Crew 221 GreenHab Report 11FEB2020
GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd
Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on. Door opened today from 12:15 pm to 4:06 pm.
Average temperatures: 22°C
Hours of supplemental light: 19:30 to 00:00
Daily water usage for crops: 15.85 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0.53 gallon
Water in Blue Tank: 178.8 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 2
Changes to crops: We have a cucumber! The zucchinis and cucumbers are flowering, and the strawberry plant has begun growing a strawberry. The tips of the narcissus are incredibly dry and browning. They have been watered regularly so I’m concerned the heater is drying them out. Should we move them to a lower level?
Narrative: Today was exciting as we harvested quite a bit from the GreenHab on Shannon’s recommendation for tonight’s dinner. Rosemary potatoes and salad! We are feasting like kings! The plants were watered this morning and this evening, and excitingly one of our Blue corn plants in Martian soil has begun to sprout. That’s right; Crew 221 has officially grown crops on Mars.
Harvest: 71g Cucumber, 20g lettuce, 6g butter lettuce, 14g onions, 4g rosemary.
Support/supplies needed: NA
Other Notes: Myself and the Crew Engineer noticed the water level in the GreenHab tank is much lower than expected. The water has just dropped below the level of the upper tap, meaning it is around 1/3 full (~100 gallons). We have been basing our water amount each day on subtracting the amount used every day from a full tank at the start of Sol 0. Due to the busy schedule of Crew 220, and the repairs being done by David and Atila, Crew 221 did not complete all the water refilling of the station prior to the start of our mission, and the GreenHab tank had to be refilled by Atila on Sol 1. We were told the GreenHab tank was filled to full (300 gallons), however we have kept a careful record of our water usage, and while our numbers tell us we should have 178.8 gallons, this is clearly not the case. We should have sufficient water in the GreenHab to get us to the end of our mission, however it will be cutting it close.