Announcements – Page 9 – Mars Desert Research Station

December 26, 2022

Mission Support Crew 271 Journalist Report Pictures 22-12-2022

Photos for 22-DEC-2022

December 26, 2022

Crew 271 Sol 4 Journalist Report 22-12-2022

Sol: 3

Author’s name: Helen Eifert, Crew Geologist

Title: Marcaroni & Spectroscopy

Our first full day on Mars was eventful, extra emphasis on the EV. In the morning, Guariniello and Eifert conducted a nearby EVA north of the Hab for Eifert’s research project. Using a high-tech watering can, we executed the exciting task of watching dirt dry. I estimate this to be about 10% more invigorating than watching paint dry. Granted, on Mars it is actually called regolith and not dirt, but I fear the use of fancy terminology may oversell it. Between measurements, we leisured in our EVA suits, read books, and sketched the landscape. The real excitement will be in the analysis of the squiggly line outputs gathered by our efforts. In fancy terms, we call this spectroscopy, but that may undersell the excitement. Some technical difficulties cut our first EVA short, providing enough time for some lunch and work in the Hab before heading out for a second EVA.

As the martian temperatures continued to rise, Guariniello and Eifert suited up a second time, this time joined by Koasaar and Grete. For our second EVA, the IMARS crew endeavored south of the Hab to Barrainca Butte in the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers. We did indeed touch the butte. Here, we found much more compositional variability in the geology and gathered hand samples for Cesare’s research. Much like our morning EVA tasks, these samples will be returned to the Hab to dry in an oven. More squiggly lines, repeat.

Speaking of squiggly lines, it wasn’t rigatoni, fusilli, or farfalle, but elbow macaroni promptly prepared for dinner by our commander Marc. To satiate the hungry bellies of four astronauts, Macaroni a la Marc or marcaroni, came chock full of cheese, vegetables, and tuna. Yes, mama Guariniello, not only did Cesare eat Mac & Cheese with fish, but he added extra parma on top. The shelf stable parmesan at that. We’ll be sure to promptly remove his Italian flag from his flight suit. Our MVP commander baked another fresh loaf of bread with dinner even after tolerating our comm chatter all day. Last night, Marc even treated us to photos from his winter over at the South Pole and today our ears were graced with the sounds of the South Pole’s Broke Dick Blues Band, Levesque lead vocals. An evening meal that truly tickled all the senses.

Before I close out my account, I would be remiss to not mention the hard work back on Earth by Shannon to get our generator back to nominal, with the station support of our HSO and crew engineer, Sergii. Without it, we wouldn’t have our inflatable holiday baby Yoda. Priorities.

December 26, 2022

Crew 271 Sol Summary Report 23-12-2022

Sol: 5

Summary Title: Field work

Author’s name: Marc Levesque, Commander

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: The crew completed two EVAs today. The first was a short walk north of the Hab in the morning to take measurements at Eifert’s project site. Later that morning, a longer EVA was planned to reach the southern rim of Lith Canyon via the Burpee Quarry as part of the communications project. Because of rapid battery drain likely due to the cold, the EVA team had to leave the rovers at Brahe Highway and walk to the Quarry, resulting in a shorter walk than planned. Communication checks with the Hab were made along the way to determine if the heightened repeater antenna reached these areas.

Look Ahead Plan: Two EVAs are planned, a short one in the morning for Eifert’s project, and a simulated drone recovery exercise northeast of the Hab.

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Warmer and mostly sunny

Crew Physical Status: Good

EVA: Two

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Operations, Journalist, GreenHab, EVA reports, and EVA Requests.

Support Requested: None

December 26, 2022

Crew 271 Sol 5 Journalist Report 23-12-2022

Sol: 5

Author’s name: Helen Eifert, Crew Geologist

Title: Grease Lightning

To celebrate our first full day in sim last night, the IMARS crew watched The Martian for a movie night. With an analog astronaut crew full of real aspiring astronauts, we were all left stewing on the science and wonders of real space travel. Our EVA requests were submitted, with every crew member getting a space walk. Luckily, no potatoes were needed today.

In the morning, Guariniello and Eifert returned to the experiment site north of the Hab for additional measurements. The clay rich environment still appears wet a full 24 hours after saturation. The squiggly lines should confirm what we see with our eyes in the form of a key absorption at a particular wavelength of reflected light. This elbow macaroni shape alerts us water has made its way into the chemical structures of the surface material. We collected a dry sample nearby so that we may better understand the initial water content and how long it takes for our experiment site to return to equilibrium. A short and sweet EVA that nearly ended in disaster when Sergii almost blew out the airlock before depressurization was complete. Danger is ever present in space, so heed my warning not to coordinate a stadium wave in the airlock because it may mis-alert the crew on station.

After our short EVA, I spent the rest of the day holding down the Hab with Cesare. The remaining crew members took a long rover drive out towards Lith. The whole EVA was described by Grete as an “exertion excursion” since the rovers didn’t make it the full distance to their destination. The four astronauts continued on foot for many kilometers testing the comms. Commander Levesque, a licensed amateur radio operator, recently set up a repeater west of the Hab to improve radio communications amongst astronauts for long distance EVAs. The findings are in and improvements are needed. The fun fact of the day is that the background static that disrupts radio chatter is referred to as “grease.” The chicks do not scream for this grease lightning, but it did give us a great excuse to call each other greasy all day. Apt, given we are at Sol 5 and our water consumption has been low enough to afford some much needed showers this evening. Solving two grease problems in one day here on Mars.

Something that was not greasy, was the beef stew cooked up in the Hab throughout the entire second EVA. With tomato powder, freeze dried beef crumbles, dehydrated veggies, bouillon granules, and potato chips, we enjoyed another successful day on Mars with a healthy, hearty meal. Guess we needed potatoes after all. Cesare baked another loaf of bread to pair with the stew. Fresh bread does not last long on station, particularly when baked with parmesan and fresh herbs from the GreenHab, courtesy of Alicyn. All of her pull-ups are paying dividends for herculean harvesting of epic proportions. She has the strongest green thumb I’ve ever seen, putting inflatable baby Yoda to shame.

If you are wondering how many astronauts it takes to do a jigsaw puzzle, the question is moot. We finished two puzzles in under two hours with speed and precision. Andres, crew researcher and resident psychologist, notified me that our crew cohesion levels have increased one point today. I am suspicious he is only saying this so we cease our threats to chop off his dreads and shave his mustache. Can you blame us, though? NASA hates fires, so we’re dead set on minimizing all the grease we can muster. No hair is safe on Mars.

December 26, 2022

Crew 271 EVA Report 23-12-2022

EVA #6

Author: Marc Levesque

Purpose of EVA: Long-range communications check

Start time: 1100

End time: 1355

Narrative: The EVA team intended to drive to the parking area at the Burbee Quarry and then proceed on foot to a point on the southern rim of Lith Canyon. Because of a rapid battery drain, the rovers had to be left at the intersection of Cow Dung Road and Brahe Highway, from where the team proceeded on foot only partly into the canyon before returning to the rovers. Prior to reaching the intersection of Brahe Highway and during the foot travel, all communications checks with the Hab failed, including the use of a mag mount antenna on one of the rovers.

Destination: Burpee Quarry

Coordinates: Reached 0518687, 4256339 in Burpee Quarry.

Participants: Levesque, Iakymov, Kaosaar, Grete

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

Mode of travel: Perseverance and Spirit rovers and on foot

December 26, 2022

Crew 271 Operations Report 23-12-2022

SOL: 5

Name of person filing report: Sergii Iakymov

Non-nominal systems: None

Notes on non-nominal systems: N/A

ROVERS

Spirit rover used: Yes

Hours: 205.1

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 53%

Currently charging: Yes

Opportunity rover used: No

Hours: 109.6

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: N/A

Currently charging: Yes

Curiosity rover used: No

Hours: 217.8

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: N/A

Currently charging: Yes

Perseverance rover used: Yes

Hours: 252.5

Beginning charge: 100%

Ending charge: 42%

Currently charging: Yes

General notes on rovers: None

Summary of Hab operations:

WATER USE: 19.61 gallons

Water (static tank): 409.50 gallons

Static tank pipe heater (on or off): On

Static tank heater (On or off): On

Toilet tank emptied: No

Summary of internet: Nominal

Summary of suits and radios: 1) Second battery that was charging in suit# 10 did not charge and was declared faulty, marked and placed into the cabinet with EVA suits spare parts. 2) new battery in suit# 3 tested and works properly.

Summary of GreenHab operations:

WATER USE: 7 gal

Heater: On

Supplemental light: plugged

Harvest: 1 gram of basil and 35 grams of beans.

Summary of ScienceDome operations: used Grete project setup.

Dual split: On

Summary of RAM operations: N/A.

Summary of any observatory issues: N/A

Summary of health and safety issues: None

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: N/A

December 26, 2022