Category: Sol Summary

Crew 211 Sol 2 Summary Report 23-APR-2019

Sol: 2

Summary Title: Feeling like a true Martian

Author’s name: Carl-Henrik Dahlqvist

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: After the daily check-up performed by the HSO as part of his experiment, we enjoy a nice breakfast together. An EVA was planned at 9 am but as the Curiosity rover was not fully charged, we decided to postpone it. Most of the crew members worked therefore on their respective experiments while the crew astronomer and crew scientist got their first shots of the sun. We then worked altogether during the noon break on the writing of a Martian constitution with the crew journalist. During the early afternoon, some crew members prepared the first successful Martian bread. Half of the crew left at 4 pm for the planned EVA to Candor Chasma to look for possible shelters in case of high solar activity.

Look Ahead Plan: An EVA is planned in the morning to get back Opportunity near Candor Chasma and take additional soil samples. Half of the crew will stay at the base to work on their experiments. The crew astronomer will continue to take pictures of the sun in the morning and schedule a few observations with the Celestron telescope to get images from quasars. This will allow her to infer their luminosity and determine the evolution of their activity. The rest of the day will be devoted to the experiments.

Anomalies in work: No issues.

Weather: Hot, bright and sunny all day.

Crew Physical Status: Good, yesterday’s twisted ankle is less painful.

EVA: The aim of this second EVA was to explore the Candor Chasma region and look for caves. Underground structures could indeed be very helpful to protect the crew from solar wind/radiation in the case of increasing solar activity and CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejections). Unfortunately no caves have been found and we lost Opportunity near Candor Chasma. We’ll try to get the rover back during tomorrow’s EVA.

Reports to be filed: Journalist Report, GreenHab Report , HSO report, Astronomer Report, Operations Report, EVA report, EVA Request, Daily Photo Report

Support Requested: None

Crew 211 Sol 1 Summary Report 22-APR-2019

Sol: 1

Summary Title: First day on Mars: first experiments and EVA

Author’s name: Carl-Henrik Dahlqvist

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: We start the day with a fitness session of 15 minutes which definitely helped some crew members to wake up. After the breakfast, we spent one hour and a half to clean the Hab. Most of the crew members have then started their respective experiments (see crew scientist report) while the crew astronomer started to work on the solar telescope. After the lunch, we all worked on our experiments until 4 pm when half of the crew went in EVA. As the UCL to Mars crew likes challenges, we will try tonight to prepare the first Martian Sushis and end the day with a meeting to discuss about today’s achievements and tomorrow’s objectives.

Look Ahead Plan: An EVA is planned in the morning to explore the Candor Chasma. Half of the crew will stay at the base to work on their experiments. Depending on the weather, the crew astronomer will try to get the first pictures of the sun and observed some fainter structures as the visual observations didn’t reveal any large perturbations in the solar atmosphere. The afternoon will again be devoted to the experiments.

Anomalies in work: Water tank pump leaking, water heater and heater in the Hab lab not working

Weather: Hot, sunny and fresh breeze.

Crew Physical Status: Good except for one of the crew member who twisted his ankle.

EVA: We have had our first EVA this afternoon which lasted for two hours. We traveled to the hills on the left of the Cow Dung Road between the Robert’S Rock Garden and Zurbin’s head to take a few soil samples to be used by Chloé, the GreenHab officer, for one of her two experiments. The EVA went very well and the sunny weather allowed us to take some beautiful pictures of the Martian environment surrounding the MDRS.

Reports to be filed: Journalist Report, GreenHab Report , HSO report, Operations Report,Astronomy Report, Scientist Report, EVA report, EVA Request, Daily Photo Report

Support Requested: None

Crew 211 Sol Summary Report 20-APR-2019

Sol: /

Summary Title: Discovering the MDRS

Author’s name: Eléonore Lieffrig

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Today was a day of traveling and discovering the MDRS. Five members of the crew arrived at the station at about 1:30 pm. As Chloé, Julien and I discovered our new home, Carl-Henrik and Simon went back to Grand Junction in order to take the rest of the crew and give back our rental car. At the moment (7 pm), they are still on their way.

We took our marks here, cleaned a bit the Hab, chose our bedrooms and got to know the place. Shannon gave us a brief tour of the station, but a longer training is planned with the whole crew tomorrow morning at 10 am.

Tonight, we will read the Hab manual, welcome the rest of the team, and cook ourselves our first tasty Martian dinner.

For the crew 211,

Eléonore Lieffrig, astronomer

Anomalies in work: No problems.

Weather: Warm and windy

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: No EVA today.

Reports to be filed: GreenHab Report, Operations report, Sol Summary Report

Support Requested: None

Crew 210 Sol Summary Report 19-APR-2019

Sol: 6

Summary Title: Writing and preparing for crew handover

Author’s name: Paul Sokoloff

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: Today the crew prepared to depart MDRS and leave it to our successors on Crew 211. We spent the morning cleaning the station, inventorying the food, and getting the spaces ship-shape for handover.

In the afternoon we continued to process plant samples and salinity measurements in the Science Dome, and collaboratively wrote a white paper outlining our multi-year biodiversity program, while Mike Irvine prepared an in-depth outreach proposal.

We will continue to prepare for our imminent departure this evening.

Look Ahead Plan: We plan to leave MDRS at 0800 tomorrow to head to Grand Junction, where we plan on handing over the crew car to Crew 211 by 1200.

Thank you to Mission Support, the Mars Society, and the management of MDRS for a great week in Utah; the five of us really appreciate your support.

Anomalies in work: No problems.

Weather: Hot and sunny.

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: No EVAs today.

Reports to be filed: GreenHab Report, Operations Report, Daily Photo Report, Mission Summary, End of Rotation Food Inventory, End of Rotation Checklist (by tomorrow am).

Support Requested: None

Crew 210 Sol Summary Report 18-APR-2019

Sol: 5

Summary Title: Live from the surface of Mars

Author’s name: Paul Sokoloff

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: This morning through to early afternoon our crew participated in a Livestream with Discover the Universe, engaging over 150 classrooms live with a presentation and Q and A about Mars, the Mars Society, and MDRS. This presentation will soon be uploaded to YouTube where it will continue on as a legacy outreach component of crew 210

(http://www.discovertheuniverse.ca/workshop/special-webinar-live-from-mars-april2019/).

After a water run into Hanksville, our team continued to process our field samples in the Science Dome and will continue to do so tomorrow. By recording physical characteristics of the soil samples taken from our quadrats, we hope to discover the factors driving plant diversity (or the lack thereof) in the different ecological areas around MDRS.

Look Ahead Plan: We plan on continuing our work in the Science Dome tomorrow and will work on putting together a plan for our multi-year biodiversity inventory.

Anomalies in work: No issues.

Weather: Bright and sunny all day.

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: We presented out Livestream from the area just north of "Zubrin’s Head" on the west side of Cow Dung Read, south of the blind corner on the road.

Reports to be filed: GreenHab Report, Operation Report, Science Report, Daily Photo Report

Support Requested: None.

Crew 210 Sol Summary Report 17-APR-2019

Sol: 5

Summary Title: Plants to the north and plants to the west

Author’s name: Paul Sokoloff

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: Today we continued our outreach efforts on social media, including answering questions on our Reddit "Ask a Martian Anything", and uploaded a Facebook update video. Four of the crew went to Copernicus Valley to continue transect and quadrat sampling, where we discovered new plant records for the MDRS area, including a stinkweed (Cleomella palmeriana). After a beautiful ride out and back, we returned home to the hab for lunch. In the afternoon we hiked up to the top of Hab Ridge just to the west of MDRS to finish our quadrat sampling. We returned to the hab around 6, and we plan on spending the evening processing samples and pressing plants in the Science Dome.

Look Ahead Plan: Tomorrow AM we will conduct livestream outreach broadcasts (one in French and one in English) in partnership with Discover The Universe and Live It. In the afternoon we will continue to process samples in the science dome, and will meet to discuss next steps for our multi-year program.

Anomalies in work: No problems.

Weather: Bright and Sunny

Crew Physical Status: Good. One crew member slipped into a sinkhole on Sagan Street but caught themselves before falling far, and is OK (one very slight scrape). No problems afterwards

EVA: Four crew members took ATVs to Copernicus Valley in the northwest corner of the MDRS operation area in the morning for quadrat sampling. In the afternoon four crew members hiked up to Hab Ridge for additional quadrat surveys.

Reports to be file: GreenHab Report, Operations Report, Photo Report

Support Requested: None.

Crew 201 Sol Summary Report 16-APR-2019

Sol: 4

Summary Title: Quadrat by quadrat, we’re painting a picture of the “Martian” desert

Author’s name: Paul Sokoloff

Mission Status: Nominal.

Sol Activity Summary: (This morning we hosted a representative from the local Bureau of Land Management Office, therefore our team left for EVA in the early afternoon. We visited two sites east of the hab along the Cactus Road to survey vegetation using quadrats at two pre-determined sites – details for this sampling will be covered in the science report. At these sites we made additional plant and lichen collections for our biodiversity survey project. At the end of the day we proceeded to Hanksville to host an “Ask a Martian Anything” on Reddit.

Look Ahead Plan: Tomorrow we plan on visiting three more sites to finish our quadrat surveys, and to process the plants collected today in the hab science dome.

Anomalies in work: No issues to report.

Weather: Good weather (though slightly cold and overcast) until we returned home from our EVA, and which point rain and hail started over us.

Crew Physical Status: Nominal.

EVA: We drove along Cactus Road east of the station and sampled two sites along the route for our quadrat surveys.

Reports to be file: Operations Report, GreenHab Report, Photo Report, Science Report

Support Requested: None.

Crew 210 Sol Summary Report 15-APR-2019

Sol: 3

Summary Title: Squashing plants and supply runs

Author’s name: Paul Sokoloff

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: This morning, after the requisite coffee, Crew 210 pressed the plants collected during yesterdays excursion to Salt Creek and the Burpee Quarry. By squishing the plant specimens between cardboard and drying them out, the team is left with a flat plant that, of stored correctly, will last for hundreds of years. These specimens, accompanied by a label indicating the location and date of collection, will serve as the proof that these plants were found growing at a specific place and time, and will make up the backbone of our first planned publication from this program.

Our team devoted the rest of this sol to gathering supplies essential to hab and rover systems. Shannon made a water run to Hanksville, while the rest of 210 went to Bicknel for ATV batteries and supplies to build a quadrat for our ecological work. On our return to MDRS our team was able to repair one more ATV, three of these are now operational.

While completing both our scientific and technical work for the day we were also able to continue our social outreach efforts, including posting video of our plant pressing adventures to Twitter and Facebook, preparing for an “Ask a Martian Anything” on Reddit tomorrow night, and telling our “Martian” tales on social media.

All in all, another beautiful day in that special place that straddles the line between our unique planet and the one we’d next like to visit.

Look Ahead Plan: Now equipped with a square-meter quadrat for ecological sampling, we will plan on spending tomorrow (sol 4), doing transects and quadrats within the MDRS operational area. At these sites we will document the number of species, percent cover, and functional groups of the plant and lichen communities, and record abiotic variables such as soil moisture content, pH, and coarseness. New plant and lichen species found on EVA will also be collected.

A Bureau of Land Management representative is scheduled to visit MDRS tomorrow morning, so we will meet with them before starting our sampling EVA.

Anomalies in work: No.

Weather: Cloudy in the am, clearing by mid-day.

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: no EVAs at MDRS, but Shannon made a water and supply run to Hanksville, and the remainder of the crew made a supply run to Bicknell.

Reports to be filed:

Sol Summary

Operations Report

GreenHab Report

Photo Report

Support Requested: n/a

Sol 2 – Anywhere is walking distance if you’ve got the time

Before departing MDRS for a day of botanical sampling, crew 210 spent the morning working on social media outreach and (importantly), fueling up on coffee. While team members emptied the hab car water tank (filled last night in Hanksville), other crew members continued to repair the hab tunnels. The full team (five humans and two space dogs) left the station at 11:30.

After refueling the hab car in Hanksville, we drove to the Factory Butte access road and sampled plants and lichens at the Valley of the Stars and at Salt Creek. We returned to Cow Dung Road and went to continue our plant sampling outside of the Burpee Dinosaur Quarry

When we went to return to MDRS the hab car did not initially start, so Mike Irvine and myself hiked back to the hab from the quarry to retrieve the crew car. However, just as we returned to the hab we heard from the rest of the team over the radio that they were able to restart the car and they made their way back to MDRS.

Tomorrow the team will travel to Loa in the morning to retrieve parts for the ATVs, and plan on sampling around the hab (time-permitting) in the afternoon.

Sol 1 – Entry, Descent, and Landing

Crew 210 arrived at the Mars Desert Research Station mid-afternoon today. Consisting of biologists and outreach specialists from across North America, crew 210 will spend the next week conducting a biodiversity survey and ecological inventory of the MDRS area outside of sim. Our team includes:

· Dr. Shannon Rupert, director of the Mars Desert Research station, and desert ecologist.

· David Murray, crew 210 co-lead, MDRS GreenHab director, and desert ecologist.

· Paul Sokoloff, crew 2010 co-lead and botanist at the Canadian Museum of Nature.

· Samantha McBeth, polar biologist, expedition guide, and outreach coordinator.

· Mike Irvine, co-founder of Live It and outreach coordinator.

We spent this afternoon addressing logistical needs around the station, including some repairs of the hab tunnels, two water runs into Hanksville, and repairs to ATVs. We will likely need to run additional errands on Monday, so tomorrow we will begin our sampling program by surveying the vegetation and sampling around Salt Creek, on the Factory Butte road.

This spring has been very lush around MDRS and the “Martian” hills are green with peppergrass and evening primrose, so we are eager to begin our science program in the hopes of finding new plant records for MDRS, and to contribute to long-term ecological monitoring at the station.

You can follow our "Martian" adventures on Twitter (@LiveItearth, @Lady_McBeth_, @paul_sokoloff, @pillowdavid17), and by following #MDRS210 and #MarsBio

Until tomorrow,

Paul S, on behalf of crew 210