Crew Photos – April 17th
Sol Summary – April 17th
Crew 280 Sol Summary Report 17-04-2023
Sol: 1
Summary title: Do you copy, Earth?
Author’s name: Mariona Badenas-Agustí, Commander.
Mission status: Nominal
Sol activity summary: Mariona Badenas-Agusti (Crew Commander), Carla Conejo (Executive Officer), Neus Sabaté (Mission Specialist), and Laia Ribas (Greenhab officer) woke up early in order to start preparing their scientific experiments. In the meantime, Ariadna Farrés (Health and Safety Officer), Núria Jar (Journalist), and Cesca Cufí (Engineer) drove back to the MDRS after Cesca was discharged from the hospital yesterday evening. Fortunately, she is now feeling much better and is on her way to a full recovery!
The full crew was reunited around 11:30 AM, at which point we attended our second training session. This time, we learned about EVA procedures, including how to wear the spacesuits, drive the rovers, use the radios to communicate with the Earth, and navigate the Martian terrain. At lunchtime, Mariona and Carla prepared mashed potatoes with egg as well as a broccoli & cheddar soup –a well-deserved break after a morning of intense emotions.
Crew 280 officially kicked off their Martian simulation in the early afternoon, and soon after, the team performed their first EVAs. For this purpose, they drove the rovers to Marble Ritual, where they had an opportunity to walk around, become familiar with the landscape, perform basic movements for the suit, and test their communications protocol. This evening, we are looking forward to having our first dinner on Mars with the full crew! It will be our first night on the Red Planet.
Look ahead plan: Crew 280 will receive a media visit tomorrow. We will first invite them to our group meeting, and they will then accompany us to our morning EVA (provided that Mission Support grants us permission). In the afternoon, the media team will interview members of the crew to better understand their research projects. We are convinced that it will be a busy day, but we are excited to share our mission with them so that they can help us bring space closer to society.
Anomalies in work: (i) Non-functional robotic telescope, (ii) radio #2 and #5 lost communication temporarily (we highly suspect that the headphones were slightly disconnected; our Crew Engineer and Mission Specialist have tested the radios inside the hab and they made sure that they work well — see Operations Report); (iii) the collar of helmet #2 was upside down and one metallic wire is missing (see Operations Report); (iv) the zebrafish of our Greenhab officer were killed by the high temperatures (see Greenhab Report).
Weather: Sunny, with a bit of wind in the late afternoon. Low 58F/High 75F.
Crew physical status: Our Crew Engineer is back to the station and is feeling much better.
EVA: We conducted two EVAs to Marble Ritual to put into practice all the lessons learned during our EVA training session.
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA request, EVA Report #1, EVA Report #2, HSO Report, Operations Report, Greenhab Report, Journalist Report, Pictures of the Day.
Support Requested: We would like to know how to dispose of the fish in an appropriate manner without violating state law.
Sol Summary – April 17th
Crew 280 Sol Summary Report 17-04-2023
Sol: 1
Summary title: Do you copy, Earth?
Author’s name: Mariona Badenas-Agustí, Commander.
Mission status: Nominal
Sol activity summary: Mariona Badenas-Agusti (Crew Commander), Carla Conejo (Executive Officer), Neus Sabaté (Mission Specialist), and Laia Ribas (Greenhab officer) woke up early in order to start preparing their scientific experiments. In the meantime, Ariadna Farrés (Health and Safety Officer), Núria Jar (Journalist), and Cesca Cufí (Engineer) drove back to the MDRS after Cesca was discharged from the hospital yesterday evening. Fortunately, she is now feeling much better and is on her way to a full recovery!
The full crew was reunited around 11:30 AM, at which point we attended our second training session. This time, we learned about EVA procedures, including how to wear the spacesuits, drive the rovers, use the radios to communicate with the Earth, and navigate the Martian terrain. At lunchtime, Mariona and Carla prepared mashed potatoes with egg as well as a broccoli & cheddar soup –a well-deserved break after a morning of intense emotions.
Crew 280 officially kicked off their Martian simulation in the early afternoon, and soon after, the team performed their first EVAs. For this purpose, they drove the rovers to Marble Ritual, where they had an opportunity to walk around, become familiar with the landscape, perform basic movements for the suit, and test their communications protocol. This evening, we are looking forward to having our first dinner on Mars with the full crew! It will be our first night on the Red Planet.
Look ahead plan: Crew 280 will receive a media visit tomorrow. We will first invite them to our group meeting, and they will then accompany us to our morning EVA (provided that Mission Support grants us permission). In the afternoon, the media team will interview members of the crew to better understand their research projects. We are convinced that it will be a busy day, but we are excited to share our mission with them so that they can help us bring space closer to society.
Anomalies in work: (i) Non-functional robotic telescope, (ii) radio #2 and #5 lost communication temporarily (we highly suspect that the headphones were slightly disconnected; our Crew Engineer and Mission Specialist have tested the radios inside the hab and they made sure that they work well — see Operations Report); (iii) the collar of helmet #2 was upside down and one metallic wire is missing (see Operations Report); (iv) the zebrafish of our Greenhab officer were killed by the high temperatures (see Greenhab Report).
Weather: Sunny, with a bit of wind in the late afternoon. Low 58F/High 75F.
Crew physical status: Our Crew Engineer is back to the station and is feeling much better.
EVA: We conducted two EVAs to Marble Ritual to put into practice all the lessons learned during our EVA training session.
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA request, EVA Report #1, EVA Report #2, HSO Report, Operations Report, Greenhab Report, Journalist Report, Pictures of the Day.
Support Requested: We would like to know how to dispose of the fish in an appropriate manner without violating state law.
Operations Report – April 17th
Crew 280 Operations Report 16-04-2023
SOL: 1
Name of person filing report: Cesca Cufí – Crew Engineer (assisted by Neus Sabaté – Mission Specialist)
Non-nominal systems: robotic observatory
Notes on non-nominal systems: Replacement parts are scheduled to be installed during crew 261 rotation.
Rovers
Spirit rover used:
Hours: 216.6
Beginning charge: 100%
Ending charge: 93%
Currently charging: no
Opportunity rover used:
Hours: 120.7
Beginning charge: 100%
Ending charge: 100%. We confirm the rover display was showing 100% battery charge after the EVA.
Currently charging: no
Curiosity rover used:
Hours: 229.7
Beginning charge: 100%
Ending charge: 99%
Currently charging: no
Perseverance rover used:
Hours: 261.1
Beginning charge: 100%
Ending charge: 96%
Currently charging: no
General notes on rovers: non
Summary of Hab operations:
Water use: can not be estimated as water content has increased
Water (static tank): 229 gallons
Static tank pipe heater (on or off): off
Static tank heater (On or off): off
Toilet tank emptied: no
Summary of internet: used from 18:00 to 21:00 for personal communication and reports.
Summary of suits and radios:
Suits: space suit number 2 found with the collar mounted upside down and with only one metal bridle (see attached picture “spacesuit_2”). It has been repaired with a spare metallic bridle.
Radios: short fail in communication channel 1 while in EVA to Marble Ritual on radio 2 and channel 2 on radio 5.
Radio 2: the COMMS EVA responsible, Mariona, was not able to hear the COMMS Station responsible on channel 1 for a couple of minutes. The issues appeared when the crew member Mariona was far away from the station but still on sight from the station (no terrain obstruction possible). The operation of channel 1 was switched to crew member Carla, the backup responsible. She maintained communication with the Station and reported the issue. The COMMS on channel 1 with radio 2 were recovered without specific troubleshooting. No troubleshooting was tried. The second EVA didn’t report any issues operating on the same channel around the same location.
Radio 5: the COMMS on channel 2 had some issues. The crew member was pressing the PTT button but the voice was not heard after some seconds. That is, there was a delay on the activation of the voice message (greater than the common delay). This issue appears when the crew member operating the radio was already back to the station, next to the Hub, and was getting off the rover. The crew member being close to the station and ready to enter the Hub, no troubleshooting was tried.
We will troubleshoot the future radio issues during the EVA on-site.
Both radios were working fine during pre-EVA check and most of the EVA time. Both radios have been tested after EVA and they work nominally.
We highly suspect a misconnection on the headsets plug, maybe due to the movement of the crew members.
All radio and spacesuit batteries checked before EVA: ok.
Radio batteries charged after EVA.
Spacesuit batteries plugged.
Summary of GreenHab operations:
Water use: 13 gallons
Heater: off
Supplemental light: off
Harvest: 1g (thyme, sage), 114 g microgreens, 56 g cherry tomatoes
Summary of Science Dome operations:
Transport of science material to the dome.
Dual split: off
Summary of RAM operations: none
Summary of any observatory issues: none
Robotic observatory: Not working. Replacement parts are scheduled to be installed during crew 261 rotation.
Summary of health and safety issues:
Cesca, Ari and Núria were back at the station at 11.30h this morning. Crew Engineer Cesca Cufí has been checked in Moab Regional Hospital for abdominal pain. After some exams: appendicitis discarded, it may be an intestinal infection. Cesca was given some antibiotics at the hospital last night and prescribed some antibiotics and pain killers for the next 5 days. Cesca feels a lot better, still with some pain but functional.
Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support:
Spacesuit 2: to properly repair the spacesuit, we’ve searched for the metallic bridles in the RAM but we couldn’t find any. Do you confirm there are no spare bridles of this king in the station? If any, we will replace the plastic bridle for the metallic one. Thanks.
Update: The plastic bridle has been replaced by the metallic one.
Journalist Report – April 17th
Crew 280 Journalist Report 17-04-2023
Author: Núria Jar, Crew Journalist
The thrilling journey to reach Mars spans between six and nine months from Earth. The trip seems to be quite lengthy at first glance, but it pales in comparison to the Hypatia’s trip to the Mars Research Desert Station (MDRS), which required more than two years of dedicated effort to become a reality.
Hypatia is the first Catalan female-led mission composed of seven primary and two back-up members, from different ages and scientific disciplines. They garnered much attention during their mission presentation in Barcelona some days before heading to the Utah desert, in the United States.
On Monday 17th April, the crew members officially entered simulation around 2PM, before their first lunch as astronauts. Despite arriving 24 hours prior, adjusting to the new planet-like environment far from home took some time. Sergii Iakymov, the MDRS Assistant Director, conducted an exhaustive training session to familiarize the crew with the main facilities and restrictions that would be in place for the next two weeks.
Finally, with a sense of excitement the Crew Commander and Astronomer Hypatia I, Mariona Badenas-Agustí, exclaimed: “Welcome to Mars, girls!”. The crew then wasted no time and proceeded to plan its first two extravehicular activities (EVA) around the base. They put on their spacesuits, designed by the NASA rocket scientist and atmospheric physicist Sabrina Thompson, the woman behind Girl in Space Club.
The crew never put fun aside. For instance, during the three-minute time spent in the airlock, crew members inside the base played some music through the radios for the astronauts waiting to go outside for an EVA, turning it into a joyful moment. American and Catalan women artists were played, adding a touch of empowerment and celebration to the feminine crew’s experience.
One of the main goals of Hypatia is to inspire the next generations, particularly young girls interested in pursuing STEAM-related careers. The crew consists of one astrophysicist, two engineers, one mathematician, and two biologists, who serve as role models for aspiring women in these fields. Additionally, there is a science journalist on board who documents all the scientific missions and the exciting adventure on Mars.
GreenHab Report – April 17th
Crew 280 GreenHub Report 17-04-2023
GreenHab Officer: Laia Ribas
Environmental control: Open during day and heater during night
Average temperatures: 78.8 F – 87.7 F
Hours of supplemental light: N/A
Daily water usage for crops: 13 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0.5 gallons for fish purposes
Water in Blue Tank: 183 gallons (crops and fish)
Time(s) of watering for crops: 09:30, 20:00
Changes to crops: seed tomatoes are cultured
Narrative:
General watering of plants and crops was done today. The sun was very intense today, in particular at noon time. The door was left open all day and closed in the evening. The plants have been watered again in the evening at 20.00..
9 adult zebrafish (Danio rerio; 5 wild and 4 transgenics) adults were obtained from a pet store in Grand Junction (Colorado, USA) J&M Aquatics & Pet Center. Fish were transported to MDRS and reared in a tank (30 L) with Hub water at SOL 0. Fish were acclimated by mixing the water. Fish were not fed. The fish were acclimated from SOL0 to SOL1 by periodically increasing the amount of water and adding the water filter to reduce the stress. In order to reduce the water used, less than half of the tank was filled. The water filter was set at 10.30 and the fish were fed. All animals ate except one transgenic which did not look healthy. For ethical reasons, this animal was sacrificed by cold shock for 10 min. At 17.00 all fish were found dead due to the high temperature in the tank. The tank water exceeds 98.6F. Fish were kept in the freezer.
Harvest: 1 g of two branches of thyme and eight leaves of sage, 114 g microgreens, 56 g cherry tomatoes
Support/supplies needed:
We request help to provide new zebrafish (see SOL1 summary).
EVA Report – April 17th\
Crew 280 EVA Report 17-04-2023
EVA #1
Author: Mariona Badenas (Commander and Crew Astronomer) and Carla Conejo (Executive Officer)
Purpose of EVA: The goal of the first EVA was to perform a training for the first half of the crew, where we practiced communication between the crew members participating in this EVA and the Hab. The location for exploration was the Marble Ritual.
Start time: 3:20pm
End time: 4:54pm
Narrative: The EVA was planned for 2pm, but it started about 1h:20 min later. The reason for the delay was that the crew was waiting for three members to return from the hospital, which pushed our EVA training session to the early afternoon. The goal of the EVA was to test the rovers, practice the protocols regarding the spacesuits, and get used to the radio communication between the EVA and Hab team.
It took about 40 min for the EVA team to get ready to exit the Hab. For this EVA we used Curiosity and Perseverance rovers and we drove to Marble Ritual through Cow Dung Road 0110. After reaching our destination, we parked the rovers by the road and walked 300m around a hill to get used to moving around with the suits. During this time, all communications went very smoothly and the team took some pictures that are being attached in the journalist report. After some minutes walking around the area, we were contacted by the base to start our way back to the rovers.
Just before starting our drive back to the MDRS, Ariadna Farrés (communication leader in the base) could not establish contact with Mariona Badenas (communication leader in EVA) through channel 1; Mariona was able to hear Ariadna though. Carla Conejo switched to channel 1 –although not need for EVA performed in locations close to the MDRS– to respond to the base requirement to start our way back. In 15 min we reached the station and parked the rovers. Laia Ribas also experienced communication issues while informing about the rover’s battery level and driving hours. We then returned to the base and started with the decompression in the airlock and safe return of the astronauts to the base.
Destination: Marble Ritual
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 519000 E, 4250500 N
Participants: Mariona Badenas (Commander) (EVA Leader), Carla Conejo (Executive officer & Biologist), Neus Sabaté (Engineer), Núria Jar (Journalist).
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road 0110.
Mode of travel: Drive on Cow Dung Road. Walk around Marble Ritual no further than 300 m from the rovers.
EVA: #2
Author: Ariadna Farrés, Crew Scientist and Health & Safety Officer
Purpose of EVA: The goal of this second EVA was to perform a training for the crew, where we practiced communication between the crew members in this EVA and the Hab. The location for exploration was the Marble Ritual.
Start time: 5:10pm
End time: 6:03pm
Narrative: The EVA started one hour later than requested as the first EVA of the day had already been delayed. The goal of the EVA was to get comfortable with the spacesuits and practice the different EVA protocols, the communication between EVA and the Hab and get familiar with the environment. This was the second time the crew was performing the PRE EVA protocol, and things went smoother than during the first EVA of the day. It took the crew 30 min to get ready to get out of the Hab.
The crew used Opportunity and Spirit for this second EVA. The first part of the EVA consisted of getting to Marble Ritual with the rovers. Once there the objective was to walk around the Marble ritual area to discover the place and get used to walking around with the spacesuits and radio communications. The crew also wanted to test the communications with the Hab using the Hypatia I personal radio set. Cesca, as the mission specialist was the one responsible to test the radio set and was caring with her two radio sets, radio number 7 from the MDRS base and the Hypatia I radio. When the crew arrived at Marble Ritual (and out of the rovers), we tested the communications with the base using the Hypatia I radios. The communications went well after adjusting the radio frequency. Once the Hypatia I radio set was tested successfully the crew decided to explore the surroundings of Marbel Ritual. This walk consisted of 15 min of the EVA where we walked around and got comfortable with the spacesuits. No communication problems seemed to exist with the Hab during the entire EVA.
Finally, the crew started the return to the Hab with the rovers. During the return to the Hab we decided to have Spirit lead the road followed by Opportunity. Upon arrival to the Hab we checked the hours and batteries usage of all rovers and started with the decompression in the airlock and safe return of the astronauts to the base.
Destination: Marble Ritual.
Coordinates (use UTM WSG 84): 519000 E, 4250500 N
EVA participants: 3: Ariadna Farrés (HSO) (EVA Leader), Núria Jar (Journalist), Cesca Cufí (Mission specialist).
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road 0110.
Mode of travel: Drive on Cow Dung Road. Walk around Marble Ritual no further than 500m from the rovers.
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