Author: jburk

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Sol Summary – Jun 4th

Astronomy Refit Crew – Sol 2, June 4th, 2019

Crew: Peter Detterline

Gary Becker

Adam Jones

Peyton Zankel

Cole Armstrong

Narrative: Slower day at the Hab. Armstrong and I took a brief hike around the site before learning how to use the Musk Observatory. We went in alone so that the new user manual could be tested and we could each get a feel for it. Becker and Detterline worked on other projects today. Becker and Armstrong set up a new Bloomsky camera, and set up Becker’s telescope. Detterline and Jones fixed the weather station and replaced the batteries in the robotic observatory. Detterline also organized the robotic observatory.

Accomplished:

Zankel and Armstrong took and processed their first solar images. See attachment.

Cables were changed in the Musk observatory for the new camera.

Adam Jones got the Davis weather station working with the computer in the robotic observatory. We now have a back-up weather station again.

Bloomsky is operating, see attachment.

Organized the robotic observatory.

Gary set up telescope mount for observing.

Power:

SOC = 94% at 8 PM

Problems:

An antenna broke off the robotic observatory computer; a replacement part is being brought up by Ed Thomas in a few days.

Pictures:

“Sky Image” is from the Bloomsky camera. “Jones fixing the weather” is of Adam Jones working in the observatory, courteously provided by Peter Detterline. “SUN” is a solar image by Cole Armstrong with his use of the Musk Observatory. Finally, “Detterline with the Robotic Telescope” was taken by Adam Jones as they examined the equipment.

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Sol Summary – Jun 3rd

Astronomy Refit Crew

Sol 1

June 3rd, 2019

Crew: Peter Detterline

Gary Becker

Adam Jones

Peyton Zankel

Cole Armstrong

Power: Soc = 76%

Generator on at 22:18

My name is Peyton Zankel and I will be writing the narrative for the Astronomy Refit this week. I am a junior at Moravian College and I am from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Today at approximately 15:00 Peter Detterline, Gary Becker, Cole Armstrong, and myself arrived on site. Shannon Ruppert gave us a short tour of the facility. After unloading our gear and personal items, Armstrong and I moved into our staterooms before taking a short walk around the site. During this time, Becker and Detterline went into town to collect water for the tanks. After their return, we drove the rovers into town for storage in the off season. We grabbed dinner before we returned to the habitat. We were joined by Adam Jones around 21:00. Armstrong and I called it a night. Becker and Detterline attended to their own projects during the evening.

Accomplished: Moved four rovers to Hanksville

Curiosity: 102.6 Hours 89%

Sprit: 97.7 Hours 92%

Opportunity: 63.8 hours 97%

Sojourner: 61.4 hours 92%

Problems: N/A

Pictures: Picture 1 is of Peyton Zankel’s stateroom, and Picture 2 is of the Habitat during today’s walk. Both pictures were taken by Peyton Zankel.

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Astronomy Refit Crew – Sol 1 – June 3rd

Astronomy Refit Crew

Sol 1

June 3rd, 2019

Crew: Peter Detterline

Gary Becker

Adam Jones

Peyton Zankel

Cole Armstrong

Power: Soc = 76%

Generator on at 22:18

My name is Peyton Zankel and I will be writing the narrative for the Astronomy Refit this week. I am a junior at Moravian College and I am from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Today at approximately 15:00 Peter Detterline, Gary Becker, Cole Armstrong, and myself arrived on site. Shannon Ruppert gave us a short tour of the facility. After unloading our gear and personal items, Armstrong and I moved into our staterooms before taking a short walk around the site. During this time, Becker and Detterline went into town to collect water for the tanks. After their return, we drove the rovers into town for storage in the off season. We grabbed dinner before we returned to the habitat. We were joined by Adam Jones around 21:00. Armstrong and I called it a night. Becker and Detterline attended to their own projects during the evening.

Accomplished: Moved four rovers to Hanksville

Curiosity: 102.6 Hours 89%

Sprit: 97.7 Hours 92%

Opportunity: 63.8 hours 97%

Sojourner: 61.4 hours 92%

Problems: N/A

Pictures: Picture 1 is of Peyton Zankel’s stateroom, and Picture 2 is of the Habitat during today’s walk. Both pictures were taken by Peyton Zankel.

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Crew 213 Operations Report 24-May-2019

Crew 213 Operations Report 24-May-2019

SOL: 6

Name of person filing report:Dana Levin

Non-nominal systems: None

Generator (hours run): overnight 2000-0700

Solar— SOC % (Before generator is run at night): 80% (see above)

Diesel Reading – 73%

Propane Reading – 45%

Ethanol Free Gasoline – 4 gallons.

Water (auxillary tank) – 0

Water (static tank) – 400 gallons

Auxillary to Static tank transfer– Yes

Gallons transferred: 100

Water in GreenHab – Greenhab ops have closed for the season, Crew 213 will not be performing greenhab ops

Water (loft) – Static to Loft Pump used – yes

Water Meter: 144250

Toilet tank emptied: no

Deimos rover used: no

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Sojourner rover used: Personal rover of director used with her permission by CU- Staff

Hours: 1 hour

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 84

Currently charging: yes

Spirit rover used: yes

Hours: 1

Beginning charge: 100

Ending charge: 80

Currently charging: yes

Opportunity rover used: yes

Hours: 1

Beginning charge: 100

Ending charge: 79

Currently charging: yes

Curiosity rover used:

Hours: 1

Beginning charge: 100

Ending charge: 82

Currently charging: yes

Notes on rovers: nothing to report

ATV’s Used: no

Reason for use: N/A

Oil Added? no

ATV Fuel Used: no

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: 0

Notes on ATVs: ATVs are safely secured near directors residence and will not be used by crew 213 for planned nominal operations

HabCar used and why, where? Yes, to obtain water from town.

CrewCar used and why, where? no (in Grand Junction)

General notes and comments:

– Crew 213 had successful simulation of several medical contingencies on EVA today.

Summary of internet: functional

Summary of suits and radios: Suits are all working well. We are using our own radios.

Summary of Hab operations: nominal

Summary of GreenHab operations: none

Summary of ScienceDome operations: Used for course lectures and briefings. All systems nominal

Summary of RAMM operations: none

Summary of any observatory issues: none identified as we are not using observatory

Summary of health and safety issues: None at this time

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: None needed. Thank you so much for your support of our mission.

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Crew 213 Mission Summary 24-May-2019

Crew 213 Mission Summary 24-May-2019

This course was our largest and most extensive iteration of our combined medicine and engineering education program. It went extremely well. Our crew enjoyed the simulations and clearly learned a lot about medicine and engineering as it relates to spaceflight.We continue to be grateful to the Mars Society for the opportunity to use this facility and all the resources it offers in our educational efforts. The major challenges we encountered were unpredictability with weather and managing a larger than normal number of students. The media team was an asset to our course and assisted us with arranging lighting and effects for our simulations.

As has been typical of our missions the daily EVA scenarios were handled safely and effectively and the emergency simulations were coupled with debriefs to ensure effective transfer of each learning objective. The feedback received from the crew both informally and through our own feedback process indicated a high level of enjoyment, respect for the facility, the course, and the challenges of a mission to Mars.

Our experience teaching doctors in previous versions of this course have lead us to a robust didactic, simulation, and discussion based curriculum. The landscape and the difficulties of living in the habitat are well known to us so there were few additional surprises. However, the weather was uncommonly rainy which forced us to amend our day to day operations on a near continuous basis. In the future, we will plan for back up activities to keep students engaged even when the weather precludes outside activities.

As this is the third time we’ve incorporated research projects into our curriculum, it has become a relatively routine part of our instruction. The crew was very receptive as were outside parties and we are looking forward to expanding this work in future missions. Our research is primarily focused on habitability, rapid iterative design, and feedback from task saturated personnel. We hope to present this at future meetings and continue to solicit more projects that can benefit from our unique population of medical professionals. Our projects for this year included a training and testing session of just in time training for ultrasound guided nerve blocks.

As always the realism of the EVA landscape is the most impressive feature of the MDRS site. The habitat facilities, EVA suits, and food supplies are well suited to the experience, however we have noticed a need for maintenance in both the habitat and space suits. Thank you for the continued opportunity to work with you on this project, we look forward to our continued collaboration.

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Operations Report – May 22nd

Crew 213 Operations Report 22-May-2019

SOL: 4

Name of person filing report: Dana Levin

Non-nominal systems: Weather.

Generator (hours run): overnight 2000-0700

Solar— SOC % (Before generator is run at night): 68% (see above)

Diesel Reading – 76%

Propane Reading – 45%

Ethanol Free Gasoline – 4 gallons.

Water (auxillary tank) – 0

Water (static tank) – 400 gallons

Auxillary to Static tank transfer– Yes

Gallons transferred: 100

Water in GreenHab – Greenhab ops have closed for the season, Crew 213 will not be performing greenhab ops

Water (loft) – Static to Loft Pump used – yes

Water Meter: 144100

Toilet tank emptied: no

Deimos rover used: no

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Sojourner rover used: no

Hours: n/a

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Spirit rover used: yes

Hours: 2

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 60%

Currently charging: yes

Opportunity rover used: yes

Hours: 2

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 56%

Currently charging: yes

Curiosity rover used:

Hours: 2

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 71%

Currently charging: yes

Notes on rovers: see above about curiosity off switch

ATV’s Used: no

Reason for use: N/A

Oil Added? no

ATV Fuel Used: no

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: 0

Notes on ATVs: ATVs are safely secured near directors residence and will not be used by crew 213 for planned nominal operations

HabCar used and why, where? Yes, to transport supplies for educational purposes during our training this afternoon

CrewCar used and why, where? no (in Grand Junction)

General notes and comments:

– Crew 213 had successful simulation of several medical contingencies on EVA today.

Summary of internet: functional

Summary of suits and radios: Suits are all working well. Crew 212 did a fantastic job of maintaining them. Give our numbers, we are using our own radios.

Summary of Hab operations: nominal

Summary of GreenHab operations: none

Summary of ScienceDome operations: Used for course lectures and briefings. All systems nominal

Summary of RAMM operations: none

Summary of any observatory issues: none identified as we are not using observatory

Summary of health and safety issues: None at this time

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: None needed. Thank you so much for your support of our mission.

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GreenHab Report – May 20th

End of Season GreenHab Report – 20-May-2019

GreenHab Officer: Shannon Rupert

Environmental control:

Ambient

Shade cloth (80%) will be kept on throughout the summer

AC unit and heater will be turned off for the summer

Average temperatures: N/A

Hours of supplemental light: none

Daily water usage for crops: n/a

Water in Blue Tank— 0 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: n/a

Changes to crops: All plants removed for summer

Narrative: By the end of the week I will have the GreenHab shut down for the summer. I am mixing all the remaining garden soil with perlite and prepping it for planting, and then I will leave it for the summer. I added an additional six inches of potting soil (garden soil with perlite) to the herb garden so the soil level is to the top. I plan to put the remaining soil in the two smaller aquaponics tubs for the summer, and we may use them for planting next year or remove them and plant in pots. At any rate, this will be the best way to keep the soil over summer.

Harvest: There was still a thriving herb garden. Some of the herbs and a few remaining tomato plants were removed and given to a friend in town. All of the remaining seeds from this season were also given to her.

Support/supplies needed: In the fall we will need a new GreenHab Book and new seeds. Any new potting mix should be checked carefully so we don’t reintroduce fungus gnats. Garden Safe Multi-purpose Garden Insect Killer worked better than sticky paper and cost much less so should be used in the future should we have another infestation. Based on observations this season, microgreens are not harvested by the crews so it would be better to invest in larger greens and more substantial plants even though they take longer to grow. The scales will be in the ScienceDome but all other supplies will be in the GreenHab. The GreenHab Book will be in my house.

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Greenhab Report – May 21st

End of Season GreenHab Report – 20-May-2019

GreenHab Officer: Shannon Rupert

Environmental control:

Ambient

Shade cloth (80%) will be kept on throughout the summer

AC unit and heater will be turned off for the summer

Average temperatures: N/A

Hours of supplemental light: none

Daily water usage for crops: n/a

Water in Blue Tank— 0 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: n/a

Changes to crops: All plants removed for summer

Narrative: By the end of the week I will have the GreenHab shut down for the summer. I am mixing all the remaining garden soil with perlite and prepping it for planting, and then I will leave it for the summer. I added an additional six inches of potting soil (garden soil with perlite) to the herb garden so the soil level is to the top. I plan to put the remaining soil in the two smaller aquaponics tubs for the summer, and we may use them for planting next year or remove them and plant in pots. At any rate, this will be the best way to keep the soil over summer.

Harvest: There was still a thriving herb garden. Some of the herbs and a few remaining tomato plants were removed and given to a friend in town. All of the remaining seeds from this season were also given to her.

Support/supplies needed: In the fall we will need a new GreenHab Book and new seeds. Any new potting mix should be checked carefully so we don’t reintroduce fungus gnats. Garden Safe Multi-purpose Garden Insect Killer worked better than sticky paper and cost much less so should be used in the future should we have another infestation. Based on observations this season, microgreens are not harvested by the crews so it would be better to invest in larger greens and more substantial plants even though they take longer to grow. The scales will be in the ScienceDome but all other supplies will be in the GreenHab. The GreenHab Book will be in my house.

Posted on

Operations Report – May 21st

Crew 213 Operations Report 21-May-2019

SOL: 3

Name of person filing report: Dana Levin

Non-nominal systems: Curiosity on switch is loose to the point where when you turn the key the entire assembly turns with it. If this is not remedied the eventual consequence may be tearing the on switch wire connections from torsional forces.

Generator (hours run): overnight 2000-0700

Solar— SOC % (Before generator is run at night): 70% (see above)

Diesel Reading – 78%

Propane Reading – 45%

Ethanol Free Gasoline – 4 gallons.

Water (auxillary tank) – 0

Water (static tank) – 400 gallons

Auxillary to Static tank transfer– Yes

Gallons transferred: 100

Water in GreenHab – Greenhab ops have closed for the season, Crew 213 will not be performing greenhab ops

Water (loft) – Static to Loft Pump used – yes

Water Meter: 144100

Toilet tank emptied: no

Deimos rover used: no

Hours:

Beginning charge:

Ending charge:

Currently charging:

Sojourner rover used: Personal rover of director used with her permission by CU- Staff

Hours: 1 hour

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 68%

Currently charging: yes

Spirit rover used: yes

Hours: 2

Beginning charge: 60%

Ending charge: 15%

Currently charging: yes

Opportunity rover used: yes

Hours: 2

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 60%

Currently charging: yes

Curiosity rover used:

Hours: 2

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 72%

Currently charging: yes

Notes on rovers: see above about curiosity off switch

ATV’s Used: no

Reason for use: N/A

Oil Added? no

ATV Fuel Used: no

# Hours the ATVs were Used today: 0

Notes on ATVs: ATVs are safely secured near directors residence and will not be used by crew 213 for planned nominal operations

HabCar used and why, where? Yes, to obtain water from town.

CrewCar used and why, where? no (in Grand Junction)

General notes and comments:

– Crew 213 had successful simulation of several medical contingencies on EVA today.

Summary of internet: functional

Summary of suits and radios: Suits are all working well. Crew 212 did a fantastic job of maintaining them. Give our numbers, we are using our own radios.

Summary of Hab operations: nominal

Summary of GreenHab operations: none

Summary of ScienceDome operations: Used for course lectures and briefings. All systems nominal

Summary of RAMM operations: none

Summary of any observatory issues: none identified as we are not using observatory

Summary of health and safety issues: None at this time

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: None needed. Thank you so much for your support of our mission.

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