Month: April 2023

Crew 279 EVA Report 07-04-2023

EVA # 5

Author: Agnès Dekeyser, Crew Executive Officer

Purpose of EVA:

EVA will be focused on conducting a number of experiments that will help us better understand the conditions on Mars. The crew will be exposing bacteria to the MDRS environmental conditions and comparing the results with their analog staying inside the MDRS. This will give us valuable insights into how microorganisms react to the harsh Martian environment and how we can potentially use this knowledge to support future human exploration of Mars.

Additionally, we will be launching a meteorological balloon to take some measurements of atmospheric pressure and temperature. These measurements will help us to better understand the weather patterns on Mars and how they may impact future missions to the planet.

Finally, we will begin our reportage with the parameters tested during the previous EVA. This will allow us to document our findings and share them with the scientific community back on Earth.

Support will be necessary for the installation of the balloon and especially the inflation of it. Which increases the number of people needed to 4.

Start time: 9h06

End time: 11h54

Narrative:

The crew began their journey with a sunny day and a lot of material to carry. Once everything had been loaded into the rovers, the crew drove to their mission destination. Once at North Ridge they had to wait a bit before beginning their mission because of the presence of Martians at the place of their stop. Once the Martians left the place, the crew began their ascent. They walked a little bit all around the North Ridge to find the best way to arrive at the top.

Once at the top, bacteria in their cuvette were placed at the more suitable place to stay for several days. They were attached to a rack with a sign mentioning “Please do not touch”. After that, the cuvettes were oriented to face the sun at any time of the day. One big rock was also placed on top of the rack to make sure that it won’t move during the next few days of exposure to Mars environmental conditions.

Several pictures were taken during the brave ascension of the crew with the heavy material. Once at the top, the crew took a few minutes to observe the view and take pictures despite the short time available due to the work needed to launch the meteorological balloon.

Then, the most ambitious part began : the meteorological balloon was filled with helium and closed very carefully as explained by the manufacturer. One martionaut was holding the balloon while the others were closing the opening using a colson. The latter were covered by tape to prevent them from scratching the ball. The cord was then attached to the opening with several nodes. The opening was folded in two and closed again using colson and tape. The sensor was then attached using the same cord and the balloon was dropped in the air. Some videos and pictures of the launching were taken for the reportage.

Bacteria and the balloon with the sensor attached to it will stay there until the next visit in two days to collect data and check bacteria.

The crew climbed down and took some pictures again before picking up the rovers. Once at the MDRS, they reported the parameters of the four rovers and made a last video of the entry of the crew in the airlock for the reportage.

Destination: North Ridge, because this is the place that the authorities (Utah Division of Aeronautics) have granted us to place our balloon.

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518500 E, 4251750 N

Participants: Agnès (XO, EVA Leader), Ioana (Engineer), Aglaé (Journalist), Gwen (Astronomer)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road 0110 to the cross with Gateway to Candor

Mode of travel: Driving on Cow Dung Road 0110 to the cross with Gateway to Candor then walking to the North Ridge.

Crew 279 EVA Report 06-04-2023

EVA #4

Author : Gwenaël le Bussy, Crew Astronomer

Purpose of EVA:

After testing the 2 software for Augustin’s drone, he chose one. To test how the drone reacts to relief, he intends to go to Kissing Camel Ridge to do a mapping of 250m by 229m at low altitude. This place will serve as the first test for low altitude flight. Then he will go to White Rock Canyon where he will do the same thing but with relief on both sides. This time the map will be 250m by 310m. The drone will make a first flight between 20 and 50 meters above sea level to map any obstacles and then a second flight at low altitude. He will need support to launch the drone and to always have a visual view of the drone when Augustin sees the view of the drone through his phone.

The experiment is to see how a drone can be useful to find regions protected from radiation (either for extremophile bacteria or for astronauts themself). To do this, Kissing Camel Ridge W gives a good area with a lot of relief. Then canyon in general can be an interesting place to look for since the water has dragged the rock and potentially offer cavities giving protected area from

Gwen will also test a new reportage camera and focus on obturation time. A fourth person will be needed as technical support, especially for microphone tests (If we hear well on Gwen’s camera). If all these tests are ok, they will start the report.

Start time: 9:13 am

End time: 12 am

Narrative:

First, we went to the Kissing Camel Ridge W (KCRW) ; beginning at 100% battery for both rovers, we ended up with 84% for Spirit and 85% for Curiosity for the 1.01 mile drive. Both rovers were on « M » drive mode and the drive was smooth without speeding. Such consumption seems strange to us and we have a few hypothesis for that behaviour :

Battery consumption is not linear and the first pourcentages are consumed faster
When the battery is « cold » the rover consumes more
Maybe driving mode should be switched to « F » for long distances.
Arriving at KCRW, Augustin started the mapping with the drone while Gwen was testing some settings for best audio and video for reporting. During the mapping, the drone crashed on top of KCRW and the EVA crew had to recover it ; with the approval of the Hab, we started ascending KCRW. Because of the terrain, the EVA crew had to pass by the South side of the KCRW to climb on top. This side of the ridge is in fact in the opposite way the Hab and we lost communication between members of the EVA. Gwen communicated the problem to the Hab then the EVA crew members switched to Channel 2 for communicating on the ridge. In fact, this choice cuts communication with the Hab and we had to inform them. We continued ascending the ridge, reached the top and found the crashed drone. Hopefully, the drone was reparable and Augustin was able to continue the mapping of KCRW.

On top, Gwen was able to communicate again with the Hab (by switching to channel 1) and transmitted all the necessary information to the EVA crew who stayed on Channel 2. Because of the crash, we lost a lot of time and decided with the Hab control to stay on KCRW for the all EVA instead of going to White Rock Canyon after. This allowed Augustin to finish the mapping of KCRW.

At 11:15 AM, the EVA crew decided to start the descent to the rovers by the same route as the climb to avoid risky choices and injuries. The crew returned in time to the Hab after reporting the parameters of the four rovers.

Destination: Kissing Camel Ridge W

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518000 E, 4249500 N

Participants: Gwen (EVA Leader)(Astronomer), Ttele (HSO), Antoine (Commander), Augustin (GreenHab officer)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road 0110

Mode of travel: Drive for a first stop between Kissing Camel Ridge W and E then walking along side of the north face of Kissing Camel Ridge W. Then climbing on top of KCRW