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Green Hab Report November 8th

Green Hab Officer Atila Meszaros

Sol 5 – 08/11/2017

Ambient (no heating or/cooling): none

Ambient with window/door open: door opened at 10:53; closed at 16: 20

Shade cloth on/off: off

Average temperature:

Time 10:53 12:00 13:40 18:22
Temperature inside (°C) 33 34 34 12
Temperature outside (°C) 5 – – 5
% Humidity 16 16 16 16

*Time when seeds of a former experiment where watered. (There are tomatoes, melons, peppers, cucumbers, and beans)

Changes to crops: None

Daily water usage for crops: 2 ½ galons

Changes to research plants: none

Daily watering and amount of water used: 864 mL approximately

Sol 5 was a pretty lazy day at the Green Hab (GH). Yesterday I worked till 22:00 at the GH and then I was looking for some guides to build a homemade Drip Irrigation System, so I woke up pretty late, plus we had the training for the Rovers and the ATV’s and a 3-hour EVA. It all went awesome! But I didn’t have time to make the repairs I wanted to make on the GH. However, I did repair the GH door that I discovered was a bit lose.

During the last hours of Sol 4, I finished the preparations for my project. Half of the seeds remain at the GH; the other half is in the growing chamber that’s on the Lab. For all the experiment I’m using less than a liter of distillated water per day.

The project wants to prove that Peruvian native crops can, indeed, germinate and grow on Mars soil. I’m working with quinoa, amaranthus and mustard (as a control).

I’ll attach you a picture of the pots!

As I’m aiming every Sol, tomorrow I’m going to rearrange all the GH, because it’s a mess. I’ll let you know how that worked.

Support/supplies needed: none

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Sol Summary November 3rd

Sol Summary Report for sol 0.3

November 3, 2017

And success!

Shannon Rupert, MDRS Director

Mission Status: All work party objectives were addressed. See Kay’s
engineering report for details.

Sol Activity Summary: Another busy day for us. We worked on the
objectives we set for ourselves. Highlight of my day was getting the
generator running. It had been offline since June. Kevin and John
spent much time today in the GreenHab and so I am happy to report the first crew will have seeds to tend. Lowlight of my day was the resignation of DG Lusko, who has been our invaluable local support
here in Hanksville for about a decade. For me personally, he has been
the person I have relied upon for so much since I became director of
the station. I have also learned a lot from him and after we got the
generator running through my plan, I realized I can actually fly after
being kicked out of the nest.

Look Ahead Plan: Crew 182 arrives tomorrow at noon! We have a lot of
clean up to do tomorrow! John L. will be leaving us in the morning,
Kevin in the afternoon. Kay and John S will stay until Sunday and
overnight with the new crew.

Anomalies in work: There are a lot of missing/misplaced items here at
this time. We have spent a lot of time looking for things, more than
ever before.

Weather: More wind today than before, but still warm and pleasant.
Beautiful evening.

Crew Physical Status: Even dirtier, and much more tired.

EVA: John L and Kevin took the rover up the main road to explore. As
Kevin is a new CapCOM, this trip will help him support crew EVA
planning.

Reports to be file: Sol Summary and Engineering Report. Still no crew
photos, but we are determined to take one in the morning.

Support Requested: None at this time.

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Operations Report – November 3rd

2017-11-03

Engineering Report – Friday 3 Nov. 2017

Refit Crew: Dr.Shannon Rupert, Kay Radzik Warren, Kevin Seidler, John
Lillquist, and John Stone

******************************************************************
STATUS OF HAB:
Water: Full tank, 500 gallons
Water on trailer: Both tanks empty
Diesel for generator: 75%
Solar Power: 100% SOC
Generator: on from 4 pm.  Last person up tonight will shut it off.
Propane: big tank = 58%, small tank = 40%
Fuel for ATV’s (Jerry Cans): All gas unusable. DO NOT USE FUEL WITH
ETHANOL IN IT
Fuel for Hab Car: Full tank, new battery

******************************************************************
Tasks done today:
1) GreenHab: grow lights installed; shade cloth installed on south
wall; +/- 2 dozen pots planted and watered.
2) Toilet tank flushed out.
3) Tunnel between GreenHab and intersection to Science Lab removed and replaced.
4) Generator jump started, oil was topped off, and it is in working condition.
5) Electrical receptacles checked, and we found that the receptacles
in the toilet, shower room, and alcove in front are not working. Lack
of GFCI outlets in wet areas noted.
6) Replacement lid for vent/skylight fabricated.
7) Porthole in south airlock exterior door had fallen out due to
extreme wind conditions (and the fact that it was just sitting in the
opening and not fastened mechanically, just siliconed), but was
undamaged. So it was put back in with carabiners slotted through holes
on each side so that it won’t fall out again.

******************************************************************
Tasks that need to be done:
A. Water heater is still not working. Per Curtis, it needs to be fully
replaced. Installation expected soon.
B. Need more water in spare tanks.

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Sol Summary – November 2nd

Sol Summary Report for sol 0.2

November 2, 2017

Here is when it gets rough!

Shannon Rupert, MDRS Director

Mission Status: We accomplished quite a lot today, considering we are
a small group.  See Kay’s engineering report for details.

Sol Activity Summary: The rest of the crew were up and outside working
when I arrived.  We worked on the tunnel until about 10 am, when a
strange vehicle drove up.  We had a media visit from Voice of America,
and I was their interviewee and there I was, looking much as I usually
do at MDRS, oh so fashionable (stop laughing, all you people who know
me), with my hair a spectacular mess!  I did get to brush my teeth
before filming.  It went very well, in the end, although I normally
try my best to get out of being on camera.  This will be a series of
videos broadcast in Russia.  We continued to work throughout the day,
and although the afternoons are supposed to be free time, this
dedicated group just kept working.  We were going to have pizza for
dinner, but our order did not get to the person who was cooking them,
so we ended up with a bunch of wonderful junk food instead.

Look Ahead Plan:  We need to get water here for the crew who arrive on
Saturday, so that will be our big push tomorrow.

Anomalies in work:  I noticed that this afternoon, with full sun, our
state of charge on the solar system was 53%, which is considerably
lower that it has been.  There was no real extra pull on the power
supply today, so I’m not sure what happened.  With the generator
currently non-functional we are dependent on the solar only.  I am
hoping DG will be able to work on the generator before the crew
arrives.  Also we cannot find the hitch for the HabCar.

Weather:  The weather continues to be unusually warm and pleasant.
This evening the wind has kicked up a little more than yesterday, but
it’s still a nice day.  Almost full moon tonight.

Crew Physical Status:  Dirtier, and a little tired.

EVA: No EVAs

Reports to be file: Sol Summary and Engineering Report. We talked
about getting a crew photo, but then just went back to work.

Support Requested: None at this time.

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Sol Summary – November 1st

Sol Summary Report for sol 0.1

November 1, 2017

Let the field season commence!

Shannon Rupert, MDRS Director

Mission Status:  Our work party was reduced to 5 due to several people
needing to cancel at the last minute.  Kay Warren is leading our
efforts, as usual, and John Stone from the San Diego Chapter, John
Lillquist who will be from Denver as of the day he leaves here! and
Kevin Seidler from Colorado Springs, who is also a new CapCOM, are on
our crew as well.

Sol Activity Summary: The day began with Kay and I coming up with a
work plan with our reduced crew.  Then I had a telecon about an
upcoming visit of Survivirman to MDRS.  John L and Kevin joined us
around noon and with Kay, they went to get some supplies in Loa.  I
waited for John S to arrive and then he and I worked on the tunnel
repair for while.  We also received many packages of equipment for the
lab and GreenHab.  We plan to begin Mission Support this evening.

Look Ahead Plan: We have the following plans for the rest of the work party:

1. Repairing some unused spacesuits to send to Mission to Mars in
Colorado (a middle school learning activity)

2. Cleaning the water system and preparing it for the field season

3. Repairing the tunnel

4. Beginning work in the GreenHab

5. Clean up for Crew 182

Anomalies in work:  Water heater is still broken, will be replaced on
Friday.  All 5 ATVs are being serviced and are offsite.

Weather:  Beautiful!  Warm and breezy, but colder at night

Crew Physical Status:  First day, we are good to go and not even very dirty yet.

EVA: No EVAs

Reports to be file: Sol Summary

Support Requested: Could you please send us the information you will
be sending the crew on Saturday just so everyone can see how it is
done?  We could also do it tomorrow, if it’s a problem tonight.  Thank
you.

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Applications are now open for the 2018-2019 Field Season

Crew applications are now being accepted for the 2018-19 Mars Desert Research Station field season in southern Utah. Please note this is for the next field season which will start in Fall 2018.  The current field season is fully scheduled.

Please read carefully all information as there have been a few changes.

Apply Now

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2017-2018 Field Season Schedule

Crew 182 (Team Peru V) – Nov 4-19
Crew 183 (MASER – Mexico) – Nov 18-Dec 3
Crew 184 (Mars Society 1) – Dec 2-17
Crew 185 (Mars Society 2) – Dec 16-31
Crew 186 (Boilers2 Mars – Purdue University) – Dec 30-Jan 14
Crew 187 (Team LATAM 2) – Jan 13-28
Crew 188 (ISU) – Jan 27 – Feb 11
IKEA Installation (non-crew special event) – Feb 10-18
Crew 189 (Supaero) – Feb 17-Mar 11
Crew 190 (UCL to Mars) – Mar 10-25
Crew 191 (Team Asia – Japanese & Indonesian) – Mar 24-Apr 8
Crew 192 (Project PHEnOME A) – Apr 7-22
Crew 193 (Project PHEnOME B) – Apr 21-May 5
Crew 194 & 195 (Wilderness Medical Society) – May 11-26
First Annual MDRS Curated Art Show – May 26-30