Crew Photos
Crew Photos – December 10th
Greenhab Report – December 10th
Crew 217 GreenHab Report – 10-12-2019
GreenHab Officer: Cynthia Hori
Environmental control:
Ambient with door open
Heating
Shade cloth (40%) on
Average temperatures
Low 65 F
High 90 F
Hours of supplemental light :5
Daily water usage for crops: 80 L
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes:
Water in Blue Tank— 300 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 5 pm
Changes to crops: Pepper seedlings emerging
Narrative: A second shade cloth (30%) will be added tomorrow and squash will be transplanted. New lettuce seeds going in tomorrow.
Harvest: none
Operations Report – December 10th
Crew 217 Operations Report 12/10/2019
SOL: 1
Name of person filing report: Hope Zubrin
Non-nominal systems: radios
Notes on non-nominal systems: batteries not charging
Generator:
Hours run: 12
From what time last night: 7:00 pm
To what time this morning: 7:00AM
List any additional daytime hours when the generator was run: n/a
Solar— SOC 70 % last night (Before generator is run), 72% tonight
Diesel Reading – not checked
Station Propane Reading –not checked
Ethanol Free Gasoline: 5 gallons
Water (loft tank): 25 gallons
Water Meter: 1467244 units
Water (static tank): 425 gallons
Static to Loft Pump used – yes
Water in GreenHab: 300 gallons
Water in ScienceDome: zero gallons
Toilet tank emptied: no
Deimos rover used: off campus
Hours:
Beginning charge:
Ending charge:
Currently charging:
Sojourner rover used: ASSIGNED TO DIRECTOR
Hours:
Beginning charge:
Ending charge:
Currently charging: yes
Spirit rover used:yes
Hours: 116.6
Beginning charge: 100 %
Ending charge: 77%
Currently charging: Yes
Opportunity rover used: off campus
Hours:
Beginning charge:
Ending charge:
Currently charging:
Curiosity rover used: yes
Hours:121.6
Beginning charge:100%
Ending charge:63%
Currently charging: yes
Notes on rovers: Curiosity ignition switch tightened as it had become loose
ATV’s Used: (Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.2, 350.3)
Reason for use:not used
Oil Added? n/a
ATV Fuel Used: zero gallons
# Hours the ATVs were used today:
Notes on ATVs: nothing to report
HabCar used and why, where yes to town for supplies
CrewCar used and why, where?In Grand Junction
General notes and comments:
Summary of internet: troubles downloading
Summary of suits and radios: all suits operational see radio notes
Summary of Hab operations: nothing to report
Summary of GreenHab operations: we adjusted the grow lights and are working on temperature moderation
Summary of ScienceDome operations: replaced table
Summary of RAM operations: nothing to report
Summary of any observatory issues: nothing to report
Summary of health and safety issues: nothing to report
Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: nothing at this time.
Greenhab Report – December 9th
Shannon Rupert
8:44 PM (30 minutes ago)
to MDRS
Crew 217 GreenHab Report – 09-12-2019
GreenHab Officer: Cynthia Hori
Environmental control:
Ambient with door open
Heating
Shade cloth (40%) on
Average temperatures: 20 degrees C
Low
High
Hours of supplemental light :5
Daily water usage for crops: 80 L
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes:
Water in Blue Tank— 300 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 5 pm
Changes to crops: Pepper seedlings emerging
Narrative: A second shade cloth (30%) will be added tomorrow
Harvest: Radishes were thinned and 141 g removed and eaten at dinner–
Sol Summary – December 10th
Crew 217 Sol Summary Report 10-DEC-2019
Sol: 1
Summary Title: The First Day on Mars aka Taco Tuesday
Author’s name: Shannon Rupert
Mission Status: Our Mission is in full swing. We awoke to our first Martian day and made the most of it.
Sol Activity Summary: We spent the morning sharing our teaching experiences and activities, and at one point while I was smashing #10 cans on the upper deck, the crew was busy downstairs creating a habitat out of cups, plates, straws, file folders and recycled plastic containers. I was reminded of that Apollo 13 scene where they dump everything on the table to create a solution for the scrubber problem (“Failure is not an option”). After lunch, we trained in suits and rovers while taking our first short EVAs to the Marble Ritual. Everyone was super excited about wearing the suits and being outside. Then we settled down to a wonderful Taco Tuesday dinner with homemade tortillas and space ball taco meat. We created our work plan for tomorrow, then decided to spend the rest of the evening doing COMMS and relaxing. It’s been a wonderful but busy day.
Look Ahead Plan: We will spend the morning in the lab making plates for our halophile experiment. Then part of the crew will go on an EVA to Lith Canyon to collect pothole water samples for analysis and they will also collect samples from a green layer in the stratigraphy here and we will plate them to see what is living there. Finally, a second EVA will go to The Moons to collect gypsum samples to plate.
Anomalies in work: Atila and I needed to go to town for supplies and that set us back a couple of hours so that is why we pushed the plate making back until morning. It’s hard to create a Martian pace with only three days to do so much, but I am trying.
Weather: Sunny and very warm for this time of year
Crew Physical Status: Happy, healthy, some of us are clean, all of us will sleep well.
EVA: Two short training EVAs to the Marble Ritual, XO lead both of them.
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Operations Report. GreenHab Report, Operations Report, HSO Beginning of SIM checklist, Bios/Photos, Mission Plan, Journalist Report and Photos.
Support Requested: Teachers need to be added to the eList. We may not be able to send all reports this evening as we don’t know how much internet we used this morning. We have decided to turn off the wifi from 6 am to 7 pm every day as everyone still wants to use their phones for photos and in this way, we won’t have to worry about using the internet.
Journalist Report – December 10th
Crew 217 Journalist Report
10-Dec-2019
Teresa Hislop
Sol Two
First day of full simulation. SUCCESS! No deaths, infinite
enthusiasm. One could say our experiences were out of this world.
We spent the morning sharing ideas, lesson plans, and educational philosophies. Everyone’s approach to Mars education differed but none were alien. Kevin’s students create to scale Mars habitats, Jen uses Mars to hook ELA readers, and Hope takes students on a Mission to Mars for an entire semester. Ann’s Space Colonization curriculum is on her website and Cynthia shared NASA and Teacher-Pay-Teacher resources. Unquestionably, one of the most valuable NSBU outcomes will be the networking and sharing of resources and ideas that occurred this morning.
The afternoon took us outside for our first EVA (extra vehicular activity). In two sets of four, we suited up, drove the Rovers, and explored the Martian landscape. Except for a minor delay when the first crew had to return from airlock to correct a communications glitch, the EVAs were without incident.
The Internet continues to be the most non-stellar aspect of the experience. Yesterday it took 15 attempts to send the journalist report. None of the other officers were able to submit reports. Today connectivity continues to be spotty and bandwidth thin.
Kevin and Jen created an amazing mission patch. Jen, as Health and Safety Officer, has checked every fire alarm and carbon monoxide monitor in the complex. Ann completed tomorrow’s EVA requests. Kevin created and completed a science report. Yesterday Cynthia watered plants and planted lettuce. Teresa thinned the radishes and Ann used the radish greens in the evening’s stir fry. Tomorrow’s EVA adventures will take us gypsum hunting, pot hole sampling, and green stone collecting.
Greenhab Report – December 10th
Shannon Rupert
8:44 PM (30 minutes ago)
to MDRS
Crew 217 GreenHab Report – 09-12-2019
GreenHab Officer: Cynthia Hori
Environmental control:
Ambient with door open
Heating
Shade cloth (40%) on
Average temperatures: 20 degrees C
Low
High
Hours of supplemental light :5
Daily water usage for crops: 80 L
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes:
Water in Blue Tank— 300 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 5 pm
Changes to crops: Pepper seedlings emerging
Narrative: A second shade cloth (30%) will be added tomorrow
Harvest: Radishes were thinned and 141 g removed and eaten at dinner–
Journalist Report – December 9th
NASA Spaceward Bound UT
9-13 December
Submitted by: Teresa Hislop, Crew Journalist
Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS)
Sol One
We learned how to be Martians. It’s simple really. Stay inside. Suit
up when going outside. Or die. And we don’t want anyone to die.
Sol One and MDRS Crew 217 is already a well-functioning team. “I
know you all will exceed expectations,” our Commander confidently
predicted.
Team members:
Crew Commander: Shannon
Executive Officer: Atila
Health and Safety Officer: Jen
Crew Engineer: Hope
Greenhouse Officer: Cynthia
Crew Journalist: Teresa
Crew Scientists: Kevin and Ann
We are the 217th crew to occupy MDRS and the first cadre of NASA
Spaceward Bound UT (NSBU) teachers. NSBU is the result of a NASA grant, written to give UT teachers (and vicariously their students) a Mars-like experience. We are NSBU pioneers.
Welcome to Mars!
MDRS is one of only two permanent Mars simulation stations in the
world; the other one is in the Arctic. It is the only station that
allows analog astronauts to do independent research. While we are
here, we will research halophiles, pothole ecosystems, and green
sediment formations.
Today, Sol One, was our last day on Earth; Tuesday through Thursday we will engage in a full simulation experience. While in sim, water is limited–550 gallons per 2-week mission– but energy is not.
After discussing regulations–like no TP in the toilets and separate
burnable trash from non-burnable– and responsibilities–like
submitting nightly reports and getting COM approval for all excursions, we explored Lith Canyon, licked fossil bones, and collected a few gypsum samples.
Dinner, writing bios, and to bed. The sun will come up tomorrow…ON MARS!!!
Sol Summary – December 9th
Crew 217 Sol Summary Report 9-DEC-2019
Sol: 0
Summary Title: The Last Day on Earth
Author’s name: Shannon Rupert
Mission Status: The teachers of the first NASA Spaceward Bound Utah mission have elected to do a full simulation beginning tomorrow
morning and ending Friday morning. We have an amazing group here and I’m really looking forward to the next week.
Sol Activity Summary: Once everyone arrived in the morning we met and determined our goals for the mission. We have set up the lower deck as a classroom for our teaching activities. Everyone got their teaching “bling, books and goodies” and their flight suits. After lunch, we did some out-of-sim exploration of Lith Canyon and are now settling in for our last day on Earth.
Look Ahead Plan: We will go in-sim in the morning and have both
teaching and lab activities planned.
Anomalies in work: Nothing to report
Weather: Partly cloudy and very warm for this time of year
Crew Physical Status: We are all super excited to be with a bunch of
like-minded people. Everyone is healthy and happy.
EVA: We did an out of sim EVA to Lith Canyon so that everyone could
experience the lay of the land without a suit.
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Operations Report. GreenHab Report, Operations Report, HSO Beginning of SIM checklist, Bios/Photos, Mission Plan, Journalist Report and Photos.
Support Requested: Teachers need to be added to the eList. We may not be able to send all reports this evening as we don’t know how much internet we used this morning. We have decided to turn off the wifi from 6 am to 7 pm every day as everyone still wants to use their
phones for photos and in this way, we won’t have to worry about using
the internet.
Operations Report – December 8th
Crew 217 Operations Report 08-Dec-19
SOL: 0
Name of person filing report: David Mateus
Non-nominal systems: NA
Generator: run
Hours run: 12
From what time last night: 1900
To what time this morning: 0700
List any additional daytime hours when the generator was run: N/A
Solar— SOC % (Before generator is run at night: 80%
Diesel Reading – 30
Station Propane Reading – 48
Ethanol Free Gasoline: N/A
Water (loft tank) (gal): 47
Water Meter (units): N\A
Water (static tank) (gal): 430
Static to Loft Pump used – yes
Water in Green Hab (gal): 300
Water in Science Dome (gal): 0
Toilet tank emptied: no
Deimos rover used: out of campus
Hours:
Beginning charge:
Ending charge:
Currently charging:
Sojourner rover used: Assigned to the director
Hours:
Beginning charge:
Ending charge:
Currently charging:
Spirit rover used: no.
Hours: 116.4
Beginning charge: (Before EVA): 100
Ending charge: (On return from EVA, before recharging): 100
Currently charging: yes
Opportunity rover used: Out of campus
Hours: 68.7
Beginning charge: 100
Ending charge: 100
Currently charging: yes
Curiosity rover used: no
Hours: 121.4
Beginning charge: 100
Ending charge: (On return from EVA, before charging): 100%
Currently charging: yes
Notes on rovers: Opportunity and Deimos off-site for maintenance.
ATV’s Used: (Honda, 300, 350.1, 350.2, 350.3): no
Reason for use: N/A
Oil Added? no
# Hours the ATVs were used today: 0
Notes on ATVs:
HabCar used and why, where? Yes, to town.
CrewCar used and why, where? Crew 216 to go to GJ
General notes and comments: Part of the crew is on campus
Summary of internet: no issues
Summary of suits and radios: Suit 4 airflow is weak, possibly a battery charging issue.
Summary of Hab operations: Part of the new crew arrived during the afternoon and had dinner in the hab.
Summary of GreenHab operations: Routine watering.
Summary of Science Dome operations: No used
Summary of RAM operations: No used
Summary of any observatory issues: No used
Summary of health and safety issues: NA
Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: NA
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