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Journalist Report Oct 27th

Journalist Report October 27

Journalist: Sandy Dance

After travelling the world the team members finally assemble and meet each other, mostly for the first time, at the Days Inn in Grand Junction Colorado. We spend an afternoon buying all those last minute things we require for 2 or 4 weeks in the wilderness. And incidentally get to know each other.

We are a good team: Diane the nutritionist, Andrew the geologist, Sandy the IT and generalist, and our Commander Guy, the heritage consultant. Unfortunately the 5th person we were expecting had a medical withdrawal and couldn’t make it. Luckily Shannon was able to donate one of her interns to the team, David who studies mechatronics at Peru University.

That afternoon we drive the 2 ½ hours to Hanksville. There we meet up with Shannon in the hot and dusty little, but strangely attractive town. This is at the Rock Shop run by one Cathy, a funky little place with a vast array of geological specimens, especially dinosaur coprolites!

Finally we drive to the MRDS down a dusty little track winding around barren hillocks and crazy shaped rocks, turn a corner, and there it is: the Mars habitat.

We spend the rest of the time shifting supplies into the hab and tidying things up.

After a knockup meal, we collapse into bed, each with our tiny but lovable “stateroom”.

Sunday 27th October

We wake at 7am for a hearty breakfast of coffee, tea and porridge, then knuckle down to a morning of cleaning the hab and base, charging and preparing the spacesuits, checking the radios, rearranging the furniture, and moving rubbish from around the hab out of site.

The weather turns cold, cloudy and windy, not like yesterday.

Guy and I manage to skive off at one point and take a walk up the hill, something we can do today as we are not yet in ‘sim’. The walk up is over a hard crust of clay lying on top of very soft and dry clay powder. Our footsteps break through if we’re not careful, we don’t want to leave a permanent trace. The surface is rendered by rain and drought into a sort of elephants hide of minute erosion texture. We make it to the top and are greeted with a magnificent panorama around the horizon: eroded hills, buttes, mountains in the distance, all in a palette of pinks, greys and greens. One feature, Factory Butte, looks like its name, but with a skirt of eroded scree at 45 degrees.

Another knockup meal, lunch prepared from the dry goods (we are going to get used to this): cheesy dumplings with thick soup, just the thing!

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Science Report Oct 27th

Crew 214 Science Report 27-Oct-2019

Submitted by Science Officer Andrew Wheeler

1. EVA Suit Maintenance: The hab has been set up following arrival. All backpacks have been plugged in and fully charged. Helmets are clean and contained in their cloth bags except for one helmet, for which, the cloth bag is missing. Radios have been tested and are fully charged. Communication earpieces remain to be tested for faulty performance.

2. Green Hab: The green hab has been activated and is awaiting water and additional soil base before sowing of this seasons crops.

3. Astronomy Dome Operations: No astronomical observations have been planned for this crew rotation.

4. Science Dome Operations: The Science Dome has been activated and is awaiting EVAs for sample acquisition and sample testing.

5. RAM Operations: The RAM Dome has been activated and is ready for contingencies.

6. EVA: No preparations or activities have been undertaken to date. The access routes have been identified to allow sample locations to be identified.

7. Closed Loop Food Waste Study: This study has been initiated and is ongoing. Day’s waste: 79g; consisting of 323 calories, 10g fat, 5g saturated fat, 1179mg sodium, 52g carbohydrates, 7g fibre, 6g sugar, 7g protein.

8. Additional activities: Nil

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Sol Summary Report Oct 27th

Sol:0

Summary Title: Preparing for Landing

Author’s name: Guy Murphy

Mission Status: Since its arrival yesterday, Crew 214 of Expedition Boomerang has been adjusting to its new surroundings and preparing the campus for commencement of full simulation mode.

Sol Activity Summary: Today we cleaned the bottom level of the habitat, and the outside of the buildings. We continued to familiarise ourselves with the various operational systems and procedures. We prepared 3 cooked meals.

Look Ahead Plan: We will commence full simulation mode at first light tomorrow morning. Our fifth crew member David will join us early afternoon. David will brief the crew about using the suits and EVA procedure.

Anomalies in work: N/A

Weather: Clear skies all day, cooler weather later in the afternoon.

Crew Physical Status: All crew in good health, adjusting to MDRS conditions.

EVA: EVA schedule not commenced.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Science Report, Journalists Report, HSO Pre-Mission Checklist, Photo of the day

Support Requested: We welcome feedback from Mission Support as to how we can improve our practise of comms procedures.

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Journalist Report – October 26th

Journalist’s Report

Saturday 26th October

After travelling the world the team members finally assemble and meet each other, mostly for the first time, at the Days Inn in Grand Junction Colorado. We spend an afternoon buying all those last minute things we require for 2 or 4 weeks in the wilderness. And incidentally get to know each other.

We are a good team: Dianne the nutritionist, Andrew the geologist, Sandy the IT and generalist, and our Commander Guy, the heritage consultant. Unfortunately the 5th person we were expecting had a medical withdrawal and couldn’t make it. Luckily Shannon was able to donate one of her interns to the team, David who studies mechatronics at the National University of Colombia.

That afternoon we drive the 2 ½ hours to Hanksville. There we meet up with Shannon in the hot and dusty little, but strangely attractive town. This is at the Rock Shop run by one Cathy, a funky little place with a vast array of geological specimens, especially dinosaur coprolites!

Finally we drive to the MDRS down a dusty little track winding around barren hillocks and crazy shaped rocks, turn a corner, and there it is: the Mars habitat.

We spend the rest of the time shifting supplies into the Hab and tidying things up.

After a knock-up meal, we collapse into bed, each with our tiny but lovable “stateroom”.

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Operations Report – Sept 4th

Off season  Operations Report 4 Sept 2019

SOL: n/a

Name of person filing report: Shannon Rupert

Non-nominal systems: Hab water filter is black

Notes on non-nominal systems:  the water filter is black. I don’t know that replacing it now would do anything so we will need to clean the system before any use in Oct.

Generator (hours run): not run

Generator SOC currently 89% at 6 pm

Diesel Reading – 71%

Propane Reading – Shannon’s  20%.  Main tank 41 %

Ethanol Free Gasoline – 8 gallons.

Water (Axillary tank)  – 0 gallons

Water (static tank) – 400 gallons. 150 gallons at Shannon’s

Axillary to Static tank transfer– no

Gallons transferred: none

Water in GreenHab – n/a gallons

Water (loft) – Static to Loft Pump used – no

Water Meter: n/a

Toilet tank emptied: no

Deimos rover used: no

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Sojourner rover used:  in town

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Spirit rover used: in town

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Opportunity rover used: in town

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Curiosity rover used: in town

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Notes on rovers: all working rovers in town being used and well cared for.

ATV’s Used: (Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.2, 350.3)

No

Oil Added? No

ATV Fuel Used: 0 Gals

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: zero

Notes on ATVs: nothing to report

HabCar used and why, where? Not used

CrewCar used and why, where? Yes. To town for drinking water.

General notes and comments:  Productive meeting with Ikea (SLC).  We worked on changes to the plans provided by Ikea in Sweden to improve function over form. The plan is to do the upgrades in three stages: lower deck and GreenHab first to be completed during the October work party. A new kitchen and science lab will be installed later in the season.

Summary of internet: nothing to report

Summary of suits and radios: nothing to report

Summary of Hab operations: nothing to report

Summary of GreenHab operations: Nothing to report.

Summary of ScienceDome: Dual split unit was installed in the interior but need the pad for the outside unit which did not get ordered. Once that is herewe will contact an Hvac company to add the refrigerant and then the Science Dome will have both ac and heat. This was installed mainly so we can keep the power system cool in the summer as the dome is pretty well insulated.

Summary of RAM operations: nothing to report

Summary of any observatory issues: Nothing to report

Summary of health and safety issues: continues to be unseasonably warm. I either have a cold or allergies.

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support:

Correction from last night’s report: power lost on June 27th, not July.

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Operations Report – Sept 3rd

Off season  Operations Report 3 Sept 2019

SOL: n/a

Name of person filing report: Shannon Rupert

Non-nominal systems: two GreenHab breakers (new problem), on ENG breaker ( known problem, new reaction)

Notes on non-nominal systems: the power system failed on July 27th (based on data from my Dish Hopper). Three breakers in the Hab tripped as noted above and the short caused a stack mode fault that shut down the system. We got the Science Dome power on first by turning off all the breakers in the Hab, the throwing them one at a time. the ENG breaker is the plugs on the outer wall, which have needed replacement but we were waiting for the remodel. Apparently they shorted. The GreenHab issue is a puzzle and we will start by replacing the two breakers with new ones.

Generator (hours run): one hour. Generator has a small diesel leak that will need to be reported when the season starts. Battery needed to be jumped.

Generator SOC currently 85 % at 6 pm with my AC on

Diesel Reading – 71%

Propane Reading – Shannon’s is currently at 20% and will need a refill although we will probably need a new larger one due to the Intern trailer purchase.  Main tank 41 %

Ethanol Free Gasoline – 8 gallons.

Water (Axillary tank)  – 0 gallons

Water (static tank) – 400 gallons, will need cleaning next month, 150 gallons at Shannon’s

Axillary to Static tank transfer– no

Gallons transferred: none

Water in GreenHab – n/a gallons

Water (loft) – Static to Loft Pump used – no

Water Meter: n/a

Toilet tank emptied: no

Deimos rover used: no

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Sojourner rover used:  in town

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Spirit rover used: in town

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Opportunity rover used: in town

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Curiosity rover used: in town

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Notes on rovers: all working rovers in town being used and well cared for.

ATV’s Used: (Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.2, 350.3)

Reason for use: all were started and run for awhile. The 300 had to be jumped.

Oil Added? No

ATV Fuel Used: 0 Gals

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: one

Notes on ATVs: nothing to report

HabCar used and why, where? Yes. Jumped to start, used to jump generator for start

CrewCar used and why, where? Yes. Using it to travel back and forth to town as the road is too rough for my little rental car.

General notes and comments:  the campus is in decent shape, just has that sad abandoned quality it gets when no one is here. Little evidence of rodents, a few droppings in Hab’s lower deck with none anywhere else. I will have a list of things getting repaired before the work party by the end of the week. We also have a new fifth wheel traler coming on campus for interns and grad students. It’s pretty much a match for mine and will be parked along side mine. Thanks to the donor who supported its purchase, we will have a more active intern program this year.

Summary of internet: all three accounts nominal. We changed the router as it wasn’t working to the old Science one. I don’t have my computer so can’t use mine as the WiFi isn’t turned on. One note of interest:  there is a new cell tower in town and I have some limite text and web capabilities.

Summary of suits and radios: suits are still with NorCal. Radios are in bad shape. Most will need to be replaced

Summary of Hab operations: nothing to report except whoever left the rubber snake has freaked all of us out.

Summary of GreenHab operations: Nothing to report.

Summary of ScienceDome operations: we will start installing the dual split ac/ heat unit in the ScienceDome tomorrow

Summary of RAM operations: nothing to report

Summary of any observatory issues: Peter confirms robotic Observatory is back on line.

Summary of health and safety issues: it’s very hot. With no power last night and 100 degrees in my trailer when I went to bed I slept poorly. Still hot today even with ac.

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support:

Tomorrow we will have a visit from two people from SLC Ikea to work on the ongoing redesign project we have with them.

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Sol Summary – Jun 10th

Astronomy Refit Crew – Sol 8, June 10th, 2019

Crew: Peter Detterline

Gary Becker

Peyton Zankel

Cole Armstrong

Ed Thomas

Narrative:

Last night was not the greatest for observing, so some of us were sporadically sleeping in hopes of getting good images. Becker got some gorgeous shots of the moon, but that was the extent of the night. It was too cloudy for anything else.

Thomas left early this morning and for the rest of us, our last day was a clean-up / maintenance day. Armstrong and I got one last use in of the solar scope to test it and got our images processed. Later in the day, while Armstrong helped Detterline with getting dirt and a flagstone stair around the Musk Observatory, I was helping Becker with breaking down his telescope and getting gear into the Jeep for tomorrow. Becker also got the images of the propane tank processed and sent out and Detterline also continued work on the video project.

Today was also Becker’s birthday, so we celebrated a bit. We took a trip to the local rock shop before having dinner and heading out to Goblin National Park.

Tonight, there will be two different imaging cycles. Armstrong and Becker will be heading out earlier this evening to image with the moon. Detterline will be heading out early in the morning to image without the moon. I personally don’t know what I’m going to do yet. I might go to bed early so I can be up early and get my last few things packed up and squared away.

We leave Mars tomorrow morning at hopefully 10 am at the latest. Since this is my last entry for this crew, I want to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who has joined us here, both as crew and guest. If it weren’t for all of you, this trip would not have been as successful as it was. Becker and Detterline, thank you for giving me this amazing opportunity. It truly means the world to me.

Accomplished:

· Put stone and rock around the Musk Observatory.

· Gary propane tank pics for VR project

· Peyton and Cole solar imaging

· Worked on Video project. Needs power supply, didn’t set them up.

Power:

Soc = 90%

Problems:

None

Extra Notes:

Happy Birthday, Gary, you old space dog!

Pictures:

Picture 1 was taken by Gary Becker, an image taken of the robotic observatory last night. Pictures 2 and 3 were taken by Peyton Zankel of the dirt and new flagstone step put around the Musk Observatory.

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Sol Summary – Jun 9th

Astronomy Refit Crew – Sol 7, June 9th, 2019

Crew: Peter Detterline

Gary Becker

Peyton Zankel

Cole Armstrong

Ed Thomas

Narrative:

Last night’s star party went off without a hitch, although a bit cold. Once the moon was behind the hills, the stars covered the skies. It was so nice to share this love of space and the stars with others. Made being out in the cold and wind worth it. Detterline and Thomas stayed out for longer and took a single image of the Dumbbell Nebulae with the Robotic Observatory that lasted 10 minutes. Thomas wanted to see what the tracking was like to check the quality of the mount. The attached picture is gorgeous. If the weather cooperates with us, they want to try it again tonight for 15 and 20 minutes.

Today was a sort of maintenance day. We got the crack through the Musk Observatory filled, as well as a crack forming on the back-airlock porch. Detterline and Thomas took the desiccant out of the telescope cameras and baked them at 240⁰ F for 2 hours to re-energize the material. This will be part of the maintenance routine from here on out.

Thomas also got some work done in the Robotic
Observatory today. He discussed some new telescope routines including a new park position for the telescope, and the rationale for why the telescope needs a 30⁰ cut off rather than a 20⁰ one, which is what Detterline was hoping for. This means that you can’t image anything lower than 30⁰.

Armstrong, Becker, Thomas, and I also took a short trip to the local dinosaur dig while Detterline worked on the training video. While it was technically closed today, they were still kind enough to give us a quick look around. It was nice to see what was going on in what is sort of our own backyard. We got to see a clump of large bones they had been working on and may soon be moving off to their museum.

Today was not perfect, though. The internet has been going in and out all day, which makes our work more difficult. Detterline and Thomas also tried to get the video cameras working, but with no luck. They are still working on it, but with Thomas leaving tomorrow and the rest of us leaving Tuesday morning, we aren’t sure if we’ll be able to get them operational.

Accomplished:

Poured concrete in cracks in Musk and Hab

10 minute exposure of Dumbbell Nebula

Detterline finished recording training videos for the Musk Observatory

Desiccant was dried out

Power:

Soc = 87%

Problems:

Internet going in and out all day

Could not get cameras operational

Pictures:

Pictures 1, 2, and 3 are taken by Peyton Zankel. The first is of Peter Detterline hard at work filling the crack inside the Must Observatory. The second and third are of repairs to the Musk Observatory. Pictures 4 and 5 were taken by Peter Detterline. The first is his 10 minute exposure of the Dumbbell Nebula, and the second is a gorgeous picture from last night’s star party.