of the afternoon catching up on various tasks. We deployed a small robotic rover built by the NorCal Mars Society and took turns operating it remotely in the vicinity of the hab. Mark Gee, the green hab scientist, has also made significant progress on his microgreens research and gave the team a tour of his experiments. The gesture complimented the lecture Cesare gave to us last night on the local geology.

Tonight the team will try our hand at making pizza out of the abundance of powdered and freeze dried ingredients. Afterwards we will continue to relax over card games and television shows. Hopefully it will be enough to ease tensions over the nutella. Today’s EVA crew ascended a ridge named “Mount Nutella” (no joke) but the effort proved futile in replenishing our reserves.

Justin Mansell, MDRS Crew 186 Journalist

[Sol 3]

Today’s EVA was as rewarding and productive as it was grueling. A team of four of us departed the airlock just after 10:30 am and embarked on an epic trek far to the east beyond the bounds explored by any previous crew.

Oh what they have been missing!

An hour of driving brought our rovers to the end of drivable path. From there we continued on foot to the northeast of the Maxwell Montes until we once again reached an impasse. This time: a sheer cliff overlooking a spectacular network of canyons stretching as far as the eye could see! But the real treat were the walls of exposed strata. A hundred feet tall, no less! Though our objective was simply a preliminary survey, I reckon that the crew geologist will soon be back to scrutinize the story contained within the jumbled concoction of earthy hues.

The walk back to our rovers was arduous in the sun and stagnant air, but the EVA team summoned its second wind and proceeded directly into the radio navigation experiment. We drove approximately halfway back to the habitat before splitting into pairs and parting ways. The commander, Max Fagin, and myself were one pair. We dismounted the rovers while the crew engineer, Melanie Grande, and executive officer, Kshitij Mall, returned to the habitat to continue maintenance on the main airlock.

As the two rovers rocked and bounced their way up the dirt path, the commander and I steeled ourselves for the long walk back to the hab. But rather than follow the road, we would be taking a more direct route: one guided through unfamiliar terrain by Morse tones broadcast from the hab and received by us on a utilitarian antenna. It worked perfectly. Homing in on the hab’s beacon, we returned with time enough to spare for many photos. When we at last entered the airlock the elapsed time was nearly 4 and half hours. Grueling indeed!

Back at hab, the crew engineer has been working hard to master the quirks of our fickle generator. The dwindling supply of nutella has also begun to bring out the worst in us. But spirits are high, and our geologist, Cesare Guariniello, has baked a delectable cake in celebration of our green hab scientist’s birthday.

Justin Mansell, MDRS Crew 186 Journalist

P.S. Photos attached. Photo of the day: 521750_4255200 03Jan2018 Stunning strata.jpg

Crew 186 Journalist Report 2Jan2018

[Sol 2]

The weather is exceptional today. Only faint tendrils of moisture drift lazily across the boundless sky, and we were able to run the habitat for most of the day on solar power alone. The downside to all this, however, could be attested to by the members of the crew who endured the oppressively hot radiance on our second EVA.

Guided by the crew’s geologist, Cesare, the team drove far to the south in search of clay and hematite samples. At one of the sites the crew was able to ascend a nearby butte and was treated to a spectacular panorama of the endless Martian desert. They returned with an overwhelming number of photos and much exhaustion. Our Green hab scientist, Mark Gee, had an especially tiring day, as he spent much of the morning preparing an experiment growing microgreens in conditions of minimal input and testing the effects of the habitat biome on plant growth.

Following a brief rest, the crew returned to preparing experiments and performing maintenance duties on the habitat. These duties included an engineering EVA to move equipment and check the battery status the rovers.

Justin Mansell, MDRS Crew 186 Journalist