GreenHab Officer: Scott Dorrington
Environmental control: heater off (broken), fan off, door closed
Average temperatures:
10:02: 57.6 F, 75%
13:00: 71.4 F, 65%
16:27: 60.6 F, 54%
17:00: 56.7 F, 62%
18:22: 49.5 F, 77% (space heater turned on)
19:07: 51.1 F, 84%
Hours of supplemental light: 0 hrs (inside hab previous night)
Daily water usage for crops: 5 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0 gallons
Water in Blue Tank (200 gallon capacity): 180 gallons (starting from ~185 gallons)
Time(s) of watering for crops: 12:00 mist, 16:30 water + mist
Changes to crops: None
Narrative:
Today was the first official sol as greenhab officer, however duties started the previous day during our induction. Prior to our arrival during the changeover from previous crew, we learned that the greenhab heater is non-operational. The majority of plants were moved into the first level of the hab, taking up space around the engineering airlock and next to the EVA comms. The plants spent the whole night and next sol (sol 0) in the hab, with artificial light. I gave my first watering in the evening of sol 0, using 2 gallons. I tried to minimize water leakage onto the floor of the hab, cleaning up any puddles with paper towels. At midday on sol 1, I commenced the migration of plants back to the greenhab. I aimed to judge how long it would take, so as to decide if I want to continue to move them back and forth from greenhab to hab every sol until the heater is fixed. I started with the tomatoes, moving 6 plants into the engineering airlock, out into the tunnels before sealing the airlock. I then shuttled the plants to the greenhab door, then inside. This was followed by a second trip to move the remaining 6 tomato plants. Transporting the tomatoes took around 30 minutes. Once all in, I gave the tomatoes a good misting and inspection. Tomato #9 was looking a little sadder than the rest, with smaller leaves and not so many fruits. I noticed this plant was close to the hab gas heater the first night, so may have had some heat stress.
The Great Plant Migration was interrupted by our scheduled training EVA to Marble Ritual, and was recommenced at 4:30 pm with cucumbers and remaining plants. This was done in one trip through the airlock. I then did my first watering, giving 5 gallons between all the plants. I experimented with several of the watering cans to find one that I liked. In the evening, I visited the greenhab a few times to log temperatures, and turned on the floor space heater around 6pm. I checked an hour later and the temperature had gone up slightly. I will keep monitoring temperatures this evening and might migrate the plants back into the hab if the temperature is too cold. During some quick research during comms window, I found advise to keep tomatoes above 55 F to avoid blossom drop. Back in the hab while writing reports, I found a little spider crawling around in the games cupboard. After discussing with crew how we would respond on Mars, it was decided to relocate the “Spider on Mars” to the greenhab. He is now enjoying his new environment amongst the red cabbages.
Harvest: None
Support/supplies needed: Advice on status of the hab heater. Also, any recommendations re daily migrating plants between greenhab and hab until the heater is fixed.