Author: jburk

Crew 217 Journalist Report
12 Dec 2019

Teresa Hislop

Rockets, river beds, and rodents….

Our final day of sim started with a raucous rocket assembling party.
The four rocket experts (Ann, Cynthia, Kevin, Hope) tutored the four
rocket novices (Shannon, Atila, Teresa, Jen) and, in the end, four
rockets were assembled, painted, and ready for an afternoon launch.

The morning EVA took the six teacher explorers along a dry river bed,
up a winding road, past Badlands-esque geologic vistas, and onto a
plateau of literally littered with 150 million year old Devil’s
Toenail (Gryphaea) fossils. The teachers took many fossils and more
photos.

After dusting the hike’s soil from their boots, the crew got their
hands dirty when they planted succulents in pint jars. Each of the
eight crew members made a mini-terrarium using a small cactus, 5-10 ml
white gravel, and about 200 ml Mars simulant soil.

From mini-terrarium to full size greenhouse, from Martian simulant
soil to Earth-origined planting soil, the crew moved from the Hab to
the greenhouse to plant, re-plant, and repair. During the night
something ate all the zucchini, most of the peas, and several
tomatoes. The once healthy plants disappeared at ground level. We
suspect a rodent with a green tooth. Cynthia and Teresa replanted the
munched plants, transplanted herbs, acorn pumpkin and peppers, thinned
basil and cilantro, and planted lettuce and more cilantro. Atila
hung planter pots out of reach of the rascally rodent, Atila and Kevin
hung a shade screen, and Shannon crashed through an old bed.

The day’s adventures ended with a BANG. Every missile was
successfully launched and every missile was successfully recovered.
Shannon’s happy dance reflected everyone’s happy mood. Life is good
on Mars!!

Crew 217 Journalist Report
11 Dec 2019
Author: Teresa Hislop

“Failure is not an option” was today’s theme.

There were no petri dishes in the science dome. Our research plans
call for plating samples from two separate collections: gypsum
samples collected at Moon Overlook and green sediment samples from the
Morrison strata in Lith Canyon. Not be be deterred, we made “petri
bags” by mixing agar and pouring it into zip log bags. Success!

EVA One (Ann, Cynthia, Kevin, Teresa) journeyed to Lith Canyon. One
of MDRS’s absolute rules is that one stops when the Rovers’ battery
reaches 60%. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Do not take the
Rover further afield when the battery reads 60%. About two-thirds
the way to Lith Canyon, Spirit’s battery read 60%. Not to be deterred,
the astronauts continued with their mission, one Rover down. Failure
was not an option.

They successfully collected water samples from three separate
potholes. They also took measured pH and temperature and took
salinity readings They also scaped rock samples from four samples from
the green sediment in the Morrison strata: one from above the green
layer, one from the green layer, one from under the green layer, and
one from a group of crystalline structures in the layer above the
green layer. Finding themselves with over 60 minutes left in their
EVA allotment of time, the group also collected gypsum samples at the
Cow Dung Road/Moon Overlook Road junction.

While waiting for the radios and Rovers to recharge the group ground
and plated the Morrison strata and gypsum samples. The gypsum
samples were plated on 20% saline agar; the Morrison strata samples
were plated on nutrient agar and incubated.

EVA Two drove to Moon Overlook, stopping at three different locations
to collect gypsum. They went out and back without incident but not
without adventure. It was the first time in over 10 years Shannon had
been in a space suit and the first time ever that she has ridden in a
Rover in a space suit.

Lesson and idea sharing continues. Today’s highlight is Jen’s
Flipgrid app. She posts videos that her students view and respond to.
She can see and respond to their responses. It is a fabulous way for
asynchronous communication from “Mars” to Earth and back again.