Category: Science Report

Crew 218 Science Report 01-JAN-20
Crew Science Officer: Dr. Jonathan R. Buzan

1. Decision Making in support of autonomy for crew EVAs:

No EVA: nothing to report.

2. Mars surface weather:

Measurements were collected during today’s EVA.

3. Subsurface structure on Mars:

Seismic reflection mapping instrument was deployed in today’s EVA.

4. Detecting radio signal strength:

Field measurements were collected during today’s EVA.

5. EVA workload analysis:

Survey data was collected for today’s EVAs.

6. EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit) ergonomic assessment:

Survey data was collected for today’s EVAs.

7. Environmental Stresses over MDRS habitat and Crew Members and projection over Martian Terrain:

Interior measurements not planned today: nothing to report.

8. Messier and other space objects for outreach:

Cloudy: nothing to report.

9. Reliability and maintenance:

Radio and rover failure procedures evaluated.

10. Medical readings in preparation for future crew-wide project:

The Zephyr bio-monitor was worn all day.

11. Collection of clay, shale, and hematite samples:

No EVA: nothing to report.

12. Media and outreach:

Nothing to report.

Glassware check out: None

A reminder to all crewmembers: There’s a $300 fine for using any glassware material without MDRS Mission support permission.

Crew 218 Science Report 31-DEC-19
Crew Science Officer: Dr. Jonathan R. Buzan

1. Decision Making in support of autonomy for crew EVAs:

Hypothetical scenario involving a broken leg during EVA. EVA crew went through the emergency procedures.

2. Mars surface weather:

Measurements were collected during today’s EVA.

3. Subsurface structure on Mars:

Data from yesterday was sent to Purdue University for analysis. Seismic reflection mapping instrument was deployed in today’s EVA.

4. Detecting radio signal strength:

Field measurements were collected during today’s EVA. Yesterday’s data is undergoing analysis.

5. EVA workload analysis:

Survey data was collected for today’s EVAs.

6. EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit) ergonomic assessment:

Survey data was collected for today’s EVAs.

7. Environmental Stresses over MDRS habitat and Crew Members and projection over Martian Terrain:

Measurements were expanded from stateroom to habitat floor.

8. Messier and other space objects for outreach:

Cloudy: nothing to report.

9. Reliability and maintenance:

No EVA: nothing to report.

10. Medical readings in preparation for the future crew-wide project:

The Zephyr bio-monitor was worn all day yesterday.

11. Collection of clay, shale, and hematite samples:

6 rock samples were collected.

12. Media and outreach:

Nothing to report.

Glassware check out: None

A reminder to all crewmembers: There’s a $300 fine for using any glassware material without MDRS Mission support permission.

[title Science Report – December 30th]

[category science-report]

Crew 218 Science Report 30-DEC-19
Crew Science Officer: Dr. Jonathan R. Buzan

1. Decision Making in support of autonomy for crew EVAs:

No EVA: nothing to report.

2. Mars surface weather:

Measurements were collected in yesterday’s and today’s EVA.

3. Subsurface structure on Mars:

The seismic reflection mapping instrument was deployed in today’s EVA.

4. Detecting radio signal strength:

Field measurements were collected in yesterday’s and today’s EVAs.

5. EVA workload analysis:

Survey data was collected for yesterday’s and today’s EVAs.

6. EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit) ergonomic assessment:

Survey data was collected for yesterday’s and today’s EVAs.

7. Environmental Stresses over MDRS habitat and Crew Members and projection over Martian Terrain:

Nothing to report.

8. Messier and other space objects for outreach:

Two astronomy photos were taken.

9. Reliability and maintenance:

No EVA: nothing to report.

10. Medical readings in preparation for future crew-wide project:

The Zephyr bio metric monitor collected data for 20 hours. Battery was changed and used for EVA today.

11. Collection of clay, shale, and hematite samples:

3 rock samples were collected.

12. Media and outreach:

Nothing to report.

Glassware check out: None

A reminder to all crewmembers: There’s a $300 fine for using any glassware material without MDRS Mission support permission.

Crew 218 Science Report 29-DEC-19
Crew Science Officer: Dr. Jonathan R. Buzan

1. Decision Making in support of autonomy for crew EVAs:

No EVA: nothing to report.

2. Mars surface weather:

No EVA: nothing to report.

3. Subsurface structure on Mars:

No EVA: nothing to report.

4. Detecting radio signal strength:

No EVA: nothing to report.

5. EVA workload analysis:

No EVA: nothing to report.

6. EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit) ergonomic assessment:

No EVA: nothing to report.

7. Environmental Stresses over MDRS habitat and Crew Members and projection over Martian Terrain:

Nothing to report.

8. Messier and other space objects for outreach:

Cloudy Weather: nothing to report.

9. Reliability and maintenance:

No EVA: nothing to report.

10. Medical readings in preparation for future crew-wide project:

The Commander, Dr. Cesare Guariniello, has donned the Zephyr bio-medical sensor at 11:00AM, and is testing real-time measurement infrastructure for EVA and habitat medical monitoring. He will wear the instrument continuously for 24-48 hours.

11. Collection of clay, shale, and hematite samples:

No EVA: nothing to report.

12. Media and outreach:

Nothing to report.

Glassware check out: None

A reminder to all crewmembers: There’s a $300 fine for using any glassware material without MDRS Mission support permission.

Crew 218 Science Report 28-DEC-2019
Crew Science Officer: Dr. Jonathan R. Buzan

1. Decision Making in support of autonomy for crew EVAs:

No EVA: nothing to report.

2. Mars surface weather:

No EVA: nothing to report.

3. Subsurface structure on Mars:

No EVA: nothing to report.

4. Detecting radio signal strength:

No EVA: nothing to report.

5. EVA workload analysis:

No EVA: nothing to report.

6. EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit) ergonomic assessment:

No EVA: nothing to report.

7. Environmental Stresses over MDRS habitat and Crew Members and projection over Martian Terrain:

The Crew Engineer, Luz Maria Agudelo Urrego, reported that overnight data collection was completed.

We present preliminary results. The x-axis is time in a 24 hour period, the y-axis is temperature (°C), and each color represents a different day in the LuzMa’s room. The threshold of 26.6°C is considered the lower limit for human thermal heat stress.
Unexpectedly, the nighttime temperatures are surpassing the threshold, and are sustained throughout the night.

8. Messier and other space objects for outreach:

Cloudy Weather: nothing to report.

9. Reliability and maintenance:

No EVA: nothing to report.

10. Medical readings in preparation for future crew-wide project:

No EVA: nothing to report.

11. Collection of clay, shale, and hematite samples:

No EVA: nothing to report.

12. Media and outreach:

The Crew Journalist, Benjamin Durkee, has developed interview questions and will interview each crew member.

Glassware check out: None

A reminder to all crewmembers: There’s a $300 fine for using any glassware material without MDRS Mission support permission.

DataCollection.pdf

Crew 218 Science Report 26-DEC-2019
Crew Science Officer: Dr. Jonathan R. Buzan

1. Decision Making in support of autonomy for crew EVAs:

Nothing to report.

2. Move the first steps towards autonomously generating reliable weather information in the area surrounding MDRS:

Nothing to report.

3. Subsurface structure on Mars:

Nothing to report.

4. Detecting radio signal strength:

Nothing to report.

5. EVA workload analysis:

Nothing to report.

6. EMU (Extravehicular Mobility Unit) ergonomic assessment:

Nothing to report.

7. Environmental Stresses over MDRS habitat and Crew Members and projection over Martian Terrain:

Discussed the progress of measuring environmental stressors inside the habitat with Crew Engineer Luz Maria Agudelo Urrego. These first couple days were calibrating 3 different instruments within her room. She plans to take nighttime measurements tonight. The goal is to develop a continuous dataset, and translate the temperature-humidity combinations into known human thermal comfort algorithms.

8. Messier and other space objects for outreach:

Nothing to report.

9. Reliability and maintenance:

Nothing to report.

10. Medical readings in preparation for future crew-wide project:

Nothing to report.

11. Collection of clay, shale, and hematite samples:

Nothing to report.

12. Media and outreach:

Nothing to report.

Glassware check out: None

A reminder to all crewmembers: There’s a $300 fine for using any glassware material without MDRS Mission support permission.

Research Report 12 December 2019

Crew 217 – NSBU 217

Submitted by Science Officers Ann Rockett & Kevin Berean

1. Sharing of Mars and Space-related Classroom Activities:

Crew members continued to discuss ways in which teacher experiences at
MDRS during SIM can inform new lessons, activities and projects for
students. Several ideas were recorded and shared among the crew and
plans have been made to connect students across states as they engage
in space-related curriculum. Two hands-on activities were conducted
among the crew (rocket science and Mars bio systems) and discussions
took place to further develop said activities.

2. Conducting a Biodiversity Survey of Ephemeral Potholes in a
Mars Analog:

Nothing to report.

3. Investigating if Life Exists in a Green Layer of the Morrison
Strata that is Exposed Throughout the MDRS Exploration Area:

Crew Scientist, Kevin observed the green band samples plated yesterday
and incubated overnight. He reported no change.

4. Search for Halophiles in Surface Gypsum:

Nothing to report.

5. Exploration of Ways to Communicate with Classrooms at MDRS.

The crew continues to discuss the feasibility of utilizing Flipgrid
for future NSBU teachers. Crew HSO, Jen has logged 2.6 hours of
engagement during her Flipgrid pilot this week with her students in
Salt Lake City. The pilot was successful; however, it was noted that
preassigned topics for students would be beneficial as would more
reliable internet access at MDRS.

Research Report 11 December 2019

Crew 217 – NSBU 217

Sol 2

Submitted by Science Officers Kevin Berean & Ann Rockett

1. Sharing of Mars and Space-related Classroom Activities:

Crew members spent 4 hours on SOL 1 in a routable discussion sharing
Mars and space-related classroom activities. Additional time has also
been spent on SOL 1 and SOL 2 as the SIM unfolds discussing ways in
which we can incorporate this firsthand experience into classroom
lessons and activities.

2. Conducting a Biodiversity Survey of Ephemeral Potholes in a
Mars Analog:

Four crew members conducted an EVA on SOL 2 (that commenced at 10:15AM
and ended at 12:30PM) and biodiversity samples were extracted from
three ephemeral potholes at 4256500, 518500. PH and salinity readings
were also taken and recorded for each pothole. Samples from Pothole 1
and Pothole 2 underwent a preliminary examination under a microscope
in the MDRS Science Dome. Further examination of said samples will
take place on SOL 3.

3. Investigating if Life Exists in a Green Layer of the Morrison
Strata that is Exposed Throughout the MDRS Exploration Area:

Four Crew Members conducted an EVA on SOL 2 (that commenced at 10:15AM
and ended at 12:13PM) and samples were extracted from a green layer of
the Morrison Strata at 4256500, 518500. Three samples were taken for
investigation: sample 1 from the bottom of the green layer; sample 2
form the middle of the green layer; and sample 3 from the top of the
green layer. All three samples were ground, plated and placed in the
incubator at room at 27°C.

4. Search for Halophiles in Surface Gypsum:

Gypsum samples were collected during the two EVAs today. Gypsum
samples from the morning EVA (that commenced at 10:15AM and ended at
12:30PM) were collected on Cow Dung Road and ground and plated. Gypsum
samples from the afternoon EVA (that commenced at 3:40PM and ended at
5:00PM) were collected at the Moon overlook.

5. Exploration of Ways to Communicate with Classrooms at MDRS.

The crew continues to brainstorm ways in which future NSBU crews can
communicate with classrooms during the SIM. Setting up a Flipgrid
classroom is one way NSBU crews can communicate with classrooms during
a SIM. In a Flipgrid platform, the NSBU teacher can post videos from
MDRS during SIM to “the grid” that his/her students can access and
watch via their established Flipgrid accounts. The students can then,
in turn, post questions via video back to the NSBU teacher for his/her
response. Students can also pose questions to each other via the
Flipgrid. This method is currently being piloted and tested by one of
our crew members and she has been able to post a video for her
classrooms on SOL 1 and SOL 2, which has generated 18 question/reply
videos from her students. The only issue that has surfaced using this
method is the difficulty establishing an internet connection. 

[title Science Report – December 7th]

[category science-report]

Crew 216 Research Report 7-Dec-2019 Final
Sol 13
Submitted by: Whittle

1) Psych Scale (TAMU IRB2019-1042D) – Final surveys completed. Results to be analyzed post-mission.

2) Medical Casts – Nothing further to report. Data to be analyzed post-mission.

3) In-Situ Fluorescent Mineral Prospecting – Nothing further to report.

4) MDRS Mapping – Crew Commander discussed mapping with director. Actions to be followed up post-mission.

5) MDRS Communications – Nothing further to report. Follow up report will be developed if desired.

Crew 216 Research Report 6-Dec-2019
Sol 12
Submitted by: Whittle

1) Psych Scale (TAMU IRB2019-1042D) – Final stage surveys planned for tomorrow (Saturday).

2) Medical Casts – Proof of concept cast completed. Data to be analyzed post-mission.

3) In-Situ Fluorescent Mineral Prospecting – Nothing further to report.

4) MDRS Mapping – Nothing further to report.

5) MDRS Communications – Nothing further to report.