Month: January 2023

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EVA Report – January 13th

 

 

Crew 272 EVA Report 13-01-2023

EVA # 10

Author: Arly Black

Purpose of EVA: Simple simulation of search and rescue of an incapacitated astronaut. In this case, the astronaut was the Boiler Transmission Station (BTS) located at N519600, E4251500.

Start time: 9:00 AM

End time: 10:50 AM

Narrative: Today’s EVA started off a lot earlier than the rest of them have this mission. This was the last EVA of our rotation (noooo!) and we were eager to get started and save our lost astronaut/Kshitij’s baby (and also to get back early to write our many final mission reports). After wiping the sleep from our eyes, a quick stretch, and a rushed breakfast, the EVA crew jumped into our suits, which by now we need no assistance to put on. Five minutes of space jokes (Why aren’t astronauts hungry when they get to space? Because they had a big launch!) made the airlock prebreathing pass by quickly. It was a chilly morning and when we got to our rovers, there was frost on our seats. Some of us wish we had noticed that before sitting down… Arly and Mason led the way to our destination in Spirit (and with spirit!) with Kenny and Megan following in Opportunity. We drove to the Gateway to Candor and parked, using the mound on the right side of the road to help us navigate on-foot to our destination, based on experience from the last EVA to the self-named Boiler Ledge. When we reached the top of the hill, Mason flew our search and rescue drone to see if our lost astronaut BTS (transmitter + box, not the K-Pop band) was still there. He was unable to see anything and lost connection at some point, so we continued walking towards the ledge. At a closer point about 300 ft from the ledge, Mason again attempted to spot the astronaut with the drone. He was unable to see it on the live feed but was later able to view it clearly during post-processing. Hopefully, in a real-life situation, the astronaut doesn’t mind waiting a few extra hours for rescue… Meanwhile, the other three EVA members walked towards the ledge and found the transmitter lying exactly where we expected it to be, which was surprising given the high winds and rain from a Martian storm we experienced a few days ago. Unfortunately, we found the box halfway down the cliff facing Compass Rock. While we could have scrambled down the cliff to rescue it, the crew made an executive decision to put our safety first and to leave it behind. Sometimes we astronauts must follow the pirate’s code. After all, dead men tell no tales. With that, we gathered up the transmitter booty, took some epic pictures and drone videos, left the box to its fate in Davy Jones’ locker, and sailed back to the Hab.

As a fun addition to our mission, Space Kidz India sent us some great questions from K-12 students about life on Mars and we had a great time answering a few of them while on this EVA. We discussed topics including the Martian atmosphere and why spacesuits are necessary, as well as what a Mars analog mission is and why it is important (and fun!).

And with that, we concluded another successful EVA and ended Crew 272’s final in-sim expedition. Ever. New friends, incredible views, and an experience we’ll never forget. Thank you MDRS.

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be” – Douglas Adams.

Destination: Ledge overlooking Compass Rock (named Boiler Ledge by Crew 272)

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): N519600, E4251500

Participants: Megan Rush (HSO), Mason Kuhn (Crew Engineer), Arly Black (XO/Crew Scientist), Kenny Pritchard (Crew Journalist)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Drove north along Cow Dung Road until Gateway to Candor and parked the rovers. From Gateway to Candor, walked on foot to N519600, E4251500 and retrieved the transmitter. Returned on foot to the parked rovers and drove back to the Hab along Cow Dung Road.

Mode of travel: Walking and driving

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Sol Summary Report – January 13th

 

 

Crew 272 Sol Summary Report 13-01-2023

Sol: 12

Summary Title: Rescuing the BTS: The Grand Finale

Author’s name: Kshitij Mall

Mission Status: All nominal

Sol Activity Summary: The grand finale of our Martian crew ensued with a brief morning warm up exercise session, yoga, and meditation led by me. The latter were needed to get the crew calm, composed, and focused as a lot of tasks were on our plate. But before anything else, there was something else that was on our morning breakfast plate: the biscuits purely prepared from Martian resources and hot coffee to wake up the crew and partially fill their veins with the necessary caffeine to keep the crew running. The breakfast for the sol was prepared by Crew Geologist Adriana and supported by Crew Journalist Kenneth. The humongous mission of this sol was to retrieve my electrical baby named the Boiler Transmission Station (BTS) and we named this mission Dynamite. The dynamic EVA crew for the Dynamite mission comprised Crew Engineer (and Pilot-in-Command) Mason, XO Arly, Kenneth, and HSO Megan. Kenneth was a last-minute entry as I had to delegate some other important tasks to myself at the Hab. A huge shoutout to the Purdue Mission Control back at Earth (especially Rachana and Alex) for providing us with the METAR data just in time to help Mason with decision making regarding the drone flight.

Upon leaving the front airlock of the Hab Sweet Hab, the EVA crew was in mission mode to find the BTS. Within 10 minutes they parked their Martian horses, Spirit and Oppie, next to the Gateway to Candor, and then started the transmitter hunt. Mason then launched his flying baby, Garud the drone, and started looking for the BTS. He used visual clues to locate the Boiler Ledge at first because that’s where we last saw BTS. The whole EVA crew slowly started marching up the hill next to the Galileo Road and toward the Boiler Ledge. Garud the drone had brief connectivity issues as encountered previously possibly due to terrain issues. The EVA crew spotted some aliens from a high point but ignored them as the aliens were departing Mars. Mason couldn’t see clearly on the live feed from Garud but thought of checking the video generated post-processing. The last-minute entry to the EVA crew, Kenneth spotted the transmitter eventually in association with Garud and proved to be the hero that I expected him to be while swapping spots with him for this mission. He performed well in the Geologist versus Non-Geologist experiments too as per Adriana and has seen BTS from a close proximity. The EVA crew then also found the BTS box halfway down the cliff, north of the Campus rock, which was expected due to strong winds 2 sols back. Since it was not safe to rescue the box, the crew settled for taking back just the transmitter. After the successful retrieval of the BTS (sans the box) and completion of Mission Dynamite, the crew took some drone media footage to celebrate the successful search and rescue operation. The EVA crew also took group pictures including some with the Purdue flag, which were apt for a place like the Boiler Ledge. Arly and Kenneth also recorded some videos for our Outreach activity with Space Kidz India, which we will be sending back in once we are out of sim and back to Earth. These questions were relayed to Space Kidz India team by several school students hailing from different parts of India. Our plan is to answer remaining outreach questions at the Hab and surrounding units. Even though I couldn’t go to rescue my electrical baby, I’m glad my fellow Martian crew mates rescued it and brought it back to the Hab. BTS was reunited with his sibling transmitter at the Hab, and it was an electrically emotional moment.

As per traditions, the crew completed all the cognitive performance tests and daily questionnaires requested by Arly and Andres. At the Greenhab, Madelyn watered the plants and will fertilize the soil in the afternoon after which she plans to clean this unit. The Science Dome will be deprived of the Martian rocks we collected so far as those rocks are being packed by Adriana in a big box to be taken back to Purdue for further analysis. We plan to clean the Hab and surrounding units and then to pack our Earthly and Martian belongings with a Divide and Conquer policy aimed at dividing the cleanup work among the 7 of us. Of course, we stay united while we do all these cleanup activities. The final mopping and vacuuming of the lower deck will be carried out tomorrow morning to keep the Hab cleanest possible when we depart for our journey back to the Earth. As I submit this final sol summary report for our rotation, we are already out of sim and ready to launch to our other sweet home (a Hab away from Hab). We will surely miss the Martian times but will be ready to savor back the Earthly flavors before we return back to Mars. We thank the Mission support team for an outstanding support to keep us safe, sound, and healthy during the rotation with replenishments and shipments via interplanetary cargo ships.

Look Ahead Plan: Sending the final research and daily (sol-ly) reports, packing our stuff, cleaning the Hab and surrounding units, and then relaxing a bit at MDRS

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Overcast with Calm Winds

Crew Physical Status: Good

EVA: One

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Operations Report, Journalist Report, EVA Report, Greenhab Report, Mission Summary

Support Requested: None

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Journalist Report – January 12th

 

 

Crew 272 Journalist Report 1-12-2023

Sol: 11

Author: Kenny Pritchard, Crew Journalist

Title: Cowboys on Mars

A balanced breakfast of coffee, cookies, and cinnamon rolls baked by Mason set us up for an efficient and exciting sol. It was kind of him to cook for us after we literally woke him up to tell him the septic tank needed flushing. Megan led us in stretches, which, as the sols go on, only seem to get harder. Adriana wrapped up the morning routine with an overview of the EVA plans.

After finishing preparations and enjoying Mason’s performance of some classic Mitch Hedberg jokes in the airlock, Arly, Adriana, Megan, and I took a brief rover ride to a location called Cowboy Corner. Yeehaw! We tied up our horses, secured our hats, kicked our spurs in the dust, and allotted upon exploring the area. The crew collected some ace-high geologic samples as we trekked around the base of a large mound. Along the way, Adriana documented paleoflow indicators in the formations we passed, which she will compare to the data collected at Kissing Camel Ridge. Unfortunately, her rock hammer broke all to pieces out of nowhere! Megan had the foresight to bring along some 3d-printed replacements, which were additively manufactured back at the Hab in a pinch. Although these plastic hammers struggled a bit to shatter harder stones, they were real handy for digging and prying soft sediment. Once we had our fill of hiking about the alien formations and taking in views of the big rock candy mountains in the distance, we burnt the breeze back to camp, where the rest of the crew was hard at work.

Kshitij roamed among different parts of the Hab today, filming outreach videos for his YouTube channel. Space outreach is important to promote interest and inspire the next generation of Martians! We’ll be filming more videos tomorrow to answer questions sent in by K-12 students. For Madelyn, this sol was defined by a final harvest and data collection of her research greens, with which Mason assisted. She meticulously measured the sprout length, leaf length, volume, and mass of hundreds of her daikon radish samples – this data can be later investigated to compare the performance of differently treated plants. After data collection was finished, the crew performed a blind taste test of both fertilized and unfertilized samples. We rated them on factors including vibrance, crispness, and even spiciness! Ultimately, the crew preferred the fertilized radishes, much to Madelyn’s relief. For dinner we’ll supplement our fresh radishes with Aloo Gobhi (a spicy vegetable dish) made by Kshitij. We lack both Aloo and Gobhi in our food stores, but we trust in our commander to come up with a good Martian solution. We’ll see what happens – tomorrow marks the last sol of our simulation!

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GreenHab Report – January 12th

 

Crew 272 GreenHab Report 12-01-2023

GreenHab Officer: Madelyn Whitaker

Environmental control: heater

Average temperatures: 70 F

Hours of supplemental light: 4 hours

Daily water usage for crops: 5 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 3 gallons

Water in Blue Tank : 221 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 1000, 1800

Changes to crops: No new plantings, harvest carrots and beans

Narrative: Monitored and watered GreenHab crops. Harvested beans, carrots for a snack. Harvested experimental crops, collected all relevant experimental data

Harvest: (include which crop and mass in grams): Harvested 5g beans, 15g carrots

Support/supplies needed: N/A

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EVA Report – November 25th

 

 

Crew 272 EVA Report 12-01-2023

EVA # 9

Author: Arly Black

Purpose of EVA: 1) Geologic EVA to Cowboy Corner to investigate an inverted paleochannel identified by Clarke and Stoker (2011). 2) Test of 3D printed geologic tools.

Start time: 11:00 PM

End time: 2:15 PM

Narrative: It being Sol 11, Crew 272 is now old hat at getting ready and suited up for EVAs, and we were ready and out the door in no time. Megan and Adriana led the way in Curie, while Arly and Kenny followed in Oppy. It was a gorgeous, sunny day. The crew drove north along Cow Dung Road towards Cowboy Corner, parked the rovers, and walked west. We made our way to the inverted paleochannel — or giant mound for us non-geological folks — Adriana had identified for investigation. Our first task was to test the 3D printed rock hammers Megan created back at the Hab throughout our mission. One was a lovely pale green and made of PLA material, while the other was smaller, bright purple, and made of PETG material. Both contained 20% infill, which is a characteristic that dictates material strength, structure, and weight. Both hammers proved useful for digging and prying soft sediment, but neither were very beneficial for hammering hard rock as they lacked a certain heaviness in the hammer head. Adriana preferred the smaller hammer as it felt stronger, which aligns with the material strength specs of PETG. Adriana also enjoyed how light the hammers felt in her tool belt, relative to her bulky metal hammer.

We proceeded to walk around the large mound, exploring the many boulders and features of the area. Adriana dictated lithologic descriptions to Arly and collected hand samples that contained sedimentary structures. She documented more paleo flow indicators and compared it with findings from Kissing Camel Ridge. She noted that it looks to have a very similar depositional environment to KCR in terms of the sediment and paleo flow indicators. This makes her believe that they are a conjoined fluvial system – in other words, they are part of one system that existed at the same time. Adriana also thinks she found coal in both locations which further explains the depositional environment. “The story is slowly coming together!”, she announced excitedly, as the rest of the crew nodded, pretending to understand. And with that, Professor Brown’s Mars geology course came to an end. I think I speak for the rest of the crew when I say Adriana is going to make an incredible Professor one day.

Having accomplished all we came to do, we headed back to the Hab 15 minutes early. No alien sightings today. It’s really starting to feel like Mars out there.

Destination: Cowboy Corner

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): N518800, E4253000

Participants: Megan Rush (HSO), Adriana Brown (Crew Geologist), Arly Black (XO/Crew Scientist), Kenny Pritchard (Crew Journalist)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Drove north along Cow Dung Road until Cowboy Corner. Parked the rovers and walked west along the inverted paleochannel (0.5 km west of Cow Dung Road).

Mode of travel: Walking and driving

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Operations Report – January 12th

 

 

Crew 272 Operations Report 12-1-2023

SOL: 11

Name of person filing report: Mason Kuhn

Non-nominal systems: Oven light

Notes on non-nominal systems: No additional issues, just need a new bulb. The specifications of the light bulb type have been emailed to mission support in the Sol 10 Operations Report email chain.

ROVERS

Spirit rover used: No

Hours: 207.1

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

Opportunity rover used: Yes

Hours: 111.8

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 66%

Currently charging: Yes

Curiosity rover used: Yes

Hours: 219.3

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 61%

Currently charging: Yes

Perseverance rover used: No

Hours: 253.9

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

General notes on rovers: Curiosity and Opportunity were used on EVA. They performed nominally. The chargers were draped over the front bumper upon return to the Hab. Perseverance has been moved to the outpost temporarily per Mission Support’s notice.

Summary of Hab operations: The oven light was removed & inspected for its specifications. The oven currently has no bulb in it, but the bulb cover was put back on for electrical safety reasons. 1 shower was taken today, and several pasta dishes were made throughout the sol, so water usage was slightly above average. The crew has been aware that it has plenty of water left over, but in the Martian mindset, we have still been trying our best to conserve.

WATER USE: 26.2 gallons

Water (static tank): 154.6 gallons

Static tank pipe heater (on or off): On

Static tank heater (On or off): On

Toilet tank emptied: Yes

Summary of internet: Nominal

Summary of suits and radios: Suits 5, 8, 9, and 10 were used on the EVA. All suits performed nominally, and all are cleaned & currently charging. All radios have been charged to full, and they have been removed from the charging docks. The EVA crew had no communication issues.

Summary of GreenHab operations: Monitored and watered GreenHab crops. Collected relevant experimental data.

WATER USE: 8 gallons

Heater: On

Supplemental light: 4 hours

Harvest: 5g beans, 15g carrots

Summary of Science Dome operations: GreenHab Officer data collection and recording took place at the center Sci Dome table. Geologist’s samples were re-organized and are being stored on a side table of the Sci Dome.

Dual split: On (from approximately 8:00 pm to 8:00 am)

Summary of RAM operations: Tools from the RAM that are still in the lower deck of the Hab are a tape measure and a Multimeter. They will be returned to the RAM on sol 12 after the last measurements are taken for final reports.

Summary of any observatory issues: N/A

Summary of health and safety issues: N/A

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

Best Regards,

Mason Kuhn

Crew 272 Engineer

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Sol Summary Report – January 12th

 

 

Crew 272 Sol Summary Report 12-01-2023

Sol: 11

Summary Title: The Cowboy Trip

Author’s name: Kshitij Mall

Mission Status: All nominal

Sol Activity Summary: After successfully playing Monikers, the team got a good-sol sleep and started the day energized except Crew Engineer Mason. A filled-up toilet served as the alarm clock for Mason, who was quick to act. After a brief morning exercise led by HSO Megan, the crew had a sweeter breakfast: cinnamon rolls prepared by Mason. I shared with the crew some rehydrated fruits and some cookies from Earth. After a quick briefing, the crew suited up to finally explore the Cowboy corner. The EVA crew comprised Crew Geologist Adriana, Megan, XO Arly, and Crew Journalist Kenneth and departed the Hab by 11 AM.

The EVA crew went to the Cowboy corner, walked west and collected samples at that spot. Megan tested the tools she 3D printed at the Hab and found that the smaller rock hammer was more useful for the EVAs. Adriana found that Cowboy Corner has great similarities with the Kissing Camel Ridge, and this matched with her intuition based on her previous EVA. The EVA crew was back by 2:15 PM. As per the traditions, the EVA crew completed the daily human-factors based cognitive performance tests and personal surveys for Arly and Andres. Mason also sent some important information about the oven light that needs some repairs. Our crew also received some outreach questions from Earth, which we will be answering through an offline video tomorrow.

At the Science Dome, for a change, the Greenhab Officer, Madelyn, was busy with the Great Harvest: The Martian Reaping. Madelyn collected over 700 data points regarding volume, mass, leaf length and sprout length of all the different Martian plans grown during our rotation. Kenneth and Mason helped her with the data collection as they are apparently good with rulers. I also went through the Hab and got some raw videos to share about the (amazing) MDRS facility and the grand goals of the Mars Society. Madelyn then asked us to do a survey after eating two samples: a normal micro green and a special fertilized micro green. Almost all the crew members chose the fertilized sample based on different features like color, taste, crispiness, vibrance, etc. The crew was not aware of the answer and was only disclosed about it after completing the survey. The crew indeed was surprised at the result. Dinner for tonight was an Indian dish called Aloo Gobhi (potato and cauliflower) prepared by me and assisted by Arly. We might again play Monikers card game tonight, which we have been procrastinating for several sols. Tomorrow we will retrieve (my electrical baby) the BTS from around the Gateway to Candor. Tomorrow we also launch back to Earth and end this rotation. I bet the crew members will be with mixed feelings of leaving Mars and going back to Earth, but we will aim at making the best of what we can do at Mars while we are here!

Look Ahead Plan: Conduct a geological EVA at the Cowboy corner and complete the Great Harvest at the Greenhab

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Sunny, Calm Winds

Crew Physical Status: Good

EVA: One

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Operations Report, Journalist Report, EVA Report, EVA Request, Greenhab Report.

Support Requested: None

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Operations Report – January 11th

 

 

Crew 272 Operations Report 11-1-2023

SOL: 10

Name of person filing report: Mason Kuhn

Non-nominal systems: Oven light, Suit 7’s vent panel on the back of the suit (one of the screw holes in the wood)

Notes on non-nominal systems: Noticed the oven light today while cooking dinner. It is definitely not an urgent problem. 1 of 2 screw holes in the wood to secure the vent panel to suit 7 is too large for the washer and nut. Ideally, the wood should be repaired/replaced, but I can temporarily secure the vent panel with a larger diameter washer and nut.

ROVERS

Spirit rover used: No

Hours: 207.1

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

Opportunity rover used: No

Hours: 111.5

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

Curiosity rover used: No

Hours: 219.0

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

Perseverance rover used: No

Hours: 253.9

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 100%

Currently charging: Yes

General notes on rovers: None were used on the EVA to Hab Ridge.

Summary of Hab operations: Suit 7 repairs were made on the lower deck, see suits summary for information. 4 showers were taken today, so the water usage was above our average.

WATER USE: 26.1 gallons

Water (static tank): 180.8 gallons

Static tank pipe heater (on or off): On

Static tank heater (On or off): On

Toilet tank emptied: No

Summary of internet: Nominal

Summary of suits and radios: Suit 7 has been repaired! There was a loose connection in terminal 3 of the toggle switch, and the wire-organizing zip tie was too tight. These items were resulting in spotty functionality. A new zip tie is still organizing the wires inside the suit back, but it is now a bit looser. The terminal 3 connection was retightened to the underside of the toggle switch, and Suit 7 electrical systems are now nominal. Suits 8,9,10,11 were used on the EVA. All suits are charging. All radios have been charged to full and removed from the charging docks.

Summary of GreenHab operations: Monitored and watered GreenHab crops and experimental crops. The door was propped open most of the sol due to warmer temperatures.

WATER USE: 7 gallons

Heater: On

Supplemental light: 4 hours

Harvest: 5g beans

Summary of Science Dome operations: N/A

Dual split: On (from approximately 8:00 pm to 8:00 am)

Summary of RAM operations: Placed the observatory and Science Dome items in their correct locations. Retrieved needle nose pliers, wrench, and screwdriver from the RAM, they will be returned to the RAM immediately.

Summary of any observatory issues: N/A

Summary of health and safety issues: N/A

Questions, concerns, and requests to Mission Support:

  • Please advise if you would like me to complete the temporary repair on suit 7’s vent panel, or if you would like me to leave it as-is. The vent panel is secure, but the left side of the panel has about 0.5 inches of undesired movement.

Best Regards,

Mason Kuhn

Crew Engineer

Posted on

EVA Report – January 11th

 

 

Crew 272 EVA Report 11-01-2023

EVA # 8

Author: Arly Black

Purpose of EVA: Exploratory EVA to Hab Ridge, initial scouting of geologic setting.

Start time: 2:00 PM

End time: 4:15 PM

Narrative: Due to unpredictability in the weather and rover charging mishaps, today’s EVA reverted to Plan B: hike to Hab Ridge and explore the area without any preconceptions of what to expect. This time, no rovers were harmed in the making of the EVA. The crew walked from the Hab along road 1103 towards North Ridge. They took a left and walked towards Hab Ridge Road. Along the way, the curious traveler stopped to collect samples and examine their surroundings. They then continued on towards Hab Ridge Road, which runs north and south and lies to the west of the Hab, where they found a ridiculous amount of “devil’s toenails” (a genus of extinct oysters, also known as Gryphaea). They walked until they reached the repeater (it’s still standing!) and were able to see our glorious Hab off in the distance. This was the goal of the mission and therefore mission success was achieved! The crew did note that this EVA required more skillful map reading than any other EVA so far.

As this was an exploratory mission, the crew used the experiences from this EVA to brainstorm ideas for future EVAs (but only two days of EVAs left ☹!!!). Adriana examined the geological environment and tried to see how well defined the strata were in that location and what kinds of fossils were present. She was not expecting to see that many toenails which is indicative of an ancient marine environment in that area (or many giants with nail clippers). She is interested in investigating what they have been preserved in. The strata are not well defined along Hab Ridge Road, and it is difficult to see the contact between formations.

On their way back to the Hab, Adriana did some more digging, as one does, and was excited to find even MORE toenails – who wouldn’t be?! Many photos were taken to document the area and they trundled on back to the Hab along the same route. Well done explorers! But leave those toe clippings off the kitchen table, would ya?

Destination: Hab Ridge

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): N517800, E4251500

Participants: Adriana Brown (Crew Geologist), Kshitij Mall (Crew Commander), Madelyn Whitaker (GreenHab Officer), Megan Rush (HSO Officer)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Walked on foot up Road 1103 until Hab Ridge, then returned on foot by Road 1103 to the Hab.

Mode of travel: Walking

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