Month: February 2023

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GreenHab Report – February 7th

GreenHab Officer: Tyler Hines

Environmental control: heater

Average temperatures: 78.15 F

Hours of supplemental light: 4 hours

Daily water usage for crops: 13.74 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: N/A

Water in Blue Tank: 73.63 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 10:27 am

Changes to crops: N/A

Narrative: Nominally performed general watering and maintenance of plants and crops as part of daily GreenHab operations. Another notable harvest was also conducted to support upcoming crew meal planning. Further cleaning and trimming of crops were also performed as a direct result.

Harvest: 99 grams of tomato, 26 grams of lettuce, 30 grams of carrot, 26 grams of spinach, and 8 grams of kale microgreens.

Support/supplies needed: N/A

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Operations Report – February 7th

Crew 274 Operations Report 2/7/2023

SOL: 9

Name of person filing report: Alexis Lojek

Non-nominal systems: Toilet. Robotic Observatory.

Notes on non-nominal systems: Mission Support will install a new toilet holding tank between crews. Robotic observatory is closed until further notice. Please see more detailed explanation under “summary of any observatory issues.”

ROVERS

Spirit rover used: Yes

Hours: 208.3

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 49%

Currently charging: Yes

Opportunity rover used: Yes

Hours: 112.4

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 72%

Currently charging: No

Curiosity rover used: Yes

Hours: 220.5

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 76%

Currently charging: No

Perseverance rover used: No

Hours: 255.2

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: N/A

Currently charging: Yes

General notes on rovers: Rover Spirit was used for the morning EVA and plugged in before noon to charge as it was a beautiful, cloudless day outside. Opportunity and Curiosity were used for the afternoon EVA, but returned after noon, so were not plugged in to charge.

Summary of Hab operations: Hab is in a nominal condition.

WATER USE: Mission Support facilitated a water delivery before we were able to measure our water usage.

Water (static tank): 314 gallons remaining

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: Suits are in nominal condition and charging. Radios were charged yesterday and are off chargers. All conditions normal.

Summary of GreenHab operations: GHO Hines watered plants from 10:27 – 11:01 pm and harvested a number of vegetables.

WATER USE: 13.74 gallons used. By the GHO’s calculations, approximately 22 gallons will be remaining at the end of the mission, after Saturday morning’s watering.

Heater: On

Supplemental light: 4 hours (10pm-2am)

Harvest: Yes. 99 grams of tomatoes, 26 grams of lettuce, 30 grams of carrots, 26 grams of spinach, and 8 grams of kale microgreens. Total: 189 grams.

Summary of ScienceDome operations: GHO Officer Tyler Hines’ experiment is continuing to be monitored; cress microgreens have been harvested. Forty Long Duration Exposure Facility seeds were relocated to the Greenhab and are sitting on a shelf in a wet paper towel in order to further support the germination process.

Dual split: On a timer from 10pm to 7am and under Mission Support supervision.

Summary of RAM operations: No operations were conducted in the RAM.

Summary of any observatory issues: One side of the dome is not opening because the straps that provide tension for the doors were wrapped around the motor. The stress on the straps is severe enough that there is no way to release that tension to try and rewrap it. The crew has been informed that the MDRS Observatory is inoperable until further notice.

Summary of health and safety issues: N/A

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

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Sol Summary Report – February 7th

Crew 274 Sol Summary Report 02-07-2023

Sol: 9

Summary Title: Sunspots, Rescues, and Focused Breathing

Author’s name: Sarah E. Guthrie (“Ceres”), Commander

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: The crew performed the first in a series of rigorous EVAs which evaluate the use of rescue of a vest which hopes to assist lifting an incapacitated astronaut from the surface. The vest was engineered with multiple lift points for the ease of a one person rescue or two-member team. Additionally, the test uses a medical sled to transport the incapacitated astronaut of various terrain. The astronomy team captured amazing solar images with dozens of sunspots and prominences, unfortunately mechanical failure has closed the remote telescope for night time observations at MDRS leaving the team to use a different remote telescope located in New Mexico. As noted, this crew is particularly larger with 8 members and Mission Support kindly supported the team with an additional replenishment of water. Starting on Sol 7, the crew will continue to meditate in the evenings as part of Engineer Lojek’s study which hopes to reduce stress in high stress moments.

Look Ahead Plan: The crew looks forward two completing more rescue EVAs in the final days of this mission(pending approval).

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Sunny, 1C High, -3C Low; Sunny

Crew Physical Status: Energized

EVA: EVA #9 completed for incapacitation rescue – successful

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Operations, EVA Request, EVA Report, GHO Report, and Astronomy Report.

Support Requested: None

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Journalist Report – February 6th

Crew 274 Journalist Report 2-6-2023

Sol: 8

Author: Tony DiBernardo, Crew Journalist

Title: Media Day

Crew 274 woke up this morning at 7:00am to the song “Africa” by Toto. The crew got their surveys done early because they had a big day ahead of them. Unlike our past Journalist Reports, this report will not include sections for EVA, Hab Design, of Engineering, Green Hab, or Stress Mitigation.

Today, the crew broke simulation for a media and outreach day. We conducted eleven broadcasts to Family members, the APUS Graduate Studies Office, 3 classrooms from Waugh Chapel Elementary School, a class from Enemy Swim Day School from Waubay, South Dakota, and teams from SpaceX and the Vance Brand Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.

In total, we spoke with over 170 adults and elementary school students. They asked incredibly insightful questions like:

  • What is the temperature on Mars?

  • How long does it take to get there?

  • What happens when you enter a black hole?

  • How do you “go potty” in space?

  • What do you eat in space?

  • Could you get along with each other on a real mission to Mars?

  • Are you having fun?

  • Why do you go to Mars and not a different planet?

  • How long does it take for a plant to grow in space?

  • Have you ever seen an alien or alien spaceship?

The crew also taught them about the whole analog experience, visual star processing, solar weather processing, how space weather impacts orbital assets, and how it would be helpful for Martians on site to have real-time access to solar weather. The team had a blast communicating their science to family, friends and the general public, but we look forward to getting back into our routine, our research, and finishing the last half of our mission strong.

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GreenHab Report – February 6th

 

 

GreenHab Officer: Tyler Hines

Environmental control: heater

Average temperatures: 75.05 F

Hours of supplemental light: 4 hours

Daily water usage for crops: 12.68 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: N/A

Water in Blue Tank: 87.37 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 11:23 am

Changes to crops: N/A

Narrative: Continued to conduct watering of plants and crops during daily GreenHab operations and finalized the list of another potential harvest while also cleaning and trimming any notable debris and or dead leaves from any crops and plants.

Harvest: N/A

Support/supplies needed: N/A

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Astronomy Report – February 6th

Astronomy Report

Name: Salina Peña and Noah Loy

Crew: 274

Date: 02/06/2023

MDRS ROBOTIC OBSERVATORY

Robotic Telescope Requested (Choose one) MDRS-14 MDRS-WF

Objects Viewed: None

Problems Encountered: None

Musk OBSERVATORY

Solar Features Observed: None

Problems Encountered: None due to cloud interference.

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Sol Summary Report – February 6th

Crew 274 Sol Summary Report 02-06-2023

Sol: 8

Summary Title: Public Outreach Day

Author’s name: Sarah E. Guthrie (“Ceres”), Commander

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: The crew hosted a public outreach day with multiple briefings that filled the day. The crew completed sessions with elementary and middle schools from the Dakota Nation and Maryland, SpaceX, Civil Air Patrol, university leadership, families, friends, and colleagues. The crew completed surveys and prepared for possible EVA tomorrow.

Look Ahead Plan: The crew looks forward to the emergency rescue of KURT and the assessing the cache system (pending approval).

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Sunny, 1C High, -6C Low; partly sunny, windy (16 mph)evening clouds

Crew Physical Status: Excited

EVA: EVA #6 completed for logistics cache assessment – successful

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Operations, EVA Request, GHO Report, and Astronomy Report.

Support Requested: None

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Operations Report – 6th

Crew 274 Operations Report 2/6/2023

SOL: 8

Name of person filing report: Alexis Lojek

Non-nominal systems: Toilet

Notes on non-nominal systems: Mission Support will install a new toilet holding tank between crews.

ROVERS

Spirit rover used: No

Hours: 208.0

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: N/A

Currently charging: Yes

Opportunity rover used: No

Hours: 112.2

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: N/A

Currently charging: Yes

Curiosity rover used: No

Hours: 220.3

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: N/A

Currently charging: Yes

Perseverance rover used: Yes

Hours: 255.2

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: N/A

Currently charging: No

General notes on rovers: No rovers were utilized today.

Summary of Hab operations: Toilet was drained into the septic system this morning.

WATER USE: 39 gallons as of 4:09 pm.

Water (static tank): 249 gallons remaining

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 are in nominal condition and charging. Radios were charged yesterday and are off chargers. All conditions normal.

Summary of GreenHab operations: GHO Hines watered plants from 11:23 – 12:00 pm.

WATER USE: 12.68 gallons used

Heater: On

Supplemental light: 4 hours (10pm-2am)

Harvest: No

Summary of ScienceDome operations: GHO Officer Tyler Hines’ experiment is continuing to be monitored; Cress microgreens are almost completely sprouted.

Dual split: Still on a timer from 10pm to 7am and under Mission Support supervision.

Summary of RAM operations: No operations were conducted in the RAM.

Summary of any observatory issues: No observatory issues.

Summary of health and safety issues: N/A

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

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EVA Report – February 5th

Crew 274 EVA Report 05-02-2023

EVA # 7

Author: Nicholas S. Pender, HSO

Purpose of EVA: EEVAC-1 (supply cache) data collection to ensure safe usage for future EVAs.

Start time: 09:30 AM

End time: 12:45 PM

Narrative: EVA #7’s purpose was to exercise an emergency scenario requiring the use of EEVAC-1 (the supply cache) located at coordinates N4248400, E519300. The MDRS hab location was used as a simulated location for an Earth supply drop that overshot it’s intended target, landing 3 hiking hours from base. In this scenario, two crew members (Nick and Bill) “drove” to the landing site (they didn’t actually drive to the landing site for this exercise), and upon arrival, their rover could not restart. Nick and Bill had to abandon the supply drop collection mission and return back to the hab on foot. At 9:35 AM, with an initial supply of 4 gel packs and 1.5L of water per person, Nick and Bill began their trek (from the MDRS) on foot, accompanied by the safety team (Sarah and Tony) on Perseverance. The safety team leap-frogged Nick and Bill ensuring positive line-of-sight and conducting occasional wellness checks. Consuming 1 gel pack every 30 minutes, averaging a pace of 2.4 mph, and with one rest stop along the way, Nick, Bill, and the safety team arrived at EEVAC-1 at 10:21 AM. Nick and Bill collected 3 additional gel packs and 1L of water from the cache while the safety team collected supply cache performance data. The water resupply required a maneuver that Nick and Bill rehearsed in space suits the previous evening, and it was executed exactly as rehearsed. At 10:32 AM, Nick and Bill resumed their trek South on Cow Dung Road, with the safety team following. Shortly after departing the cache, the charge on the safety team’s rover dropped to 61%. Since the remaining required distance beyond the cache was only 1 mile, the safety team decided to continue following Nick and Bill on foot, always keeping them in eyesight and comms range (the rover was parked around Zubrin’s Head at the bend and the Safety Team could not see the EVA team). It was during this period a break in sim occurred. A dog and his owner approached the safety team, and the dog became aggressive nipping Sarah on the leg. See HSO report for further details. With one final rest stop, the remaining scenario played out as intended, with Nick and Bill continuing the remaining 1.5 hours back to the MDRS hab. Their hike completed at 12:42 PM, and the crew reentered the airlock at 12:45.

*Note* There were multiple breaks in sim due to high vehicle traffic on Cow Dung Road.

Destination: South on Cow Dung Road.

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): N4247600, E520100

Participants: Nicholas Pender (HSO), Bill O’Hara (Journalist), Sarah Guthrie (Commander), and Tony DiBernardo (Journalist)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: EVA #7’s (map provided) purpose is to drive to EEVAC-1 deployed at N4248400, E519300 via south on Cow Dung Road near Zubrin’s Head.

Mode of travel: Walking/Rover: Percy

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