Month: December 2022

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Commander Report – December 8th

Sol: 11
Summary Title: EVA #15 Balloon Launch
Author’s name: Dr. Kristine Ferrone, Commander
Mission Status: Nominal
Commander’s Report:

Crew 269 enjoyed another day of beautiful weather on Mars with sunny skies, very calm winds, and mild temperatures. The crew had a quick breakfast of cereal, dried fruit, and homemade sourdough bread, and HSO collected health and safety stats. The crew held a morning meeting to assess effects to the day’s EVA plan due to the melt from yesterday’s snow continuing to create muddy conditions around the Hab. After consult with Tier 1 mission support, the crew’s plan for a single afternoon EVA to launch the weather balloon payload was confirmed and the crew prepared for the experiment. CDR, XO, and Green Hab Officer embarked on EVA #15 and immediately began to set up and fill the weather balloon with helium in the area in front of the Hab. Once the balloon fill was complete, the crew walked the balloon around to the north side of the Hab just beyond the observatory to conduct the launch. A technical hiccup with the telemetry was successfully resolved, and the balloon launched at 1:45 PM. The crew immediately began receiving telemetry from the weather balloon and was in contact with the balloon over eastern Utah and western Colorado for several hours. During the EVA, Engineer received further instruction from the PI for the mirror experiment who wished to have one more microscope analysis before packing up the mirrors tomorrow for return to Aerospace. IVA crew requested and received permission from Tier 1 mission support to add an additional objective to EVA #15 to retrieve the mirror samples from their exposure location across Cow Dung Rd. from Marble Ritual and return them to the Hab for analysis. After the EVA, Engineer analyzed the mirror samples under the Aerospace microscope in the Science Dome and Green Hab Officer tended the plants in the Green Hab. For dinner, the crew enjoyed shepherd’s pie. The crew plans to break simulation tomorrow morning at 5:30 AM to complete a live STEM event, photography/videography session, and end of mission cleanup activities.

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Operations Report – December 8th

SOL: 11

Name of person filing report: Ashley Kowalski

Non-nominal systems: N/A

Notes on non-nominal systems: N/A

ROVERS
Spirit rover used: No
Hours: N/A
Beginning charge: N/A
Ending charge: N/A
Currently charging: N/A

Opportunity rover used: No.
Hours: N/A
Beginning charge: N/A
Ending charge: N/A
Currently charging: N/A

Curiosity rover used: No
Hours: N/A
Beginning charge: N/A
Ending charge: N/A
Currently charging: N/A

Perseverance rover used: No
Hours: N/A
Beginning charge: N/A
Ending charge: N/A
Currently charging: N/A

General notes on rovers: No additional notes/comments.

Summary of Hab operations:
WATER USE: ~420 gallons used to-date (~45 gallons today)
Water (static tank): ~250 gallons (This is my best guess without a water gauge, but I am requesting Mission Support to let us know a more accurate value, if possible. Please note that the crew received a 120 gallon water resupply today since they needed to use additional water sources to empty the toilet tank again last night, which is more often than normal.)
Static tank pipe heater (on or off): On
Static tank heater (On or off): On
Toilet tank emptied: Yes, toilet tank was emptied last night after the Operations Report was sent.

Summary of internet: No issues with the internet. Connection is good.

Summary of suits and radios: Suit #3 was experiencing a low air flow. Because our GreenHab Officer already had Suit #3 fitted exactly to him, we decided to just switch the batteries from Suit #6 (the suit the Crew Engineer put a new battery in a few days ago) into Suit #3 and he was good to go for the EVA today. In the meantime, the Crew Engineer tested the original battery in Suit #3 and it was <12 V. She then put this battery into Suit #6 to charge it, and it seemed that the issue was with the power strip again. There is a button on the power strip that needs to be in the “reset” position and not the “off” position in order for the suits to charge. When it is in the “off” position, the chargers still shine green, giving the false illusion that the suits are charging. When the power strip is in the “reset” position, you can see that the chargers change to red when charging and green when fully charged. It must be in this position to ensure proper charging. Once the EVA ended, I switched the batteries back into their original suits. All suits are charging properly now and ready to use.

Summary of GreenHab operations: Additional information can be found in the GreenHab Report.
WATER USE: ~54 gallons (~5 gallons today)
Heater: On
Supplemental light: On
Harvest: N/A

Summary of ScienceDome operations: Mirror sample inspections were performed by the Crew Engineer and Health and Safety Officer in the ScienceDome this evening after the EVA. We had to break for dinner and daily evening reports, so we will complete our inspections by 10 PM tonight since we have one more mirror sample to inspect.
Dual split: Per Mission Support’s message, the heat is on in the ScienceDome and set to 65 F.

Summary of RAM operations: No RAM operations today.

Summary of any observatory issues: No observatory issues.

Summary of health and safety issues: No health and safety issues.

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: N/A

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Journalist Report – December 8th

Sol: 11
Author: Trevor Jahn, Technology Officer

Matthew Eby and Trevor Jahn surveyed the conditions outside from the observatory on a chilly December 8th, 2022. Frost was still in the air, and shimmering ice crystals could be seen hiding behind the white dome of the Science Habitat and beneath the dark blue solar arrays. It had snowed the morning before, and today the crew needed to know if the ground was safe enough to walk for an EVA either in the morning or afternoon. The ground continued to give way as the two precariously tried to kept their balance through the tunnels, and their outdoor boots slipped on the loose muddy ground. The two men concluded conditions would be best in the early afternoon for the crew’s only EVA of the day. Matt, Kristine, and Allison, emerged from the airlock around noon, and went about their work. Today was a special day, as the crew was tasked with launching a weather balloon. Helium tanks hissed, computer logs beeped, and drone propellers buzzed as the crew worked quickly to fill the balloon, check the logs, position their equipment, and prepared their flying drone for documentation. The moment of culmination finally arrived and Kristine let go of the balloon and payload Matt had worked so hard to make and prepare. The balloon raced upwards towards the Jetstream, too fast for the drone to keep up with, and eventually reached speeds over 100 mph before being brought down by design somewhere in the Colorado Mountains, leaving a mystery and future adventure for next year, when some of the crew might try and find the payload.
The rest of the day saw the crew being productive taking Mirror Sample observations in the Science Dome, proactively finishing chores around the Crew Habitat, and working on reports, before taking in the sights of the orange full moon over the East horizon before bed.

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GreenHab Report – December 8th

GreenHab Officer: Matthew Eby
Environmental control: Heater on, door closed, 20% humidity.
Average temperatures: 73-deg F at time of watering. Range prior 24 hours: 63-deg F – 86-deg F
Hours of supplemental light: 4 hours
Daily water usage for crops: Approximately 5 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0 gallons
Water in Blue Tank: Approximately 190 gallons (Based on a 250 gallon capacity, visually 75-80% full)
Time(s) of watering for crops: 4:30 PM
Changes to crops: None
Narrative: Today it was noticed that the area recently seeded with onion and radish was sprouting rapidly, perhaps too rapidly. We turned the soil in preparation, it is possible we might have exposed other seeds in this area of the bed. This area was radish previously, so there might be additional radish sprouts.
Harvest: None
Support/supplies needed: None needed at this time.

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EVA Report – December 8th

EVA # 15
Author: M. Eby
Purpose of EVA: Deploy high altitude balloon experiment, retrieve mirror experiment for final inspection.
Start time: 12:01 PM
End time: 2:25 PM
Narrative: EVA crew departed the airlock in groups of 2 and 1, carrying the balloon experiment and the balloon inflation gear. The balloon was filled on the South side of the Hab, requiring 30 minutes to reach the target buoyancy (approximately 150 cubic feet of Helium). Once the balloon neck was tied off, the crew walked the balloon and the experiment to the North side of the Hab. From there, the experiment was powered up. The GreenHab Officer had to return to the Hab via the airlock to troubleshoot the telemetry ground terminal, with help from the Health and Safety Officer. After getting the telemetry flowing, the GreenHab Officer departed via the airlock and the XO connected the balloon train. The Commander then released the balloon, carrying the payload aloft. In calm air near the ground, the balloon lazily drifted over Hab ridge before turning East and catching the Jetstream over Hanksville. The EVA crew then transitioned to the mirror experiment location and retrieved the mirrors, bringing them back to the airlock. Once back in the Hab, the crew tracked the balloon as it rose to the target altitude of 90,000 feet and then as it descended over the Colorado Rockies (see attached image).
Destination: North side of the Hab, and to Mirrors Experiment (near Cow Dung Road & Marble Ritual).
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 4251000, 518500
Participants: Commander (Ferrone), XO (Taylor), GreenHab Officer (Eby)
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Moon Walk Road
Mode of travel: Walking

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Sol Summary – December 7th

Sol: 10
Summary Title: Snow Day
Author’s name: Matt Eby
Mission Status: In-Simulation
Sol Activity Summary: Brief excursion to flip and reset the mirror experiment, drafting final report, adjusting plant supports in the GreenHab.
Look Ahead Plan: Balloon flight, cleaning, preparation for STEM outreach event.
Anomalies in work: None.
Weather: Calm winds throughout. Snow early, transitioning to drizzle for much of the day.
Crew Physical Status: Crew is in good shape, nothing of concern to note.
EVA: EVA# 1 led by the Crew Engineer, with Health and Safety Officer, traveled by foot to the mirror experiment. 1 hour duration.
Reports to be filed: Journalist, Commander, Operations, Photos, EVA report, EVA request, GreenHab
Support Requested: N/A

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EVA Report – December 7th

EVA # 14
Author: B. Braun
Purpose of EVA: Reconfigure mirror coating experiment
Start time: 9:17 AM
End time: 9:58 AM
Narrative: EVA crew departed the airlock and proceeded on foot via the Hab driveway and Cow Dung Road to the area of the mirror location. Due to the snow, conditions were muddy and slippery along the road and across the terrain to the mirror experiment location. Once the team reached the mirror location, they unscrewed each of the mirror samples and flipped them over as directed by the experiment PI. After documenting the new setup with photos, the crew proceeded carefully back across the terrain to Cow Dung Road, then down the driveway to the Hab, where they paused to clear mud from their boots before entering the airlock.

Destination: Hab driveway to Cow Dung Road to mirror experiment location (near Cow Dung Road and Marble Ritual)
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 4251000, 518500
Participants: Crew Engineer (Kowalski), HSO (Braun)
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Rd (0110)
Mode of travel: Walking

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Commander Report – December 7th

Sol: 10
Summary Title: Snow Day and EVA #14
Author’s name: Dr. Kristine Ferrone, Commander
Mission Status: Nominal
Commander’s Report:

Crew 269 awoke to a winter wonderland landscape this morning and snowy conditions. The crew enjoyed a quiche bake for breakfast and conducted a morning meeting to discuss how the weather would affect the day’s EVA plans. After a consultation with Tier 1 mission support, the crew decided to shorten the morning EVA #14 and continue to send 2 crew to perform repair operations on the mirror coating experiment payload. HSO and Engineer traversed on foot through the muddy terrain to repair the mirror payload and return swiftly to the Hab, while Green Hab Officer lead IVA comms. During the EVA, CDR and XO discussed end of mission reporting requirements and began to create content for those reports while Technology Officer continued to work data processing on the Aerospace computers. In the afternoon, HSO collected health and safety stats, crew completed exercise protocols, and Green Hab Officer tended to the plants in the Green Hab. Power was again limited due to weather conditions and the crew followed Tier 1 support instructions to conserve power. For dinner, the crew enjoyed black bean burgers on homemade sourdough buns with microgreens from the Green Hab.

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Operations Report – December 7th

SOL: 10

Name of person filing report: Ashley Kowalski

Non-nominal systems: Toilet odor has returned

Notes on non-nominal systems: The odor from our toilet has returned. The water level in the toilet is getting high, so it needs to be emptied. However, since we had previous toilet issues, I would like to hear from Mission Support regarding the best plan of action. Should I empty the toilet system per normal guidelines, or do we need to do another full flushing out of the system as was performed two days ago? Please advise. We would like to perform this procedure tonight, but we will await your response before proceeding.

ROVERS

Spirit rover used: No
Hours: N/A
Beginning charge: N/A
Ending charge: N/A
Currently charging: N/A

Opportunity rover used: No.
Hours: N/A
Beginning charge: N/A
Ending charge: N/A
Currently charging: N/A

Curiosity rover used: No
Hours: N/A
Beginning charge: N/A
Ending charge: N/A
Currently charging: N/A

Perseverance rover used: No
Hours: N/A
Beginning charge: N/A
Ending charge: N/A
Currently charging: N/A

General notes on rovers: No additional notes/comments.

Summary of Hab operations:
WATER USE: ~375 gallons used to-date
Water (static tank): ~175 gallons (This is my best guess without a water gauge, but I am requesting Mission Support to let us know a more accurate value, if possible.)
Static tank pipe heater (on or off): On
Static tank heater (On or off): On
Toilet tank emptied: No.

Summary of internet: No issues with the internet. Connection is good.

Summary of suits and radios: We tested out the GreenHab Officer’s headset (headset #3) again today. It seemed to be working intermittently today. Please advise if there is anything you would like for us to test with the headset.

Summary of GreenHab operations: Additional information can be found in the GreenHab Report.
WATER USE: ~49 gallons (~5 gallons today)
Heater: On
Supplemental light: On
Harvest: 9 grams of microgreens and 21 grams of carrot tops (part of effort to thin carrot plot).

Summary of ScienceDome operations: N/A
Dual split: Per Mission Support’s message, the heat is on in the ScienceDome and set to 65 F.

Summary of RAM operations: No RAM operations today.

Summary of any observatory issues: No observatory issues.

Summary of health and safety issues: No health and safety issues.

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: N/A

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