Month: February 2020

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GreenHab Report – February 10th

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 10FEB2020

GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on. Door opened today from 1:15 am to 4:25 pm.

Average temperatures: 21.5°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: 0.52 gallon

Water in Blue Tank: 195.2 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 2

Changes to crops: Same as yesterday: Pumpkin plants are flowering nicely. There are a number of soil-filled pots on the bottom level of the central shelf. They are labeled as bell peppers but in one week of monitoring I’ve seen no sprouting. I don’t think there are any plants in these pots.

Narrative: Once again it was a pretty hot day in the GreenHab so we opened the door for a few hours. Morning watering was uneventful; all the plants are doing well. Our Mars corn is starting to sprout (yay!), still waiting on our mungbeans. We harvested some yummy chard spinach and chives for our quinoa salad (finally getting some greens!).

Harvest: 9g Chard Spinach, 10g Rocket, 2g Chives, 3g Corriander

Support/supplies needed: NA

Other Notes: NA

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Sol Summary – February 10th

Crew 221 Sol Summary Report 10Feb-2020

Sol:8

Summary Title: EVAs and Kim’s Release

Author’s name: Maria Grulich, M.Sc.

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Update since last Sol summary: The crew had an astronomy lesson last night by crew astronomer G. Alotaibi, so all other crew members had a chance to ask questions and learn about it which was great!

This morning Crew Engineer L. Monge and Crew Commander M. Grulich went up the Hab Ridge road towards Hab Ridge North to get eight more microbiology samples as well as investigate how two different EVA teams with the same route and the same objective will perform.

The morning EVA already struggled to find the Hab Ridge road but managed after two extra little hill hikes. The team found great samples of stones with letch, several stratospheric layers and gryphaea at the top of Hab Ridge Road North, supporting the theory that Mars once hosted liquid water. We already know there are microbes living in the soil from the already incubated samples showing bacteria and fungi growth. Meanwhile, H.Kalucha and J. Todd worked on the robot and almost finished it, which just leaves the programming to be done tomorrow.

In the lunch break between the two EVA’s, we found out that we actually caught our little Martian and we called the rodent Kim and got permission to release him at Cowboys Corner at the end of EVA 9.

The second EVA of the day also had an issue finding the road, but still managed to find it and also collected 8 samples which will be processed today. Crew Commander prepared nutrient agar during the second EVA while being support lead to finish all samples by today to leave enough time for the incubation.

Once the second EVA team came back, they took the rovers to release Kim. The dinner was Rajma and Jalapeño Poppers by crew journalist H. Kalucha in preparation for Canadian/Indian Cultural night.

Look Ahead Plan: Planning of Operation EVAs, last microbiology sample preparation for the incubation and Canadian Cultural night.

Anomalies in work: None

Update mouse in hab: Caught Kim. We will set up the trap again to see if there is another one.

Weather: sunny partially cloudy in the afternoon light wind in the morning stronger wind in the afternoon

Crew Physical Status: Crew team members with signs of flu doing better, crew member with knee issues worsened after EVA

Reports to be filed:

Sol Summary

Photo Report

Operations Report

GreenHab Report

Science Report

Astronomy Report

EVA Request

EVA Report 8 and 9

Journalist Report

Support Requested: Raspberries same as yesterday Olive Oil from last time and White Vinegar if possible

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EVA Report – February 10th

Crew 221 EVA # 8 Report 10 Feb 2020

EVA # 8

Author: Luis Monge (Engineer)

Purpose of EVA: We will be performing a similar EVA both in the morning and the afternoon to study EVA operations, team dynamics and scientific productivity when adapting to variable terrain. Team 1 in the morning was tasked with collecting a set number of scientific samples and make field geography observations over a specified area, while attempting to follow a preplanned route (based off terrain maps).

Start time: 10:00 am

End time: 12:30 pm

Narrative: Today we conducted the first of the two walking EVA. L.Monge, and M.Grulich went out to walk towards North Ridge with the aim to collect samples mainly for microbiology projects. The Martian weather was sunny and hot during the EVA. L.Monge took the lead and some problems were faced in order to find the route at first. The team stopping on the way to check the maps and road conditions and climbed two small hills to determine the location of the road.

Once on the road, Crew Commander M.Grulich was looking for geology traces where microbes could be found. Samples at eight different locations were collected. Including cotton rubbing of a rock that seemed to have microbial colonies on top of it.

Destination: North end of Hab Ridge

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 0517500/4251800

EVA Participants: Maria, Luis, Ghanim

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Walk up Hab Ridge Rd (1103), through Schubert Pass to the north end of Hab Ridge

Mode of travel: Walking

Vehicles you will be using (If applicable): NA

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Operations Report – February 9th

Crew 221 Operations Report 09Feb2020

SOL: 7

Name of person filing report: Luis D. Monge

Non-nominal systems:

Notes on non-nominal systems:

Generator: on (at 6pm)

Hours run: 11:00

From what time last night: 8:00 pm

To what time this morning: 6:00 am

List any additional daytime hours when the generator was run : 0

Solar— SOC % (Before the generator is run at night) 80%

Diesel Reading – 97%

Station Propane Reading – 58%

Ethanol Free Gasoline – gallons

Water (loft tank): 35 gallons

Water Meter: 148 units

Water (static tank) – 250 gals

Static to Loft Pump used – yes

Water in GreenHab – 211.6 gals

Water in ScienceDome: 0 gallons

Toilet tank emptied: yes

Deimos rover used: no

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Sojourner rover used: ASSIGNED TO DIRECTOR

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging: yes

Spirit rover used: no

Hours: (before EVA) : 129.9

Beginning charge: (Before EVA) 100%

Ending charge: (On return from EVA, before recharging)

Currently charging: yes

Opportunity rover used: no

Hours: n/a

Beginning charge: n/a

Ending charge: n/a

Currently charging: yes

Curiosity rover used: no

Hours: 136.1

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge:

Currently charging: yes

Notes on rovers:

ATV’s Used: (Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.2, 350.3) not used

Reason for use: not used

Oil Added? not used

ATV Fuel Used: Gals not used

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: not used

Notes on ATVs:

HabCar used and why, where? not used

CrewCar used and why, where? not used

General notes and comments: not used

Summary of internet: operational

Summary of suits and radios: Suit 10 battery replacement performed.

Summary of Hab operations: nominal.

Summary of GreenHab operations: operational, black corn experiment continues, now watered with 4l/day. watering of the plants carried out as per the procedure

Summary of ScienceDome operations: 1 incubator running, microbiology experiments going on and cultures are being grown in agar plates.

Summary of RAM operations: robot assembly is ongoing and expected to continue, antenna assembly for radio communication experiment continued today.

Summary of any observatory issues: nominal

Summary of health and safety issues: Two crew members have a sore throat. Another crew member hit their right knee with a rock during sol 6 EVA

Questions, concerns, and requests to Mission Support: the oven was reconfigured to work with propane as the previous configuration was for natural gas, and that was determined to be the cause of the smell reported. Everything is operational now.

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Science Report – February 9th

Crew 221 Science Report 09-FEB-20
Crew Science Officer: Hemani Kalucha

1. Microbiology Research
Today, we put more samples in the incubator to test for bacteria growth. This time, we used our own agar in the samples.

2. ISRU project
Nothing further to report.

3. Mung Beans

Nothing further to report.

4. Radio Communication

Crew Engineer got the antenna to successfully capture and decipher digital signals from around the world (Canada, France, Bangalore!) Photo report shows the transcript of signals captured.

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Operations Report – February 9th

Crew 221 Operations Report 07Feb2020

SOL: 7

Name of person filing report: Luis D. Monge

Non-nominal systems:

Notes on non-nominal systems:

Generator: on (at 6pm)

Hours run: 11:00

From what time last night: 8:00pm

To what time this morning: 6:00am

List any additional daytime hours when the generator was run : 0

Solar— SOC % (Before generator is run at night) 80%

Diesel Reading – 97%

Station Propane Reading – 58%

Ethanol Free Gasoline – gallons

Water (loft tank): 35 gallons

Water Meter: 148 units

Water (static tank) – 250 gals

Static to Loft Pump used – yes

Water in GreenHab – 211.6 gals

Water in ScienceDome: 0 gallons

Toilet tank emptied: yes

Deimos rover used: no

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Sojourner rover used: ASSIGNED TO DIRECTOR

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging: yes

Spirit rover used: no

Hours: (before EVA) : 129.9

Beginning charge: (Before EVA) 100%

Ending charge: (On return from EVA, before recharging)

Currently charging: yes

Opportunity rover used: no

Hours: n/a

Beginning charge: n/a

Ending charge: n/a

Currently charging: yes

Curiosity rover used: no

Hours: 136.1

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge:

Currently charging: yes

Notes on rovers:

ATV’s Used: (Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.2, 350.3) not used

Reason for use: not used

Oil Added? not used

ATV Fuel Used: Gals not used

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: not used

Notes on ATVs:

HabCar used and why, where? not used

CrewCar used and why, where? not used

General notes and comments: not used

Summary of internet: operational

Summary of suits and radios: Suit 10 battery replacement performed.

Summary of Hab operations: nominal.

Summary of GreenHab operations: operational, black corn experiment continues, now watered with 4l/day. watering of the plants carried out as per procedure

Summary of ScienceDome operations: 1 incubator runing, microbiology experiments going on and cultures are bieng grown in agar plates.

Summary of RAM operations: robot assembly is ongoing adn expected to continue, antenna asembly for radio comunication experiment continued today.

Summary of any observatory issues: nominal

Summary of health and safety issues: nothing to report

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support:

Posted on

Journalist Report – February 9th

Crew 221 Journalist Report 09Feb2020

Author: Hemani Kalucha, Crew Journalist

Sol 4

Title: A little bit of rest

Yesterday evening, we had another amazing cultural night. We learned so much about Costa Rica and found it is such an impressive country. It voluntarily gave up its army in 1948, it has a literacy rate of 97%, and it currently runs on 98% renewable energy. We’ve now decided to have a reunion in Costa Rica next year, especially because of the incredibly yummy food Crew Engineer Luis prepared last night. We also got the chance to try a rare Costa Rican delicacy, the core of a palm tree! This morning, Crew Journalist Hemani made cheesy scrambled eggs for the crew. The crew was served a second luxurious round of coffee and also finally ate the cookies Crew 219 gifted to us as a treat. It was a morning of deliciousness. After an afternoon of great conversation, the crew got busy with planning our EVA experiments and preparing new microbiology samples. In particular, Crew GHO Jessica is trying to plan EVAs for rover operations testing and emergency response testing. She is also trying to use previously published parameters to test EVA success on our EVA operations to compare the results. Tonight, we are all very excited to do the combined Zumba and Salsa sports session prepared by the Commander and Engineer.

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Green Hab Report – February 9th

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 09FEB2020

GreenHab Officer: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on. Door opened today from 1:05 pm to 4:25 pm.

Average temperatures: 18.33°C

Hours of supplemental light: 19:30 to 00:00

Daily water usage for crops: 14.7 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 1 gallon

Water in Blue Tank: 211.6 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 2

Changes to crops: Pumpkin plants are flowering nicely. There are a number of soil-filled pots on the bottom level of the central shelf. They are labeled as bell peppers but in one week of monitoring I’ve seen no sprouting. I don’t think there are any plants in these pots.

Narrative: Watered the plants this morning at 9:43am. Today was a little colder so we kept the GreenHab toasty this morning and opened the door for a few hours around lunch. We had omelettes for breakfast so harvested some lovely spinach and rocket to get some greenery! Our mungbeans and blue corn have yet to sprout but will continue to monitor.

Harvest: 9g Chard Spinach, 3g Spinach Lakeside, 6g Rocket

Support/supplies needed: NA

Other Notes: NA

Posted on

Sol Summary – February 9th

Crew 221 Sol Summary Report 09Feb-2020

Sol:7

Summary Title:

Author’s name: Maria Grulich, M.Sc.

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Update since last Sol summary: The crew had a lovely cultural night of Costa Rica with crew engineer L. Monge. The food he prepared was delicious and he even brought everyone a traditional hat and scarf from his country. The team learned a lot and is planning on a team meeting in Costa Rica once we return to Earth one day.

Today the crew is half way through rotation and therefore took the liberty to sleep one hour more and started its day with delicious scrambled eggs prepared by crew journalist H. Kalucha.

After breakfast, the team sat together, reviewing their performance of the first week. We discussed what we enjoyed and what the team can improve on, which resulted in a 2 hours cleaning activity before each member focused on their science projects.

The microbiology team made great progress, preparing 5 new samples and taking samples from stones directly to see if more bacteria is growing. Most of the samples the team prepared showed growth of bacteria.

Crew engineer L. Monge made good progress on his antenna project, which shall be installed in the field the coming weeks. The crew astronomer G. Alotaibi is still not satisfied with his images and will keep working on it.

As part of the team feels unwell, crew 221 was not on their best performance today and hopes that it will make better progress over the next few days and also should start to do videos for outreach.

Look Ahead Plan: Sports Session, Meditation Session, Planning of Operation EVAs, last microbiology sample collection

Anomalies in work: None

Update mouse in hab: still no joy in catching it.

Weather: cloudy during the day, partially cloudy during the evening light winds

Crew Physical Status: two crew members showing signs of the flu, one crew member injured knee

Reports to be filed:

Sol Summary

Photo Report

Operations Report

GreenHab Report

Science Report

Astronomy Report

EVA Request

HSO Report

Support Requested: Olive Oil, distilled white vinegar

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