Month: February 2024

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Operations Report – January 17th

Crew 290 Operations Report 17-01-2023

SOL: 10

Name of person filing report: Anna Tretiakova

Non-nominal systems: None

Notes on non-nominal systems: Not Applicable

ROVERS

Spirit rover used: No

Hours: (Before EVA)

Beginning Charge: (Before EVA)

Ending Charge: (After EVA and before recharging)

Currently Charging:

Opportunity rover used: No

Hours: (Before EVA)

Beginning Charge: (Before EVA)

Ending Charge: (After EVA and before recharging)

Currently Charging:

Curiosity rover used: No

Hours: (Before EVA)

Beginning Charge: (Before EVA)

Ending Charge: (After EVA and before recharging)

Currently Charging:

Perseverance rover used: No

Hours: (Before EVA)

Beginning Charge: (Before EVA)

Ending Charge: (After EVA and before recharging)

Currently Charging:

General Notes on Rovers: Not used today.

Summary of Hab Operations:

WATER USE: 21.5 gallons

Water (static tank): 299.9 gallons

Static tank pipe heater (on or off): on

Static tank heater (on or off): on

Toilet tank emptied: yes

Summary of Internet: internet is nominal during times 18:00 to 22:00

Summary of Suits and Radios: Radios nominal. Suits nominal.

Summary of Greenhab Operations:

WATER USE: 6.5 gallons

Heater: on

Supplemental Light: off

Harvest: None

Summary of Science Dome Operations:

Continued taking the pH of samples and imaging the microfluidic devices.

Dual Split Heater or AC: On

Summary of RAM Operations: (Tools used, work done):

Measuring tape was used to measure the water level. Equipment (ladder multimeter, socket sets, portable heater and extensions cord) were taken to fix Greenhab heater and returned after.

Summary of any observatory issues: Nominal

Summary of health and safety issues:

All crew in good health and happy spirits. No safety issues.

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support:

None at this time.

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GreenHab Report – January 17th

Crew 290 GreenHab Report 17-01-2024 (Sol 10)

Greenhab Officer: Ben Kazimer

Heater on (set to 72⁰F), fan off, door closed

Average temperatures: 0815: 77.0⁰F, 15%, 1505: 86.4⁰F, 15%

Hours of supplemental light: nominal 4 hours overnight

Daily water usage for crops: 5 ½ gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: N/A

Water in Blue Tank 131.8 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops:

0815: 4 gallons watering, ½ gallon misting, 1432: ½ gallon watering, ½ gallon misting

Changes to crops: None

Narrative:

This sol’s narrative starts on the eve of sol 9, immediately after our taco Tuesday feast ended. I went to check on my plants before I settled in for the night, and upon entering the greenhab I knew I was in for a trip. It was about 20⁰F outside and 41⁰F inside the greenhouse… The heater was not running and the plants clearly wore upset emotions on their yellowing and flaking leaves. After a quick chat with Mission Support, I got the greenlight to open up the heater to see what was going on along with the help of Engineer Roots. We took the side panels off to expose the electrical components to clean things out and check a few connections. After some resets and reassembly, the heater was back to keeping the greenhouse at a pseudo-summer like status. Mission Support informed me that this issue could have been occurring the past few nights during the coldest point (they are still testing out experimental remote monitoring systems that are not fully integrated to the habitat). While the greenhouse was warming, I wasn’t convinced it was stable. I stayed up relatively late and checked on the heater throughout the night. I did not actually visit the facility as that would require waking another crewmate for comms check-ins, but instead gauged the heater status by the motion of Riya’s inventory list which was taped to the water tank, right in the flow field of the heater’s hot output. Fast forward to today, the plants have been happy throughout the sol and I’m hoping the heater can continue nominal operations until it is further diagnosed before Crew 291 comes in.

Harvest: None

Support/supplies needed: None!

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Sol Summary – January 17th

Crew 290 Sol Summary Report 17-01-2024

Sol: 10

Summary Title: (Panda) rolling into the last sols

Author’s name: Madelyn Hoying

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Some snowy forecasts and poor visibility at today’s EVA destination led the crew to opt for postponing the planned MADMEN collect. The crew spent the morning doing team bonding activities and some science, then broke for lunch and workouts. The workouts turned into another kind of bonding, with group yoga evolving into Roots (Anna) teaching the crew her former rhythmic gymnastics exercises. After workouts concluded, the team split off to complete their science and logistics tasks for the day. Funk (Ben) made a dinner of jambalaya, and the crew is hoping to do arts and crafts tonight with ISRU clay made by Roots.

Look Ahead Plan: Attempt #2 of a long hike in EVA gear, off of rover roads, for MADMEN’s (hopefully) final sample site, and a REMI EVA

Anomalies in work: none

Weather: Cloudy

Crew Physical Status: nominal

EVA: none

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Journalist Report, Greenhab Report, Operations Report, EVA Request

Support Requested:

Is an EVA report required for an aborted EVA?

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Journalist Report – January 16th

Nicole Chan <nicolec081204>
Attachments
8:54 PM (1 minute ago)
to mdrs-mission-support

Journalist Report

Nicole Chan, Crew 290 Journalist

01.16.2024

Sol 9

A bit of a later start to the workday today as the crew got up one by one. We had interesting conversations while Ben (Funk) and Anja (Freebee) took turns making chocolate chips and blueberries pancakes. With our EVA #9 scheduled for 1230, Madelyn (Melon) briefed the EVA crew, which included Rebecca (Chopper), Freebee, and myself (PODO), on the geological sites of interest that we should be targeting today. We soon began to suit up and head out to the airlock for depressurization.

We headed off in our rovers to the area before Kissing Camel Ridge, where there are hills displaying layers of multi-color deposits. Our goal was to get a sample that will contain that color gradient. Chopper and I scouted out multiple sites at the foot of the hill with this gradient of white, green, then deep red soil. I took plenty of pictures of the surrounding areas as we explored for post-EVA analysis and debrief. Since we budgeted extra time for the EVA, we took our time weighing our options before selecting the best site. Similar to yesterday, we began taking temperature, salinity, ATP measurements and collected some soil for loading onto microfluidic devices. This took up most of the EVA time while Freebee led REMI through various terrains and collected more ground-penetrating radar data. When we reconvened at the rovers to perform the pH measurements, Freebee joined our efforts and it was great synergy. We headed back to the Hab on time and shared our findings with the rest of the crew. Overall, we had a pretty good time in the field today, woohoo!

The sol’s work continued! Freebee, Chopper and I headed to the ScienceDome to perform the daily pH measurements of the soil samples in different reagents and to process the microfluidic devices from today’s sample collection. Although it sounds like a lot of work, the crew always make time to advance the MADMEN science objectives. We make it fun too, with music playing in the background and fun chatter as we watch the Martian sunset. Time passes quickly when we settle into a routine, which can be said about our mission as well. As we are planning out our last few EVAs on Mars, we plan to maximize our time here at the station. Concurrently, we are also making plans for our first day back on Earth, where we’ll be celebrating our collective endeavors on Mars and bidding our farewells. I’m sure it’ll be a bittersweet goodbye when the time comes.

Photo of the Day: 290-01_16_2024 awesome views on the drive.JPG

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EVA Report – January 16th

Crew 290 EVA Report 16-01-2024

EVA # 09

Author: Madelyn Hoying

Purpose of EVA: MADMEN and REMI data collection at site of interest, identified on the way to Kissing Camel Ridge (EVA 08) site.

Start time: 1230

End time: 1530

Narrative: Many MADMEN sites were explored, with holes dug (and filled in afterwards) at many sites to evaluate the gradient in rock type from sandy to green tuffaceous to red clay. Once a site was identified with the full gradient covered in our 6-inch depth, MADMEN sampling proceeded smoothly. REMI was also able to collect from several sites over a range of terrain. Of note, this EVA site had the most comms blackouts; the crew handled this well, and no problems arose.

Destination: Near Kissing Camel Ridge

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): N4249500, E518000

Participants: Rebecca McCallin (XO), Anja Sheppard (Crew Scientist), Nicole Chan (Crew Journalist)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Drive south on Cow Dung Rd until reaching the site identified on EVA 08, then park and walk to investigate.

Mode of travel: Driving and walking

Vehicles to be used (If applicable): Curiosity and Opportunity

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GreenHab Report – January 16th

Crew 290 GreenHab Report 16-01-2024 (Sol 9)

Greenhab Officer: Ben Kazimer

Heater on, fan off, door closed

Average temperatures: 1012: 75.7⁰F, 12%, 1421: 81.0⁰F, 15%, 1623: 78.6⁰F, 15%

Hours of supplemental light: nominal 4 hours overnight

Daily water usage for crops: 7 ¾ gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 2 gallons

Water in Blue Tank 137.3 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops:

1012: 5 gallons watering, ½ gallon misting, 1421: ½ gallon watering, ½ gallon misting, 1623: 1 gallon watering, ¼ gallon misting

Changes to crops: harvested cilantro

Narrative:

It has been a riveting match of tug-of-war between the tomatoes and me. I’m doing my best to keep the climate constant inside the greenhouse but these warm days and cold nights lead to great temperature swings and frequent monitoring. Everyone is still alive but they oscillate between stressed and thriving throughout the day. It is an emotional rollercoaster out in this little green patch of the desert, but I’m sticking with it for these plants! I’m upping the water dosages as that always seems to help, whether direct to the soil or in the general vicinity for misting. The tomatoes are still showing an ever-increasing number and volume of fruit, I’m still hopeful Crew 290 will be able to split at least one cherry tomato before our time at MDRS concludes. Other positive news is that the herbs are thriving and I was able to trim back the cilantro a decent bit, a fitting garnish for our big Taco Tuesday feast tonight! The dill from yesterday is the gift that keeps on giving, today in the form of compound butter to top my fresh whole wheat honey bread! (Note: Heater is operating at nominal status, thank you for support last night!)

Harvest: 33 grams cilantro

Support/supplies needed: None!

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Sol Summary – January 16th

Crew 290 Sol Summary Report 16-01-2024

Sol: 9

Summary Title: pHunctional pHamily

Author’s name: Madelyn Hoying

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Chocolate chip pancakes were such a hit that we had to revisit them for a late pre-EVA breakfast today. With Melon (Madelyn) on CAPCOM, the crew of Chopper (Rebecca), Freebee (Anja), and PODO (Nicole) ventured to the site identified on yesterday’s EVA for another round of MADMEN and REMI collection. During the EVA, Funk (Ben) baked bread and autoclaved water, and Roots (Anna) imaged all of our previous MADMEN samples. For dinner, Funk made taco bowls for Taco Tuesday and taught PODO to chop cilantro. Tonight, the crew will make ISRU clay items courtesy of Roots (who took the initiative to collect smectite and experiment with methods to make it into moldable clay). The crew is in good spirits as we head into our final targeted MADMEN EVA tomorrow.

Look Ahead Plan: A long hike in EVA gear, off of rover roads, for MADMEN’s (hopefully) final sample site

Anomalies in work: none

Weather: Warm and windy

Crew Physical Status: nominal

EVA: none

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Journalist Report, Greenhab Report, Operations Report, EVA Report, EVA Request

Support Requested:

Perseverance rearview mirror – broken glass has been disposed of in the RAM as instructed.
Water filter beeping, per previous communications

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Operations Report – January 16th

Crew 290 Operations Report 16-01-2023

SOL: 9

Name of person filing report: Anna Tretiakova

Non-nominal systems: None

Notes on non-nominal systems: Not Applicable

ROVERS

Spirit rover used: No

Hours: (Before EVA)

Beginning Charge: (Before EVA)

Ending Charge: (After EVA and before recharging)

Currently Charging:

Opportunity rover used: Yes

Hours: 155.8 hours

Beginning Charge: 100%

Ending Charge: 74%

Currently Charging: No

Curiosity rover used: Yes

Hours: 263.8 hours

Beginning Charge: 100%

Ending Charge: 73%

Currently Charging: No

Perseverance rover used: No

Hours: (Before EVA)

Beginning Charge: (Before EVA)

Ending Charge: (After EVA and before recharging)

Currently Charging:

General Notes on Rovers: Perseverance mirror shards were discarded in the RAM metal waste basket. Rovers are in nominal condition.

Summary of Hab Operations:

WATER USE: 17.6 gallons

Water (static tank): 321.4 gallons

Static tank pipe heater (on or off): on

Static tank heater (on or off): on

Toilet tank emptied: No

Summary of Internet: internet is nominal during times 18:00 to 22:00

Summary of Suits and Radios: Radios nominal. Suits nominal.

Summary of Greenhab Operations:

WATER USE: 2 gallons for science dome and 7.25 gallons Greenhab.

Heater: on

Supplemental Light: off

Harvest: 33g cilantro

Summary of Science Dome Operations:

Continued imaging the microtubular devices, making new ones and testing the pH.

Dual Split Heater or AC: On

Summary of RAM Operations: (Tools used, work done):

Measuring tape was used to measure the water level. Some work on Remy the Robot.

Summary of any observatory issues: Nominal

Summary of health and safety issues:

All crew in good health and happy spirits. No safety issues.

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support:

– The beeping water filter, but that is already being dealt with.

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