GreenHab Officer: Scott Dorrington
Environmental control: heater on automatic
Average temperatures:
09:24: 76.8 F, 25%
13:10: 76.8 F, 32%
14:57: 77.5 F, 32%
Hours of supplemental light: 4 hours overnight
Daily water usage for crops: 6 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0 gallons
Water in Blue Tank (200 gallon capacity): 93 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 9:24 water, 13:10 water, 14:57 mist
Changes to crops: None
Narrative:
Today the clouds returned, which meant less light for the plants, but more manageable temperatures. The temperature was a very consistent 76-77 F all day. The GreenHab had higher humidity as well, meaning the plants weren’t as thirsty as they had been the past few days. I gave them a morning watering of 2 gallons before the morning EVA and a midday watering of 4 gallons after returning. I took some time during the afternoon to inspect some of the tomatoes. Tomato 9 has two red fruits that I think we will harvest tomorrow as a send of for Crew 291 (another 1/3 tomato each, yay!!!) and another couple of orange fruits that should ripen for Crew 292. Tomato 7 has two little orange fruits. Tomato 3 has 2 orange as well. Tomato 6 has a nice crop of seven fruits beginning to turn greeny-yellow. I think this plant will provide a bountiful harvest for the next crew. I returned in the afternoon for a bit of misting and the heater turned on – still looks to be turning on around 75 F as expected. Today’s soundtrack was Fleetwood Mac and Meg Mac.
Harvest: None
Support/supplies needed: None
EVA Report – February 1st
EVA #: 19
Author: Scott Dorrington & Steven Hobbs
Start time: 1000
End time: 1230
Narrative:
This EVA was conducted at Candor Chasma. The rovers possessed sufficient charge to allow sufficient time for the crew to penetrate deeply into the Chasma. Total traverse into Candor Chasma was 500 m, with the crew identifying layers of chicken wire gypsum approximately 4 m below the overlying caprock. Brecciated jaspers were also identified, along with layers of purple, pink and green siltstone. Similar siltstones had previously been collected on earlier EVAs and sampled using the VIS/NIR spectrometer instrument, both solid and powdered form.
No fossils were identified from the overlying strata during the latter part of the traverse. Fossilised ripples were identified from an overhanging boulder, suggesting fluid movement too rapid for fossil formation.
Destination: Candor Chasma.
Purpose of EVA: Attempt to identify fossils by exploring deeper into Candor Chasma, in addition to performing a visual characterisation of the exposed strata for future exploration.
Coordinates (use UTM WSG 84): Entrance to Candor Chasma 520779E, 4251127N. Parking at 519868, 4251428. Maximum penetration 520351E, 4251179N
EVA Participants: Steven Hobbs, Scott Dorrington, Alex Tobal
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Exit Hab via main airlock. Take rovers down the driveway to Cow Dung Rd 0110. Take Cow Dung Rd 0110 North to Galileo Rd 1104, turn south past Compass Rock until rover track stops and then walk along the unnamed track towards Candor Chasma, and into Candor Chasma.
Mode of travel: Rover/foot.
Vehicles you will be using (If applicable): Spirit, Opportunity
Supplemental Operations Report – February 4th
Date: 2/4/2024
Name of person filing report: Sergii Iakymov
Reason for Report: Routine
Non-Nominal Systems: Perseverance
Power system:
Solar: Nominal.
SOC Last 24 hours: Max 100%; Min 73%; Avg 85.1%.
VDC Last 24 hours: Max 59.5V; Min 42.61; Avg 51.43V.
Generator run time: 4961.8 hours. Serviced on 01/30/2024, oil changed and air filter changed
Propane Readings:
Station Tank: 75%
Director Tank: 71%
Intern Tank: 80%
Generator Tank: 50%
Water:
Hab Static Tank – 550 gallons
GreenHab – 195 gallons
Outpost tank – 350 gallons
Science Dome – 0 gallons
Septic Tanks emptied: No
Rovers:
Sojourner rover used: No.
Hours: 196.2
Beginning Charge: 100 %
Ending Charge: 100 %
Currently Charging: Yes
Notes on Rovers: Perseverance is not fully charging, inspection will be conducted next week.
ATV: ATV’s Used: None. Nothing to report.
Cars:
Hab Car used and why, where: To Hanksville for supplies. Need to be serviced.
Crew Car used and why, where: To Grand Junction by crew
General notes and comments: N/A.
Summary of Internet: All nominal.
EVA suits and radios:
Suits: All nominal
Comms: All nominal
Campus wide inspection, if action taken, what and why: Weather station replaced
Summary of Hab Operations: UV lamp and quartz sleeve in water filter replaced, timer reset. Main heater safety switch replaced. Forehead thermometer in the first aid kit replaced. Toilet sit replaced.
Summary of GreenHab Operations: Night light installer with remote switch. Fan plugged in with remote switch and automated. Supplemental lights plugged in with remote switch and automated.
Summary of SciDome Operations: All nominal
Summary of Observatories Operations: Solar observatory telescope diagonal has two snapped screws. Repairs pending.
Summary of RAM Operations: All nominal.
Summary of Outpost Operations: Intern trailer heater needs to be picked up from Grand Junction. Intern trailer toilet water module assembly replaced.
Summary of Health and Safety Issues: All nominal.
Crew Photos – February 2nd
Crew Photos – January 29th
Sol Summary – January 29th
Sol: 8
Summary Title: Extending the search
Author’s name: Andrew Wheeler
Mission Status: Nominal
Sol Activity Summary: Day dawned clear and cold (-5C) and augured well for the crew’s plans. Rob finally had both clear skies and a fully operational telescope to observe the sun. The resultant images are being processed and the astronomer’s report will have the details. The illnesses of yesterday are where they belong – yesterday. A localised morning EVA around the hab further tested the robot rover’s mobility and its ability to gather spectra whilst being remotely operated. After lunch, an EVA to the furthest north reached by the rovers at Tharsis Montes had a team searching for evaporites, concretions and petrified wood. Serendipitously, as the team was looking for rock markers on the top of Hab ridge, signs of live were discovered. Endoliths were observed beneath the surface of quartz cobbles. Three samples were selected for spectroscopic analysis and comparison to the vegetation spectra from the increasing MDRS-derived spectral library. The evening meal provided an opportunity to clear the shelves of opened foodstuffs with a simple meat and seven vegetables spread.
Look Ahead Plan: As the forecast predicts more clear and slightly warmer days, we intend to push as far north as the rovers’ limit will allow in our attempts to reach the white moon gypsum deposit to collect samples. A second EVA will examine anhydrite yardangs in an environmental degradation study.
Anomalies in work: Nothing to report.
Weather: Clear morning at -5 Celsius rising to mid to high teens during the day. No clouds and no precipitation. Humidity continuously dropping from near 60% to 30%. The wind was faint to gentle during the day.
Crew Physical Status: Nothing to report.
EVA: EVA 13 with Steve and Scott with robot rover trials at the Hab.
EVA 14 with Andrew, Clare and Alex to Tharsis Montes in search of evaporites, concretions and petrified wood.
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Commander’s Report, Greenhab Report, Operations Report (including an HSO report), EVA report, EVA Request(s), Astronomer report.
Support Requested: Nothing to request.
Operations Report – January 29th
SOL: 8
Name of person filing report: Scott Dorrington
Non-nominal systems: None
Notes on non-nominal systems: None
ROVERS
Spirit rover used:
Hours: 243.9
Beginning charge: 100%
Ending charge: 38%
Currently charging: No
Opportunity rover used:
Hours: 158.3
Beginning charge: 100%
Ending charge: 46%
Currently charging: No
Curiosity rover used: Not used
Perseverance rover used: Not used
General notes on rovers: None
Summary of Hab operations:
WATER USE: 26.17 gallons
Water (static tank): 275.53 gallons (21” depth)
Static tank pipe heater (on or off): On
Static tank heater (On or off): on
Toilet tank emptied: no
Summary of internet: Nominal during comms window
Summary of suits and radios:
Suit #8 still standing down pending new nuts in charging port. Suit #6 battery was more depleted than others. Charge was 6.75 Volts upon return. It was a long EVA (3 hrs) and the EVA location was rather dusty – could be contributing factors.
Summary of GreenHab operations: put notes here
WATER USE: 6 gallons
Heater: On automatic
Supplemental light: 10pm-2am
Harvest: 2x tomatoes (21 g)
Summary of ScienceDome operations: Not used
Dual split: Nominal
Summary of RAM operations: Not used
Summary of any observatory issues: See astronomy report
Summary of health and safety issues: None. Crew back to full health.
Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: None.
Journalist Report – January 29th
Staring at the Sun
Yesterday (Sol 7) marked the half-way point of our rotation. Aside from one easy EVA in the early-morning, and a jigsaw puzzle that tested our wits more than it probably should have (barely managed to complete it and sign the back), we all pretty much had the day off, and Andrew submitted his commander’s report in lieu of a journalist’s report.
That’s not to say it was all sunshine and rainbows – we had a few illnesses as well. Happy to say that as of writing this on Sol 8, everyone’s pretty much back to normal.
Today involved a pair of great EVAs. The first pitted Steve’s rover against the ‘Mars 500’ racetrack – i.e. a custom course designed to test how quickly the rover could traverse a set course while sampling terrain. Steve tried several runs – one involved driving blindly and being guided by Scott (something that might be necessary in an actual Martian environment), the next involved driving the rover directly (which understandably streamlined and sped up proceedings), and the last involved Steve driving the rover while collecting samples en route. He also did a human test to compare results (again, the human clocked in more impressive speeds). During this EVA, while not helping Steve, Scott also experimented some more with his angular measurements, using his theodolite app and new protractor techniques.
The second EVA explored the area west of Tharsis Montes (about 4km due north of the MDRS), in search of gypsum (the ‘drinkable rock’ that can be heated to yield water) and petrified wood. We found plenty of the former, not so much of the latter, and got some incredible views of Skyline Rim (the dried-up streambeds we were navigating were pretty spectacular as well). In practice, the search for gypsum felt almost a little too gamey – if it glinted in the sun, we picked it up. We also discovered some endolithic colonies (microbes that live beneath rocks) in the process, partially by accident.
Following Rob’s previous stint setting up the observatory’s telescope and studying the sun, today he managed to take a cool photo of the sun’s surface.
The crew also passed another cool milestone today… our first self-grown tomatoes! Scott came back from the Greenhab bearing gifts, aka the most ‘tomatoey’ tomatoes we’ve ever had. Hats off to Crew 290 for laying the groundwork – we hope to do the same for Crew 292.
Highlights of the day/yesterday: Rob’s pic of the sun, jigsaw sleuthing, tomatoes, hot beverages with dairy milk, Greenhab now has a bee.
Lowlights of the day: Illness, burned fritters, the saltiest chips imaginable.
– Alexander Tobal, Crew 291
GreenHab Report – January 29th
GreenHab Officer: Scott Dorrington
Environmental control: heater on automatic, door opened for 15 minutes at midday
Average temperatures:
08:43: 74.5 F, 18%
13:13: 102.2 F, 11% door open
13:30: 84.9 F, 11% door closed
14:17: 101.1 F, 12%
15:07: 105.4 F, 12%
16:00: 103.3 F, 20%
17:09: 89.1 F, 24%
17:46: 77.0 F, 27%
Hours of supplemental light: 4 hours overnight
Daily water usage for crops: 6 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0 gallons
Water in Blue Tank (200 gallon capacity): 118 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 8:43 mist, 13:13 water + mist, 15:07 water, 16:00 mist, 17:45 a bit of water from vegetable cooking
Changes to crops:
Narrative:
Today was another sunny day, although temperatures were manageable. I checked in with the plants before my morning EVA to give them a mist. After returning around 1pm, I returned to give the plants their first watering of the day, and also to release another spider captured in the hab. I gave special care to the newly planted carrots, making sure to keep the soil nice and moist. I left the door open for around 15 minutes while watering, which brought the temperatures down from 102 F to 85 F. This was a strategic cooling to avoid high temperatures later in the day. It worked – temperatures rose again to around 100 and remained there for the rest of the day. At 3pm, I returned for the second watering of the day, and some shuffling of the plants to keep them out direct sunlight in the afternoon. On my way back from the GreenHab, I stopped in to the Observatory to get a closer look at the sun that has been keeping our plants alive (managed to see a prominence and a few sun spots). In the afternoon, I noticed the two red tomatoes on tomato #9 were looking very ripe. Today was harvest day. We brought them back to the hab and divided them up – 1/3 of a tomato each. Steve also ran them through his spectrifier before consumption, so we got to see some nice tomato spectral curves. The crew relished the fruits of our labour – we all commented on the very tomato-y flavour – much better than store bought. Certified fresh!
Harvest: Tomatoes x2 (21 g)
Support/supplies needed: None
EVA Report – January 29th
EVA #: 13
Author: Scott Dorrington & Steven Hobbs
Start time: 1000
End time: 1200
Narrative:
This EVA was conducted in the vicinity of the Hab, and had a dual-purpose. Scott walked 200 m away from the Hab to the mound at the intersection of Cow Dung road. This gave a good vantage point to a number of peaks in the area for wayfinding experiments, including Phobos Peak and the Beehive (described in EVA 5), North Ridge, Kissing Camel Ridge, and the Henry Mountains. Bearings were taken to each peak using a theodolite app to visually display azimuths. Sightings were also taken of the sun at various times through the EVA to be used as a reference point for calibrating these readings. Compass bearings were also taken for validation. Angle measurements were also taken between pairs of peaks using a handheld protractor. A different method was used, where the protractor was placed on the ground and arms aligned one at a time. These readings are expected to be more accurate than previous methods. Vertical angles were also taken from the base to peak of Phobos peak – this will be used to estimate distance from Phobos peak via trigonometric calculations. During these activities, a car was observed driving past along Cow Dung road.
Rover spectral sample EVA trials were conducted to characterise the utility of a Sojourner-sized rover in negotiating Martian terrain and capturing VIS/NIR spectra. Six samples collected from previous EVAs were set up within 40 m of the HAB. The Johan Rover was timed for its traversal to each site, while guided by a second astronaut. This simulated a remote operator being guided by an on-site remote sensor. A second run was conducted where the operator was placed in an elevated position to self-guide the robot, simulating control from an overwatch mission. A third run timed traverse and positioning the rover for spectral sampling while the final run was conducted by timing an astronaut traversing the distance. Six spectra were captured and compared with results gathered in a controlled environment.
Destination: Outside the Hab. 518150, 4250950 for rover tasks. Walking within 200m of the Hab to 518332 4250785 for wayfinding points.
Purpose of EVA: Continue collecting spectral data of regolith and minerals around the Hab. Additionally, collect bearings, angles, and theodolite data to various peaks for wayfinding research.
Coordinates (use UTM WSG 84): 518150, 4250950 for rover and 518332 4250785 for wayfinding
EVA Participants: Steven Hobbs, Scott Dorrington
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Exit via Hab airlock and walk to the hill SSE to SE of the Hab, then walk to turn off to Cow Dung Rd 0110 for wayfinding points. Within 200m of the Hab walking distance.
Mode of travel: Walking only.
Vehicles you will be using (If applicable): n/a
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