Author: jburk

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Sol Summary – February 4th

Sol:2

Summary Title: Science Brief and a Martian friend appeared

Author’s name: Maria Grulich, M.Sc.

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: Crew 221 is feeling well and woke up to a beautiful day on Mars. The weather today was windless and mostly sunny; perfect condition to set-up parts of our weather station near the hab. The whole crew was working on building our own barometer and rain gage before the crew Greenhab officer and the crew Astronomer could leave the station to set them up on the outside of the tunnels. They experienced some issues attaching the barometer as the cable ties do not seem to work great with lower temperatures on Mars. The EVA team also revealed that we have a visitor around the hab! “Fuzz” is our adorable Martian and the crew 221 made it their crew mascot which we will use for outreach activities for kids.

The whole day was under the umbrella of preparing for our science experiments. Everyone was presenting their ideas for microbiology, geology, astronomy, human factors and technology demonstrations. Luis the Crew Engineer was the most prepared with a 9-slides presentation for his projects for the crew 221. A highlight was a cinnamon apple pie prepared for the crew by the commander. Finally, the crew also decided on their call signs:

Maria -Commander will be “Ewok”

Jessica -Greenhab Officer will be “Gobblin”

Luis -Crew Engineer will be “Frankie”

Ghanim -Astronomer will be “Astro”

Hemani -Journalist Officer will be “Juno”

Rawan -HSO will be “Luna”

Tomorrow will be a busy day getting samples for microbiology and plant experiments if the EVAs will be approved. As we are coming from many different places and the crew still has to learn to understand and respect their individualities and differences, the crew 221 planned cultural nights for all 5 different countries and today will be Kuwait! We are excited about it.

Look Ahead Plan: Cultural night Kuwait, Meditation/Sport Session, EVA for microbiology and plant experiments

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: sunny no winds

Crew Physical Status: All crew in good health.

EVA: Morning 12:06-12:50 PM

Reports to be filed:

Sol Summary

Journalist Report

Photo Report

EVA Report

Operations Report

GreenHab Report

EVA Request (AM/PM)

Support Requested:

· Food request for:

· salt (empty in new food supply)

· onions (empty missing in new food supply)

· new sponges

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Journalist Report – February 4th

Crew 221 Journalist Report 04Feb2020
Author: Hemani Kalucha, Crew Journalist
Sol 2
Title: Setting up a Weather Station

Today, we started with one of our science experiments: building an in-house crew assembled weather station! It actually ended up being a terrific team building exercise. We all gathered in the science dome early at 10 this morning, to put together 3 elements: a barometer, a rain gauge, and a hygrometer. Everyone put their best DIY skills to use as all of the elements were made of everyday objects found at home. Some of the intricate steps involved straws, sticky tack, cotton balls and lots of masking tape. Oh, and good timing. After this amazing team effort, we sent out two crew members on an EVA to install the 3 elements outside the hab, so that we could take weather measurements twice a day. We were pre approved to attach our instruments on the outside face of the tunnels at the science dome. Unfortunately, using zipties as a fastener was not as successful as we hoped. The EVA crew’s attempts resulted in snapping of most of the zipties. However, we have now found Velcro straps in our equipment, and will try reinstalling the equipment on a later EVA. As HabCom for this EVA, I particularly enjoyed watching the EVA crew at work from our kitchen window, and giving them special instructions for installation. Overall, I would say we had a real “starting a human presence on Mars” experience today. Unfortunately, one piece of equipment did not make it to the hab, so we will have to do without our anemometer’s wind measurements. Fortunately, Commander Grulich’s impeccable baking making skills will distract us. Dinner was made more eventful by Kuwaiti cultural night and a lovely play of “hometowns” to get to know our teammates better. Our conversations are already so much deeper and more interesting than just 48 hours ago!

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Sol Summary – February 4th

Sol:2

Summary Title: Science Brief and a Martian friend appeared

Author’s name: Maria Grulich, M.Sc.

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: Crew 221 is feeling well and woke up to a beautiful day on Mars. The weather today was windless and mostly sunny; perfect condition to set-up parts of our weather station near the hab. The whole crew was working on building our own barometer and rain gage before the crew Greenhab officer and the crew Astronomer could leave the station to set them up on the outside of the tunnels. They experienced some issues attaching the barometer as the cable ties do not seem to work great with lower temperatures on Mars.

The whole day was under the umbrella of preparing for our science experiments. Everyone was presenting their ideas for microbiology, geology, astronomy, human factors and technology demonstrations. Luis the Crew Engineer was the most prepared with a 9-slides presentation for his projects for the crew 221. A highlight was a cinnamon apple pie prepared for the crew by the commander. Finally, the crew also decided on their call signs:

Maria -Commander will be “Ewok”

Jessica -Greenhab Officer will be “Gobblin”

Luis -Crew Engineer will be “Frankie”

Ghanim -Astronomer will be “Astro”

Hemani -Journalist Officer will be “Juno”

Rawan -HSO will be “Luna”

Tomorrow will be a busy day getting samples for microbiology and plant experiments if the EVAs will be approved. As we are coming from many different places and the crew still has to learn to understand and respect their individualities and differences, the crew 221 planned cultural nights for all 5 different countries and today will be Kuwait! We are excited about it.

Look Ahead Plan: Cultural night Kuwait, Meditation/Sport Session, EVA for microbiology and plant experiments

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: sunny no winds

Crew Physical Status: All crew in good health.

EVA: Morning 12:06-12:50 PM

Reports to be filed:

Sol Summary

Journalist Report

Photo Report

EVA Report

Operations Report

GreenHab Report

EVA Request (AM/PM)

Support Requested:

· Food request for:

· salt (empty in new food supply)

· onions (empty missing in new food supply)

· new sponges

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Operations Report – February 3rd

Crew 221 Operations Report 03-02-2022

SOL: 1

Name of person filing report: Luis D. Monge

Non-nominal systems: MDRS Generator is non-operational and still on inspection

Loft water tank connection presents a minor leak

Notes on non-nominal systems: Since Jan 21st, we have a 15 kW rental generator connected to our power system, meanwhile, we are working to troubleshoot the MDRS generator.

A male to male connection was bought in order to replace it in the line, but the leak it’s not in the connection, it’s in the pipe itself.

Generator: off

Hours run: 11:30

From what time last night: 20:30

To what time this morning: 8:00

List any additional daytime hours when the generator was run : 0

Solar— SOC % (Before generator is run at night) 85%

Diesel Reading – 23%

Station Propane Reading – 70%

Ethanol Free Gasoline – gallons

Water (loft tank): 30 gallons

Water Meter: units

Water (static tank) – 450 gals

Static to Loft Pump used – no

Water in GreenHab – 130 gals

Water in ScienceDome: 0 gallons

Toilet tank emptied: no

Deimos rover used: no

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Sojourner rover used: ASSIGNED TO DIRECTOR

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging: yes

Spirit rover used: no

Hours: (before EVA) : 128.7

Beginning charge: (Before EVA)

Ending charge: (On return from EVA, before recharging)

Currently charging: yes

Opportunity rover used: no

Hours: n/a

Beginning charge: n/a

Ending charge: n/a

Currently charging: yes

Curiosity rover used: no

Hours: 134,8

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging: yes

Notes on rovers:

ATV’s Used: (Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.2, 350.3) not used

Reason for use: not used

Oil Added? not used

ATV Fuel Used: Gals not used

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: not used

Notes on ATVs:

HabCar used and why, where? not used

CrewCar used and why, where? not used

General notes and comments: not used

Summary of internet: Notification received on Router replacement, and it will be performed tomorrow as per instructions.

Summary of suits and radios: Radios were used during the EVAs and batteries are malfunctioning and need to be replaced.

Summary of Hab operations: during the afternoon due to high winds and low temperatures the hab temperature dropped from 22C to 18C, the wall heater in the lower deck was turned on and the temperature is back to normal, reading is 20.6C in the termometer in the wall.

Summary of GreenHab operations: Nominal

Summary of ScienceDome operations: Nominal

Summary of RAM operations: Nominal

Summary of any observatory issues: Nominal

Summary of health and safety issues: No issues

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: none

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Astronomy Report – February 3rd

Astronomy Report

Name: Ghanim Alotaibi

Crew: 221
Date: 3 Feb 2020

One week before the rotation, two targets were submitted. V CAS using the MDRS 14, and the Orion Nebula using the MDRS WF. In Sol 1, a picture was taken for V CAS, while the Orion Nebula request was still active. A permission is needed from the observatory director to perform photometry analysis in a picture taken before the field rotation.

In Sol 1, the crew astronomer took a pic for the astronomy laptop, the mouse and the powercord. The picture was sent by email to the Observatory Director.

MDRS ROBOTIC OBSERVATORY

Robotic Telescope Requested MDRS-14

Objects to be Imaged this Evening: V CAS and SS CYG

Images submitted with this report: Non

Problems Encountered: When the request to SS CYG was submitted in Skynet, a message appears saying that the target is not within one hour visibility within the telescope site. I was therefore unable to submit the request.

Robotic Telescope Requested MDRS-WF

Objects to be Imaged this Evening: Orion Nebula

Images submitted with this report: Non

Problems Encountered: Non

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EVA Report #2 – February 3rd

Crew 221 EVA Report 03-02-2020

EVA # 2

Author: Jessica Todd (GreenHab Officer)

Purpose of EVA: The primary purpose was exploration of the immediate environment around the Hab for sites of potential geological interest and familiarity with EVA equipment for the crew members. EVA crew members also practiced proper protocols for collection of geological samples.

Start time: 14:05

End time: 15:14

Narrative: This was the first Martian EVA for two of our crew members, with the EVA led by one of our veteran MDRS astronauts. Setup was a little faster than our morning EVA, we were now a well-rehearsed team! We set off at 14:05, headed for Quarry Road along Entrance Road. We cut across country once we reached Quarry Road, headed over to the white outcroppings of Marble Ritual, and took some samples of the white powdery rocks that we will analyze back in the Science Hab. We collected several samples around the Marble Ritual area of varying rock types, practicing our field geology techniques with a rock hammer and shovel, and cataloging the various sample sites. We found some interesting rocks with a greenish hue which we look forward to analyzing back in the lab. Potential for life perhaps? Around 40 minutes into the EVA the wind started to pick up considerably, so our EVA lead made the decision to head back to the Hab early.

Destination: Marble Ritual via Quarry Road.

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 518750/4250900

Participants: Jessica Todd (GreenHab Officer), Hemani Kalucha (Journalist) and Ghanim Aloitabi (Astronomer)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Entrance Road and then North on Quarry Road

Mode of travel: Walking

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EVA Report #1 – February 3rd

Crew 221 EVA Report 03-02-2020

EVA # 1

Author: Jessica Todd (GreenHab Officer)

Purpose of EVA: The primary purpose was exploration of the immediate environment around the Hab for sites of potential geological interest and familiarity with EVA equipment for the crew members. EVA crew members also practiced proper protocols for collection of geological samples.

Start time: 10:16

End time: 12:01

Narrative: The EVA started 15 past the hour, the crew of three walked to the main road and from there to Marble ritual, two places where visited. A total of seven samples were collected, two at the first spot, one on the way to the second spot and four at the second spot, including three samples from single multiple layer rock wall. Upon return to the base, the samples were stored and will be cataloged.

Destination: Marble Ritual via Quarry Road.

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 518750/4250900

Participants: Maria Grulich (Commander), Rawan Abdullah (HSO) and Luis Monge (Engineer)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Entrance Road and then North on Quarry Road

Mode of travel: Walking

Posted on

Greenhab Report – February 3rd

Crew 221 GreenHab Report 03-02-2020

GreenHab Officers: Jessica Todd

Environmental control: Heating. GreenHab door shade cloth (40%) (30%) on.

Average Temperature: 21.33°C

8:06

Floor Unit: 19°C

09:54

Floor Unit: 23°C

12:52

Floor Unit: 21°C

14:26

Floor Unit: 30°C

14:53

Floor Unit: 21°C

18:55

Floor Unit: 14°C

Hours of Supplemental Light: 19:30 to 00:00

Daily water usage for crops: 14.7 gallons

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

Water in Blue Tank: 285.3 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 3

08:19 = 6.3 galleons

12:52 = 0.5 galleons

18:55 = 7.9 gallons

Changes to crops: NA.

Narrative: Its Sol 1 and as today was a day packed with EVAs so plant duty was mostly just watering and checking on the status of the strawberries and succulents. I was hoping that after their deep watering last night I would find the succulent leaves nice and distended with water, however they still look a little limp. I’ve watered again, hopefully the next few days will see the succulents revive a little. Tomorrow we’ll be starting to look at growing some of our own plants for the duration of our MDRS mission. Looking forward to harvesting some of the delicious herbs for dinner tomorrow!

Harvest: N/A

Support/supplies needed: N/A

Other Notes:

Aloe and succulents on upper shelf below the heater are still dry and not distended. Gave another healthy watering, and will continue to monitor.

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Sol Summary -February 3rd

Sol:1

Summary Title: Welcome to Mars

Author’s name: Maria Grulich, M.Sc.

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: Today we woke up on Mars; it is a beautiful morning and it feels like we are just meant to be here. Our first day of being on Mars is supposed to be about familiarizing with the station. Everyone moved into their rooms and we are working on our cooking skills to eat better food than ramen and noodles, so commander Grulich made a German bread and a carrot cake. The morning started with our first ever EVA preparation. After the training yesterday, the crew was already briefed on voice protocols and procedures and checklists to go on an EVA. We only had to find all the required equipment which took us more time than expected. Still, the first crew was out of the habitat just 15 min later as planned. During our afternoon EVA, we managed to go through all the checklists, so the team was out just 5 min late.

Once back in the habitat, we had warm soup and hot chocolate. Then the crew was working on the first surveys for the crew HSO Rawan and crew journalist Hemani, while the rest of the team also is working on the mission plan.

Tonight, we will have our first sports session with Jessica, our GreenHab Officer. Every day we are going to either have a sports or meditation session and every second day we have a cultural night to learn about each other’s cultures.

Look Ahead Plan: Sport Session, Science Day

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: cloudy with high NW winds 25-40km/h gusting 60km/h no precipitation or snow

Crew Physical Status: All crew in good health.

EVA:

Morning 10:15-14:00 low wind speed

Afternoon 14:05-15:14 higher wind speed

Reports to be filed:

Sol Summary

Commanders Report

Photo Report

EVA Report

Operations Report

GreenHab Report

EVA Request

Astronomy Report

Support Requested: None

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