Month: April 2024

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Journalist Report – April 16th

Crew 297 Journalist – David Laude

Our third EVA, taken this Sol 2 afternoon by three of the crew, was our first research project EVA. The purpose of the EVA was to perform the first EVA for the nuclear power project (no nuclear materials present). Nuclear electric power is vital for a human presence on Mars where there is little wind and solar energy to harvest. Mission support provided a simulated landing site for the mock garbage can sized nuclear power system. Matthew L., the EVA Crew Commander, Matt S. and Sean were given an approximate landing site via GPS coordinates, which was within 1000 feet from the actual location. However, due to a GPS unit malfunction, for a currently unknown (to our crew) reason, a few hours were spent in the wrong area. After the error was detected, and correct GPS coordinates were realized, the EVA crew quickly found it.

After being found, it was collected and a new simulated landing site was secretly selected and recorded for the next EVA crew to recover. Tomorrow, crew members Pawel, Dave and Sarah will have their chance to find the mock reactor.

EVA Crew Commander Matt is a 4th year PhD candidate at the University of Michigan, where he studies nuclear engineering. His academic research focuses on developing novel materials for advanced nuclear reactors and extreme conditions, as well as utilizing new methods to use machine learning in assisting electron microscopy material analysis. His PhD is supported by a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity (NSTGRO), this is his first experience as an analog astronaut.

At the Hab Dave conducted the first test on his ultrasonic range finder device. It is to be used to measure distance from the top of a fluid tank to the liquid surface with the purpose of determining the amount of fluid left within the tank. It was used on the static tank and GreenHab tank where it successfully determined the distance. However, the tanks are nearly full and thus the test was very limited. Continued testing as water is being depleted will be required to calibrate and completely test it.

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Sol Summary – April 15th

Crew 297 Sol Summary Report 15-04-2024

Sol: 01

Summary Title: Welcome to Mars

Author’s name: Pawel Sawicki

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

"Welcome to Mars," exclaimed Mission Support as we touched down today a little past noon. After the arduous trek from Earth was over, we immediately consumed our lunch sandwiches and went onto preparing our checkride EVAs. The two EVAs at Marble Ritual were quite nominal (other than the occasional alien’s strolling by) and provided most of the newbie crew members with the confidence and skill set needed to thrive in succeeding EVAs. The day concluded with a sumptuous ceviche dinner made by Sean and sous-chef Sarah.

Look Ahead Plan: Tomorrow we will perform a single EVA in the morning. The purpose of the EVA will be for "Team A" to seek out the recently delivered [inert] Nuclear Power System (NPS). If "Team A" is successful they will then hide the [inert] NPS for the second half of the crew to reproduce the seek study during a future EVA.

Anomalies in work: Loose XLR 3 pin connector on Suit 3. INOP’ed for the time being (labeled with blue tape).

*Anomaly occurring during report": Power in the Hab blacked out, and has been restored after switching to generator power. Due to the power outage’s late occurrence, it will be discussed in the Operations Report tomorrow.

Weather:

Around noon: moderate winds (7 mph from the west, gusting to 17 mph), chilly (55F), overcast in the surrounding horizon areas, partially cloudy above the Hab (cloud coverage: 30%).
During the afternoon (data is taken at 1700): strong winds (21 mph from the northwest, gusting 25 mph), chilly (60F), partially cloudy (cloud coverage: 38%) with a storm in the distance.
Crew Physical Status: Tired from the long journey over to Mars, but overall in good health.

EVA: Checkride EVAs were completed with nominal operations.

Reports to be filed:

Sol Summary
Journalist Report
GreenHab Report
Operations Report
EVA report (2 EVAs)
EVA request (1 EVA)
Support Requested: We have requested that the [inert] NPS (currently in the RAM) be placed by Mission Support at a location of their choosing (though reachable by rover and within a maximum of 15 minutes of walking). Once the inert NPS is hidden, precise GPS coordinates and a photo are requested to be taken to not lose track of the location. These GPS coordinates are then asked to be sent to Pawel.

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Operations Report – April 15th

Crew 297 Operations Report 15-04-2024

SOL: 1

Name of person filing report: Matt Lynch (Engineer)

Non-nominal systems: Suit 5 (ventilation electrical connection), Suit 2 (stuck valve) Suit 9 (broken visor), and Suit 3 (loose power connection)

Notes on non-nominal systems: The issues with Suit 5, 2, and 9 were already noted before our mission. We found the issues with suit 3 before EVA #2.

ROVERS

Spirit rover used:

Hours: 251.0

Beginning charge: 100

Ending charge: 80

Currently charging: No

Opportunity rover used:

Hours: 178.6

Beginning charge: 100

Ending charge: 72

Currently charging: No

Curiosity rover used:

Hours: 277.5

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 84%

Currently charging: No

General notes on rovers: NA

Summary of Hab operations:

WATER USE: 9.5 gallons

Water (static tank): 420.5 gallons

Static tank pipe heater (on or off): off

Static tank heater (On or off): off

Toilet tank emptied: yes

Summary of internet:

Summary of suits and radios:

Radios 1,2,3,4, 5 and 6 were used.

EVA Suits 4,6,7,8,10 and 11 were used.

Summary of GreenHab operations: First time observing and watering of all plants in the greenhab.

WATER USE: 4.25 gallons

Heater: On

Supplemental light: N/A

Harvest: None

Summary of ScienceDome operations: NA

Summary of RAM operations: (Tools used, work done): NA

Summary of any observatory issues: NA

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GreenHab Report – April 15th

Crew 297 GreenHab Report 15-04-2024

GreenHab Officer: Sean Marquez

Environmental control:

Heater on (set to 55F)
Fan on
Average temperatures: 76F

Hours of supplemental light: N/A

Daily water usage for crops: 15L

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 1L

Water in Blue Tank: Full (unknown quantity)

Time(s) of watering for crops: 18:07

Changes to crops: N/A

Narrative: No changes to crops as this is the first day’s greenhab report. Basil, parsley, dill, red cabbage, radishes, and carrots seem to be particularly thriving. About a dozen of the cherry tomatoes and one squash appear either ready or approaching readiness for harvest. A little more than half of the leaves on the squash plants have turned brown and dried. Two of the (Riya & Garbanzo) kale plants appear to be slightly wilting. About 1L of water was used to refill an experimental self-watering vegetable pot containing a Murasaki sweet potato that I brought into the GreenHab.

Harvest: N/A

Support/supplies needed: A means to quantify capacity of blue water tank. A chair would also be nice.

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EVA Report – April 15th

EVA #2

Author: Matthew Lynch (Engineer)

Purpose of EVA: This was the initial training EVA for the second half of our crew. The goal was to go to Marble Ritual, briefly explore the immediate area, and return to the hab.

Start time: 4:00pm

End time: 4:55pm

Narrative: After suiting up for the first time we made our way to the airlock. We unplugged Curiosity (Matt L. + Dave) and Opportunity (Matt S.) was already unplugged. We made our way to Marble Ritual and each added a martian stone to the containers. Enjoying our first EVA, we performed some brief exploration of the area in the immediate vicinity. We saw several alien tourists observing the hab, some interesting rocks that we collected for geological inspection, and some extremely large semi-humanoid footprints that we photographed for analysis. Return to the rovers and the hab was done with no issues.

Destination: Marble Ritual

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 4250957 N 518615 E

Participants: Matthew Lynch (Engineer), Dave Laude (Journalist), Matthew Storch (XO)

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

Mode of travel: Driving 2 rovers (Curiosity & Opportunity) and walking.

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EVA Report – April 15th

EVA # 1

Author: Sarah Lamm (Geologist)

Purpose of EVA: EVA certification training to Marble Ritual as requested by the MDRS.

Start time: 2:00 pm

End time: 3:00 pm

Narrative: We arrived at Marble Ritual with Spirit and Opportunity, and proceeded due east for about 270 m to the ritual buckets. After each person dropped a rock in the bucket, we proceed to examine the most Northwestern mound (about 4250921 N 518693E) within 30 meters of the Marble Ritual Posts. There we saw evaporated stream beds, filled with fine grained red sediments, as well as irregular white and red fine-grained patches. From there we proceed to the center mound, which is southeast of the first mound. and climbed to the top (about 4250899 N 518703 E). We quickly decided to leave as the wind was much stronger at the top. We briefly explored the shorter Northeastern mound (about 4250925 N 518714 E), until we descended at 2:20 pm due to the wind picking up. On the ground, we observed ventifact sandstones, as well as desert vanish. At 2:34 pm the crew returned to the rovers and parked at the Hab at 2:39 pm.

A singular curious alien coming from the south was spotted on Cow Dung Road at 2:21 pm. They seem to observe the EVA team and the Mars Desert Research Campus for about 10 minutes, until they left going north on Cow Dung Road.

Destination: Marble Ritual

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 4250957 N 518615 E

Participants: Sarah Lamm (Geologist), Pawel Sawicki (Commander), Sean Marquez (GreenHab Officer)

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

Mode of travel: Spirit and Opportunity Rovers

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Mission Support COMMS closed 22Apr2024

Mission support is signing off.
Please see below received reports status:

Sol Summary Received
Journalist Report Received
GreenHab Report Received
Operations Report Received
EVA Report Received
Photos (6-8 pics) Received
EVA Request Approved (2)

________________________
Ben Stanley – Site ManagerMars Desert Research Station

435.229.3475

AIorK4zJwLwPIWpaKeu3MS1SRDkfIkROXwfkNaEgVlcUFUQOHMM_jnKth8pJaFRg3ou53q1RY40muac

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Sol Summary – April 10th

Sol 10
Summary Title: Isolation never felt so good
Author’s name: Alba Sánchez Montalvo
Mission Status: Ongoing
Sol Activity Summary:
SOL 10 started calmly since there was no EVA planned in the morning. Everyone could sleep enough to recover their energy and face the last sols to come. During the morning, the last crew members recorded their videos about their experiments at the MDRS for our social media and our collaborations. Loriane cooked meatballs with mashed potatoes for lunch, joining Imane in doing magic when cooking with lyophilized food. Right after, Maxime and Romain went on an EVA to explore and look for fossils. They climbed West Ridge and discovered that the ‘rocks’ they were walking on were actually fossilized shells! They collected some and then they could also find some fossilized wood. After that, they returned to the station and shared their discoveries with the rest of the team before working on their reports and having dinner together. In general, we feel that isolation is not that bad when you have a good company with you!
Look Ahead Plan: Two EVAs will be scheduled tomorrow. One in the morning, to continue Romain’s experiment of evaluating the crew’s handling of a drone. This will be the fourth and last session for some members of the crew. Finally, at the end of the afternoon, a second EVA will take place to finalize the data collection carried out by Louis with his drone. In the early afternoon, biological samples (blood, urine and saliva) will be collected. Imane will also collect stool samples for her experiment throughout the day.
Anomalies in work: None
Weather: Sunny, a bit of wind and almost no clouds
Crew Physical Status: Good
EVA: In the late afternoon, Maxime and Romain embarked on an extravehicular activity (EVA). Emerging into the intense heat at 16:08, they began ascending the West Ridge. Upon reaching the summit, they traversed to the nearby road and were astonished to realize that the rocks they were treading on were actually fossilized shells. The revelation was awe-inspiring. After collecting several bags of these ancient relics, they adhered to their plan and drove the rovers to Roberts Rock Garden in search of fossilized wood. With perseverance, they unearthed a few specimens. Satisfied with their discoveries, they returned to share their findings with the rest of the crew.
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Journalist’s Report, Greenhab Report, Operations Report, Photos (6-8 pics), EVA Report, EVA Request(s), Astronomy Report
Support Requested: NA

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Operations Report – April 10th

SOL: 10
Name of person filing report: Louis Joseph
Non-nominal systems: Suit 5 (battery connection), Suit 2 (stuck valve) and Suit 9 (broken visor)
Notes on non-nominal systems: A second look has been given to Suit 5 components, after checking multiple times the Suit’s battery voltage and connections, everything seems to be working fine. Further attention will be given to the Suit’s electrical connection tomorrow.
After checking some of the suit’s helmets, I noticed a missing zip-tie on the back plate of one of the helmets. It has been replaced by a new one.
ROVERS
Spirit rover used:
Hours: (before EVA)
Beginning charge: (Before EVA)
Ending charge: (On return from EVA, before recharging)
Currently charging:
Opportunity rover used:
Hours:
Beginning charge:
Ending charge:
Currently charging:
Curiosity rover used:
Hours: 276,6
Beginning charge: 100
Ending charge: 70
Currently charging: na (came back after 3pm)
Perseverance rover used:
Hours:
Beginning charge:
Ending charge:
Currently charging:
General notes on rovers: NA
Summary of Hab operations: put notes here
WATER USE: 22.87 gallons
Water (static tank): 314.74 gallons
Static tank pipe heater (on or off): off
Static tank heater (On or off): off
Toilet tank emptied: yes
Summary of internet: Used for music playing, mails, research for experiments, learning languages.
Summary of suits and radios:
Radios 1,2 and 6 were used.
Light Suits 1,3 were used.
Summary of GreenHab operations: Watered all the crops today, harvesting of all kinds today
WATER USE: 7 gallons
Heater: On
Supplemental light: N/A
Harvest:
Cilantro (6 leaves) : 1 g
Parsley (~10 leaves) : 1 g
Basilic (~40 leaves) : 9 g
Mint (~ leaves) : 3g
Tomatoes (13 pcs) : 57 g
Summary of ScienceDome operations: recording videos for sponsors and social media
Dual split: Off
Summary of RAM operations: (Tools used, work done) used to diagnose Suit 5 issues (multimeter) and to repair a zip-tie on one of the helmet’s back plate.
Summary of any observatory issues: NA
Summary of health and safety issues: Everybody is feeling great
Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: NA

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