Month: February 2024

Journalist Report

Nicole Chan, Crew 290 Journalist

01.18.2024

Sol 11

The Sol began with sunny and clear skies, which was a great sign to carry out EVA 11 which had been postponed from yesterday. With the smell of cinnamon rolls warming up in the oven, the crew got ready for the day around the dining table. Madelyn (Melon) sat down with the crew to go over the EVA logistics before Anja (Freebee), Ben (Funk), and Anna (Roots) began to suit up. After strapping in REMI at the back of the rover, the crew headed out to the region around White Rock Canyon and Aonia Terra. The goal is to perform a final sample collection for MADMEN goals while REMI explores the new terrain at Aonia Terra. Melon served as CAPCOM and gave the crew support in the site search and targeting process.

Learning from previous EVAs, the crew brought a hammer and chisel to handle the harder rock terrain that was expected. These tools came in handy and saved the crew a lot of trouble when collecting the subsurface samples at three- and six-inches depth. From the CAPCOM interactions, it sounded like the preliminary field tests produced results that correspond to the geological studies that Melon had talked about in the EVA briefing. The crew took many awesome photos of the site and had fun scaling the hills as they scouted the area. It seems like a running theme on our mission so far: no matter how tiring EVAs are or how much work we have to do, we do what is needed to stay on schedule and have fun at the same time. I often found myself inspired by the crew’s ingenuity and perseverance to find solutions whenever unexpected issues arose.

In the late afternoon, the crew, led by Rebecca (Chopper) worked on imaging the incubated soil samples and measuring their pH. We planned to maximize the science output we can get before leaving for Earth on Sol 13. With our last soil sample collection completed today, we’ll be spending today and tomorrow checking for changes in the samples’ pH measurements. There have already been some interesting things happening in the microfluidic devices captured under the microscope!
Photo of the Day: 290-01_18_2024 martian explorers.jpeg

Journalist Report

Nicole Chan, Crew 290 Journalist

01.14.2024

Sol 7

The crew all enjoyed the slow morning today on our rest day. In preparation for today, while the crew had brainstormed some ways to relax and bond, they have also outlined some science tasks including some imaging, pH measurements and processing the soil samples through the microfluidic devices. So, after getting a very tasty breakfast of crepes with Nutella and peanut butter. Speaking of these sweet condiments, they (especially the Nutella) have been the go-to snack of many crew members, which has been driving down our stock. Currently, we are at half a jar of Nutella. At a few members’ dismay, our pantry monitor (self-assigned) Ben (aka Funk) will be enforcing a ration so that our crew won’t be “at each other’s throats” in the next few Sols when we run out of our staple source of sugar (and in my opinion, instant happiness). If anyone’s curious, our most sought after commodity (and the strongest instigator amongst the group) is the packets of Welch’s fruit snacks/gummies (Berries N’ Cherries flavor). I’m sure at times when it matters, the crew will be able to remain civilized and sort it out like the scientists that we are.

As the afternoon rolls around (along with the clouds on this sunny day of 12 degrees Celsius), the crew will be heading back to the Hab soon from the ScienceDome to get some lunch. Our lunch today was some delicious vegetable fried rice with some curry chicken seasoned with the cilantro that was harvested yester-sol by Funk. I personally look forward to having that meal again as leftovers. We set off to work around 1500 with Rebecca (Chopper) and myself (PODO) heading off to the ScienceDome to complete the daily pH measurements. We found new workarounds for the new pH meter and will develop new measurement procedures for the EVA crew to get more consistent readings in the field tomorrow. It was a productive day of science for sure.

The crew reconvened in the Hab for an evening of personal time and winding down for the night. Chopper and I returned to find Madelyn (Melon) and Anna (Roots) doing some sort of experiment. Roots explained that it’s part of her glove dexterity research and that it’ll be our turn to be tested in the next few days. I can’t wait to contribute some data.

We had an additional task tonight! Anja (Freebee) suggested that our evening activity be sharing personal stories through powerpoint talks, so we’re all preparing our own stories to share over the Funfetti cake that we made yesterday. With an EVA planned tomorrow, we’re ready to get back to work.

Photo of the Day: 290-01_14_2024 we’re getting tested.JPG