MDRS Supplemental Operations Report 04-SEPT-2021
This is the second of two operations reports filed tonight.
Name of person filing report: Shannon Rupert
Reason for Report: Beginning of field season/work party
Non-nominal systems: This is a reminder of what systems needed repair when we left: Leak in Hab toilet, leak in upper deck water tank intake, GreenHab door, leak in ScienceDome under window with damage
Action taken for non-nominal systems: These are all issues that need to be addressed before the field season begins
Generator check, note if oil and coolant added: New generator has not been activated for autostart. I will do a test run on the machine in the new two weeks.
ScienceDome Dual Split: Set to automatically keep temperature at 77 degrees F/24 degrees C for the summer, and worked perfectly. I turned it lower today so we could escape in there when it got hot in the afternoon.
Solar— Nominal, providing all power
Diesel Reading – 0 %.
Propane Reading, main tank – 80 %
Propane Reading, director tank— 75%
Propane Reading, intern tank— 72% (loss of 3%) over summer
Generator propane tank: 80%
Water (Outpost tank) – 200 gallons
Campus wide inspection, if action taken, what and why? Contacted contractor to pump septic tank at Outpost. We will make arrangements for the main septic to be pumped later this fall. We created a rock outlined parking lot at the main sign as the first step in our tourist design.
Volunteer vegetation around campus is currently being removed.
Summary of Hab operations: There has been significant damage to the exterior shell, which we will be painting this week. In some places it has cracked and I am hopeful the elastomeric paint will seal it again. There is also some evidence of water around the window of the upper deck. We will try to attach drip flashing after painting, and repair interior damage as soon as we can. Thee staircase is very rusted as it was never properly finished and sealed. That is something that should be done between crews. At minimum rust needs to be removed.
Summary of Outpost operations: We attacked the intern trailer with a vengeance this morning! The sofa and dining booth were removed, as well as all the window valences. The designed and purchased material to build a full-size bunk-bed for the front living area and a wall to divide the bedroom from the bathroom to allow more privacy when a group of people are living there. The dining booth will be replaced with a table and chairs. The walls will be painted and new insulated curtains put on the windows. Additionally, we need to make repairs to the water system and repair the main furnace. Finally, the trailer is listing several degrees on one side, so we need to level it.
Summary of GreenHab operations: Nothing to report except the potting soil and some plants were purchased.
Summary of ScienceDome operations: Nothing to report
Summary of RAM operations: Some paint touch up should be done and some leaks need to be sealed. It was a very humid summer as we had some rusting of materials in the building.
Summary of any observatory issues: Nothing to report
Summary of health and safety issues: It’s been hotter and getting hotter so we are keeping the dome cool, drinking a lot of water and making sure not to work in the sun during the hottest time of the day.
Questions, concerns, supplies needed and requests: We have requested an additional person or two from the URC to come to Hanksville and help with the clean out of the storage units. As you may know, Hanksville was hit with heavy rain and there was major flooding in a concentrated area in town. That area included the storage facility where MDRS and the URC rent two units. The entire area was flooded and our units have between 2 and ½ inches of wet mud completely covering them. A lot of the Ikea materials for the ScienceDome were on the floor and had varying degrees of mud and water damage. A complete inventory will be needed to determine what we have to replace. In the meantime, we need to completely clear out the units and power wash them this week and get everything we can either out or cleaned up and put away. The remodel of the Science Dome has been put on hold for now. The large trailer will be brought to the storage place so we can get rid of stuff.