Category: Sol Summary

Crew 305 Sol Summary Report 12-12-2024
Sol: 4
Summary Title: Let There Be Light
Author’s name: Peter Zoss
Mission Status: Active
Sol Activity Summary:
The day started off a little slower than usual, but then the solar power was switched on a little earlier than normal. This allowed us to enter back into sim a little before 10 AM. The broken generator was fixed during the day thanks to the tireless work from mission support, securing the rest of our mission timeline. The day saw more personal time throughout, with crew members catching up on missed reports from the previous night in the late morning today. Today was the first designated “shower” day for the crew members at the HAB, so water usage should be slightly higher than typical.
Spruha and Ian made a big serving of pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Rashi made lunch for everyone in the afternoon. Hunter then made dinner. Rashi, Spruha and Monish worked on their projects out in the RAM and Hunter cultivated the GreenHab further. Ian worked on his computer and used the HAB maps and weather data to plan tomorrow’s EVA. Peter worked on his equipment in the lower HAB.
Look Ahead Plan:
The next EVA will be tomorrow, Sol 5. Ian will lead Rashi and Monish to Eos Chasma for stream width measurements. Spruha, Peter, and Hunter will stay back at the HAB to monitor comms and work on their research. Spruha will continue to assemble her rover. Peter will prepare for the afternoon performance testing. Hunter will continue to set up his work in the GreenHab.
Anomalies in work:
After the generator was fixed, operations returned to normal.
Weather:
Cloudy skies hindered solar power generation throughout the day.
Crew Physical Status:
Everyone appears in good health.
EVA:
No EVA was conducted today. EVA 05 will be tomorrow on Sol 5.
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Journalist Report, Greenhab Report, Operations Report, Crew Photos, EVA Report, and EVA Request
Support Requested:
None

Crew 305 Sol Summary Report 13-12-2024
Sol: 5
Summary Title: The Second Start
Author’s name: Peter Zoss
Mission Status: Active
Sol Activity Summary:
The morning started with a great breakfast prepared by Hunter with potatoes and the leftovers from the night before. Ian, Rashi, and Monish left on an EVA in the morning after breakfast. Spruha sourced some Red Lobster in the form of their cheddar bay biscuit mix for lunch with some soup. During the day, Spruha and Monish were able to get some more work done in the RAM for the projects and Rashi spent some time in the Science Dome. Hunter then prepared a nice Italian dinner for everyone with Ian’s help. The crew might stargaze tonight after reports are submitted to view the meteor shower.
Look Ahead Plan:
The next EVA will be tomorrow, Sol 6. Ian will lead Peter and Monish back to Eos Chasma for more dry stream measurements. Hunter, Rashi, and Spruha will monitor comms from the HAB. Spruha is closer to reassembling her rover. Hunter has been putting in great work to take care of all the plants in the GreenHab and will continue to monitor growth. Monish is
Anomalies in work:
A slight power outage occurred today around 3:45 PM due to cloud coverage affecting the solar power. Switching over to the generator early resolved this though.
Weather:
Today was the warmest so far, with a light breeze reaching up to 9 MPH again.
Crew Physical Status:
Everyone appears in good health.
EVA:
EVA 05 saw a successful trek to Eos Chasma for dry stream channel measurements led by Ian who had Rashi and Monish accompanying him.
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Journalist Report, Greenhab Report, Operations Report, Crew Photos, EVA Report, and EVA Request
Support Requested:
None

Crew 305 Sol Summary Report 14-12-2024
Sol: 6
Summary Title: Smells Like Bacon
Author’s name: Peter Zoss
Mission Status: Active
Sol Activity Summary:
Ian, Peter, and Monish left on an EVA in the morning after breakfast. Spruha, Hunter, and Rashi monitored comms from the HAB during the day. Spruha and Monish spent a lot of time in the RAM working on their research projects. Hunter prepared his famous spam fried rice for dinner; you could smell the food throughout the HAB. The VR headset used for Peter’s research was set up with Beat Saber for some post-dinner fun.
Look Ahead Plan:
The next EVA will be tomorrow, Sol 7. Ian will lead Peter and Hunter to Kissing Camel Ridge for more dry stream measurements. Monish, Rashi, and Spruha will monitor comms from the HAB. Spruha hopes to have her rover fully assembled by the end of the day, and Monish is close to having his sensor network system set up.
Anomalies in work:
None.
Weather:
Today was a chilly one, with lots of clouds blocking the sun.
Crew Physical Status:
Everyone appears in good health.
EVA:
EVA 06 saw another successful trek to Eos Chasma for dry stream channel measurements led by Ian who had Peter and Monish accompanying him. The morning started off cold, but eventually, the sun peaked out for the second half of the trip.
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Journalist Report, Greenhab Report, Operations Report, Crew Photos, EVA Report, and EVA Request
Support Requested: None

Crew 305 Sol Summary Report 09-12-2024
Sol: 1
Summary Title: The Big Settling In
Author’s name: Rashi Jain
Mission Status: All Crew is Alive.
Sol Activity Summary:
Crew Activity Summary for Sol 1: The crew woke up between 6:00 AM and 7:30 AM. From 9:15 AM to 11:15 AM, Hunter Vannier, Ian Parmeleau, and Peter Zoss prepared for and conducted EVA 1 for the Marble Ritual. Later, between 11:45 AM and 12:45 PM, Hunter Vannier, Monish Lokhande, and Rashi Jain prepared for and conducted EVA 2 for the Marble Ritual. Lunch was prepared and served from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, with Ian and Peter making couscous and chickpeas while Hunter handled the dishes. From 2:00 PM to 5:45 PM, the crew took a break, during which some napped, handled personal tasks, or assisted Peter with his research. Cognitive tests related to Peter’s experiment were conducted from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The crew gathered in the common area between 5:45 PM and 7:00 PM, preparing dinner (mac and cheese by Spruha, assisted by Monish) and engaging in individual projects. Finally, from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM, the crew worked on reports and research tasks.
EVA Task Summary from within the Habitat: For EVA 1 and EVA 2, Crew Engineer Spruha checked the batteries on the EVA suits. The staying crew assisted the outgoing crew with tasks like airlock depressurization, which took 5-8 minutes. For EVA 2, the outgoing crew brought the EVA safety kit in the rover. Communications tests and rover preparation tasks, such as clearing power cords, turning on the rover, and logging battery percentage, were completed, with 100% battery recorded during EVA 2. The outgoing crew reported their departure and return for each EVA, parked the rover, secured the keys, and entered the airlock for re-pressurization before returning to the habitat. It was noted that two-piece EVA suits required more assistance compared to the one-piece suits, particularly for ventilation activation.
*The two-piece EVA suits require more assistance in being put on than the one-piece EVA suits where the main help required was turning on the ventilation.
Look Ahead Plan:
There is an EVA planned for tomorrow. People are planning to get started with their proposed research sometime tomorrow.
Anomalies in work:
No anomalies in work encountered yet. Our lights in the Hab hangout room flicker, which is a little annoying.
Weather:
Mars is cold. Our sleeping pods keep us warm – and are the only hope for all of humanity.
Crew Physical Status:
Some people had neck and shoulder discomfort after their EVAs, but everyone seems to be in good health.
EVA:
We had two EVAs today to the Marbles Ritual. There is just one EVA planned for tomorrow.
Reports to be filed:
This is the Sol Summary Report.
Other reports being turned in are: GreenHab Report, Operations Report, EVA Report, 6 – 8 photos
Support Requested:
We need the format for the Journalist Report. We don’t have it yet. We need the format for the Health and Safety Officer Report. We received a checklist for the Health and Safety Officer for the first day, but there is no report format for follow up reports.

Crew 305 Sol Summary Report 10-12-2024
Sol: 2
Summary Title: Cool Let’s Spool
Author’s name: Peter Zoss
Mission Status: Active
Sol Activity Summary:
Ian led Hunter and Spruha on an EVA to complete Spruha’s initiation at Marble Ritual. They then drove Spirit and Opportunity down Cow Dung Road towards its fork with Gateway to Candor. From there, they followed a GPS and walked down to Candor Chasma so Ian could record the widths of dry streams for his research.
Monish, Rashi, and Peter stayed at the HAB to monitor comms, where some radio loss was expected due to the nature of the terrain in Candor Chasma. No communication issues were encountered though, and the EVA team was able to return safely almost an hour earlier than planned after accomplishing both main goals. Monish made an excellent lentil and rice dish for lunch with enough to spare for dinner. This hot meal was ready just in time for lunch as the EVA crew returned.

Look Ahead Plan:
An EVA is being scheduled for tomorrow on sol 3, led by Ian again bringing Hunter and Rashi with him. Other members plan to continue working on their research throughout the day, and an especially exciting point here is Spruha’s work as she begins to assemble her rover in the RAM.
Anomalies in work:
Two power outages occurred during sol 2. The first at 4:26 PM for 12 minutes, and the second at 5:59 for 15 minutes. Due to the quick work of mission support, power was restored quickly both times! The overhead lights in the upper HAB did not like the power outage though, as the dimmer no longer works at all anymore. Additionally, when at max setting, the lights have started to flicker very quickly now, perhaps even more of a bother than the previous issues unfortunately. We have proceeded to use alternative lighting from the night light and lamps in the upper HAB this evening.
Weather:
Beautiful day for an EVA – no clouds and lots of sun. Wind gusts of 8 MPH.
Crew Physical Status:
Everyone appears in good health, with the only complaint so far being the cold temperatures and dry atmosphere that we are still adjusting to.
EVA:
EVA 03 was the only EVA conducted today, visiting Marbles Ritual and Candor Chasma. EVA 04 tomorrow (sol 3) will also visit Candor Chasma and is expected to take close to the full 4 hours.
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Journalist Report, Greenhab Report, Operations Report, Crew Photos, EVA Report, and EVA Request
Support Requested: None

Crew 305 Sol Summary Report 11-12-2024
Sol: 3
Summary Title: Revelry in the Dark
Author’s name: Peter Zoss
Mission Status: Paused
Sol Activity Summary:
Ian led Hunter and Rashi on an EVA today. They drove Curiosity and Perseverance down Cow Dung Road farther than yesterday towards Compass Rock this time. From there, they followed a GPS and walked down to Candor Chasma again so Ian could record more widths of dry streams for his research.
Monish, Spruha, and Peter stayed at the HAB to monitor comms, where some radio loss was again expected due to the terrain in Candor Chasma potentially blocking the signal. Spruha started assembling her rover, and Monish worked on the environmental sensors he brought with him. The EVA team was able to return safely after accomplishing their main objectives. Peter made tortilla pizza for lunch, which provided a nice warm welcome to the EVA team.
Due to electrical problems described in the Anomalies section below, the crew had some time out of sim in the evening beginning at 6:13 PM. This kept us busy as we assisted with the issues, but in our spare time we squeezed in a quick board game called Coup with most of the crew and David as we waited on a gas run by Ben. Ian and Spruha were able to start a stove with a lighter in the HAB to make some tortillas with various toppings for dinner.
Look Ahead Plan:
The next EVA will be scheduled for Sol 5, so Sol 4 will see the crew take a longer break after the difficulties of the previous night. Crew members plan to continue working on their research throughout the day back at the HAB a little still. With extra time, a movie might be watched in the late afternoon. More board games are a possibility too for added fun.
Anomalies in work:
A longer power outage occurred again today around 4:50 PM, shortly after switching to the generator from solar power. The generator issues were not a simple fix and forced us to break sim at 6:13 PM. The new goal was to use the backup generator to provide power to the furnace in the HAB for heat tonight. We tried our best to assist Ben and David with this task. The space heater placed in the GreenHab was the next priority after this. Both were accomplished by the end of the night. The loss in internet access delayed report filing at the end of the day.
Weather:
The early clouds made for a cold start, but the large amount of walking kept the team warm. Wind gusts were up to 9 MPH, but the canyon was protected.
Crew Physical Status:
Everyone appears in good health, and we got some great Jules time during the break!
EVA:
EVA 04 was the only EVA conducted today, visiting Marble Ritual and Candor Chasma. EVA 05 will be on Sol 5 now, with more details to come in the next Sol Summary report.
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Journalist Report, Greenhab Report, Operations Report, Crew Photos, EVA Report, and EVA Request
Support Requested:
None

Crew 299 Sol Summary 05-23-2024
Sol: 11
Summary Title: The Martian
Author’s Name: Prakruti Raghunarayan
Mission Status: Active
Sol Activity Summary:

Aravind, Avery, and Noah went on a walking EVA across Hab Ridge. Rishabh and I were on comms. They were in the area behind the hab eventually able to see the Hab and me and Rishabh. They took a lot of cool pictures of the ridge and valleys across it. They were also able to take a picture of us on the Hab Ridge from the Hab.

Then, we took a short break before preparing for mine, Kristina, and Rishabh’s EVA. During this break, the astronomy team (Avery & Kristina) assembled and were working through their code. And the science dome team (me, Aravind, and Noah) were classifying samples and deciding what I would bring back from the next EVA.

Avery was on comms while me, Rishabh, and Kristina went on our EVA. We drove to Marble Ritual and walked some areas there. Rishabh taught Kristina how to use the drone and they got more footage. We also got one last soil sample from the area that I needed to confirm certain results we were working on! Then, we decided to get some content for our socials and donors and drove back. Rishabh was able to film us with the drone while driving back.

Then Noah, Aravind, and I went back to the science dome and prepared the new sample in the jar and started working on our analysis. We finished the volcanic activity analysis and impact. Now we are working on the sustainability samples and the PDMS ones.

The astronomy team processed four sets of solar images!

Crew 299 Sol Summary 05-24-2024
Sol: 12
Summary Title: The End
Author’s Name: Prakruti Raghunarayan
Mission Status: Complete
Sol Activity Summary:

Avery and Kristina:
For Sol 12, the last sol, it was a productive day! Avery and Kristina used the morning to get final imaging done at the Musk Observatory, which yielded two sets of images. Afterwards, they closed the observatory for the final time. Following this, everyone got to work cleaning the Hab before their journey back to Earth. For example, Avery, Rishabh, Pari, and Kristina helped take inventory of the food and cleaning items of the Hab. Avery also helped sort and take out the trash, as well as put away dishes and vacuum.

Rishabh:
For the last day here, Rishabh assisted in cleaning the lower level of the hab as well as cleaning up the RAM. He finished his project up and the videos are done processing. After this, he worked to film a thank you video for donors with Pari. He later did food inventory with Avery, Kristina, and Pari. Now he is doing his research summary.

Noah, Aravind, and Pari:
Today, Pari, Noah, and Aravind cleaned out the science dome and finished up their experiments there. They’ve picked out some samples to send out for spectroscopy analysis–including 3 materials found at MDRS during EVAs. They cleaned out the radishes and cleared out the entire area. Then, they finished their research analysis for the samples. Lastly, they also filmed a thank you video for donors. Pari worked with Avery, Kristina and Rishabh to do food inventory as well.

To MDRS: thank you so much for having us.

Best,
Prakruti "Pari" Raghunarayan
Mission Commander

Crew 299 Sol Summary 05-13-2024
Sol: 1
Summary Title: Pilot
Author’s Name: Prakruti Raghunaryan
Mission Status Active:
Sol Activity Summary:

Kristina and Avery Summary:

First thing, we had a morning debrief to discuss a plan of action. Then, we received the laptop and did a secondary round of laptop repair attempts. We found the battery was dead, and the boot drive wasn’t connected. After, we fitted flight suits with the whole crew and chose which ones were best suited for each of us for our future EVAs. Once that was completed we broke for lunch and planned tomorrow’s EVAs. Command got back to us on the issues with our laptop. For the third time, we troubleshooted astronomy laptop logistics and got it working by plugging the boot drive into Avery’s laptop. With the current solar storms, we will try to get the Musk Observations working before sunset. One possible issue is that since the astronomy laptop could only connect to one USB, it may not connect to the telescope, as one USB port is currently being used to connect to Avery’s laptop. Then, we did our psychological evaluations and dinner.

Pari, Aravind, and Noah:

We started the day with a morning debrief to mark the start of our simulation. We created a plan for the day with the rest of our crew mates and headed to the science dome. We exfoliated four different types of samples: unsorted Martian soil, fine Martian soil, potting soil, and vermicompost. We also checked on the radishes and watered them. Then we went back and suited up in our flight suits. We did the adjustments for the EVA suits (for the two piece and one piece). We broke for lunch and took a short break after. Next, we had a meeting to plan the EVAs for tomorrow and the day after. We planned two EVAs for tomorrow and are likely getting more external sample to test out from the river bank. Then we went back into the science dome and exfoliated more of the unsorted and fine soil onto the PDMS. We also tested out the microscope. We created a LinkedIn page to showcase our current progress and are waiting for our crew members to finish up the astronomy project. Now we will break for dinner and do the psychological evaluations.

Crew Engineer did maintenance and checked the suits before try ons.

Crew 299 Sol Summary 05-13-2024
Sol: 2
Summary Title: The First Adventure
Author’s Name: Prakruti "Pari" Raghunarayan
Mission Status: Active
Sol Activity Summary:

Pari, Aravind, Noah:
Today, Noah did a morning check on the radishes. Then we went on our first test EVA to Marble Ritual. We tested comms and took Perseverance as requested by Mission Control. We are pleased to report that the rover is working fine. We took Curiosity as well. When we got to Marble Ritual we parked and walked up a hill to test out our mobility in the suits. We were able to hike, take samples of some rocks we found that we believe will be interesting to look at the composition as the map indicated some sort of river bed that we would further like to investigate. We were able to drive back and end the mission smoothly. I (Pari) was also on comms when Kristina, Avery, and Rishabh went for their test EVA as well.

Avery, Kristina, Rishabh:
For Sol 2, we went on our test EVAs to Marble Ritual, taking photos for geological reference and social media outreach. Then, we had tacos for lunch and cleaned up the Hab. The weather was not suitable for observing, so Kristina and Avery worked on processing yesterday’s images. Later, Pari gave a debrief outlining a plan of action for the rest of the day, tomorrow, and the media visit