Month: February 2023

Crew 274 Journalist Report 2-4-2023

Sol: 6

Author: Tony DiBernardo, Crew Journalist

Title: Radiation-Exposed Seeds Germinated in Simulated Martian Regolith

Crew 274 woke up this morning at 7:30am to the song “Feel Good Inc.” by the Gorillaz and a recorded message from the family of the Crew Astronomer, Salina “Nova” Pena. Her daughter also sent some inspiring words, encouraging her mother to think of her time away as an opportunity to see home with new eyes upon arrival.

EVA Activity

Today HSO Pender led EVA 6 to collect temperature and power consumption data on EEVAC-1, the supply cache experiment intended to extend human exploration on Mars. After leaving the cache unattended for 24 hours from yesterday’s EVA, the cache was found to have performed as designed, though a debriefing of the crew following the EVA revealed potential design improvements on the current iteration of EEVAC-1. His EVA crew also collected temperature and radiation exposure data for Commander Guthrie’s community experiment put forth by a 2nd grade student from Millersville, MD. The rest of HSO Pender’s day was spent processing data collected from EVA 6 and preparing for tomorrow’s 3-hour walking EVA, which will be a climax study for the supply cache experiment on this mission.

GreenHab

Upon conducting daily morning observations, the first official evidence of germination of a single seed was noted of the LDEF seeds planted. While the evidence of germination was minor, this proves to be a significant step toward the sustainability of durability of nutrient-dense seeds exposed to high levels of radiation within the space environment. Add this to the fact that simulated lunar and martian regolith is practically “dead” or extremely hard to yield germination, this was an exciting and potential ground-breaking discovery. Following additional crew guidance, temperature and humidity levels will continue to be closely maintained to support further growth and germination of the other LDEF seeds. Additionally, the micro green cress continue to flourish in their development and are predicted to be ready for potential harvesting before the end of the mission. Meanwhile, the broccoli, red cabbage, and arugula are continually being tended to and monitored closely in their general progress.

Heliophysics

Crew astronomers Loy and Pena observed detailed heliophysics phenomena in which multiple observations, videos, and photos were taken of solar dark spots, solar chromosphere granules, and solar prominences. Over 8 large solar prominences were recorded today, the largest dataset of prominences since experimentations began. These observations will be very useful for the astronomer’s analysis of solar cycle 25. Also of important note, Loy and Pena observed what seems to be an asteroid or a satellite crossing the line of sight between the solar observatory and the sun. This object is still being analyzed.

Astronomy

Cloudy weather conditions canceled all planned observations of HADS Variable Star V0799 AUR. Crew Astronomers instead continued their analysis of their current image inventory, stacking and analyzing 9 separate 45-second images in the visual filter. So far, HADS Variable Star V0799 AUR is showing signs of dimming, which provides good data to the astronomers’ variable star report.

Hab Design

Hab Specialist Bill O’Hara participated in EVA 6 in support of HSO Pender’s research. During this EVA, he took sensor measurements from the cache and drove the rover back to the hab. In the afternoon, Bill continued his case study of the MDRS architecture by reviewing the layout of the lower level of the Habitat. This level of the habitat module includes the airlock, suit stowage and the only bathroom used by the crew.

Stress Mitigation Study

Lex “Kepler” Lojek also participated in EVA 6, driving one way to the cache, assisted in taking measurements of the cache, and then helped navigate back. After returning, he continued to collect and organize stress data for his ongoing focused breathing study. Tonight, he’ll begin a daily study with the crew where they’ll conduct a 15-minute focused breathing meditation to study its effects on potential stress reduction during an analog mission.

Crew 274 Journalist Report 2-3-2023

Sol: 5

Author: Tony DiBernardo, Crew Journalist

Title: Go The Distance

Crew 274 woke up this morning at 7:30am to the song “Go the Distance” from Hercules and a recorded message from the family of the Crew Journalist, Tony DiBernardo. Tony’s kids wanted him to bring home tortellini from space, which the crew has agreed to keep an eye out for while on EVA.

EVA Activity

Today, the crew performed EVA 2 of 7 from HSO Pender’s research on extending the human exploration of Mars by utilizing supply caches. The 4th EVA will test this research by having the crew conduct a 3-hour hike with a supply cache placed an hour from the hab. On today’s EVA, four crew members drove the cache to the specified location at approximately a 1-hour hiking distance from the hab, secured it to the ground with stakes, and connected it to its solar panels. Our plan is to drive back out tomorrow to check its status to inform next week’s EVAs.

In addition to the cache, the crew dropped off a study to observe what happens to an orange on Mars. This study is a community submission by a 2nd grader from Millersville, Maryland. Commander Guthrie and HSO Pender placed two oranges with temp and radiation tags inside of the logistics cache dropped off by the crew on today’s EVA as well as two oranges placed in a crate outside of the cache which will be exposed to the elements, also monitored with temp and radiation tags. The oranges will stay on the Martian terrain until the end of the mission.

GreenHab

Soon after conducting today’s EVA, GreenHab Officer Hines another sol of daily germination observations was conducted at roughly 11:45 am MST. Currently, the most significant progress has been the development of the cress micro greens, which appear to be almost 75% germinated. While the broccoli and red cabbage micro greens have shown some progress,the remaining sets have yet to show any signs of germination. As for the LDEF seeds, there is still no evidence of progress. Minor adjustments have been made including a more nutrient dense watering solution and adding of the previously used humidity vents to maintain soil moisture.

Heliophysics

Crew Astronomers Loy and Pena were able to slightly observe the Sun through cloudy atmospheric conditions. Of the observed chromosphere phenomenon and sun spots, only chromosphere videos were captured to be analyzed. This data will aid the astronomers’ research on the sun, space weather, and solar cycle 25’s implications to space weather.

Astronomy

180 long exposure images were collected from MDRS’ Robotics Observatory by Chief Astronomy Pena. These images were separately captured through visual, infrared, and blue filters, assisting Astronomers Loy and Pena’s science on HADS variable star research. The images are beginning to be stacked, analyzed, and compared to previous images of this star system, HADS Variable Star V0799 AUR.