Category: EVA Report

EVA #7
Author: Kristine Ferrone (CDR)
Purpose of EVA: Test EVA sampling tools (radiation sensor, rake, scoop, sample bags). Identify other potential areas for tools testing along return route for EVA #8 crew to explore in the afternoon.
Start Time: 09:01 AM MT
End Time: 11:39 AM MT

Narrative: CDR (Kristine Ferrone), XO (Alli Taylor), and ENG (Ashley Kowalski) left the airlock at 09:00 AM MT. Crew proceeded in rovers (CDR and XO on Oppy and ENG on Spirit) from the Hab to Cow Dung Rd, then north on Cow Dung Rd to the Special Region. Crew exited the rovers and proceeded on foot to explore the Special Region around the quarry area. Crew collected regolith samples at three diverse locations around the Special Region, including gray, red, and green soils, paying attention to the restrictions to not disturb any fossils in the area. The regolith samples were collected using a set of EVA tools developed by XO including a rake and scoop, battery-powered sifter, and special regolith sample collection bags. Crew also noted that the Special Region would be an excellent site for a drone flight later in the mission. CDR also collected radiation dose information along the route. Comms with IVA support were limited during the EVA. Crew then returned to the rovers and proceeded back to the Hab, stopping to flag a location for the EVA #8 crew to explore for further regolith sampling in the afternoon. Rovers were parked back near the Hab and were not plugged in following power status consultation with Tier 1 support.

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 4256000, 518300

Participants: CDR (Kristine Ferrone), XO (Alli Taylor), and ENG (Ashley Kowalski)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Rd (0110) to Special Region

Mode of Travel: Rovers (Spirit and Oppy), Walking

EVA #: 8
Author: Kristine Ferrone (CDR)
Purpose of EVA: Scout sample locations and test EVA sampling tools (radiation sensor, rake, scoop, sample bags) at and around location flagged by EVA #7 crew.
Start Time: 1:00 PM MT
End Time: 2:53 PM MT
Narrative: HSO (Barbara Braun) and Green Hab Officer (Matt Eby) exited the airlock at 1:00 PM MT and proceeded in rover (Curi) from the Hab to Cow Dung Rd, then north along Cow Dung Rd to location flagged by EVA #7 crew at the “ROUTE” marker near the intersection of Brahe Hwy (1572). Crew collected regolith samples there and in an additional location West & South of the marker that they reached on foot. HSO also collected radiation dose information along the route. Crew identified additional areas for drone flight near the second collection site. Comms with IVA support were limited during the EVA, but EVA crew demonstrated simple contingency text comms using pre-canned messages triggered by a handheld communication device, which were successful. Crew then returned to the rover and proceeded back to the Hab. Rover was parked back near the Hab and was not plugged in.
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 454800, 517800
Participants: HSO (Barbara Braun), Green Hab Officer (Matt Eby)
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Rd (0110)
Mode of Travel: Rover (Curi), Walking

EVA # 5
Author: Trevor Jahn, Technology Officer
Purpose of EVA: Retrieve Mirror Samples
Start time: 9:10 am
End time: 9:55 am
Narrative: Allison Taylor and Ashley Kowalski left the airlock and continued on foot to the Mirror Sample location, retrieved the Mirror Samples, and returned to the airlock.
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518500, 4251000
Participants: Allison Taylor and Ashley Kowalski
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: N/A, path of least resistance to and from Mirror Samples, North of the Crew Habitat
Mode of travel: Walking

EVA # 6
Author: Trevor Jahn, Technology Officer
Purpose of EVA: Demonstrate Augmented Reality Programs, and Drone Flight Plan 1, 2 and time permitting Flight Plan 3.
Start time: 12:00 pm
End time: 2:30 pm
Narrative: Trevor, Kristine, and Barbra left the airlock at 12:00 pm for the second EVA of the day and proceeded on foot clockwise around the crew habitat until they were approximately 100 ft due north of the crew habitat. The three began their drone Flight Plan 1 launch procedures, but before launching the drone to proceed along it’s predetermined path, the crew called off the flight due to wind conditions being too variable for a maiden flight and proceeded on foot back to the front of the crew habitat, on the crew habitat’s south side, where they deposited their equipment and conducted an Augmented Reality (AR) software demonstration. The trio proceeded, after their AR demonstration, in the crew rovers, Perseverance and Spirit, to the corner of Cow Dung Road and Habitat Road, conducted a second AR demonstration, before continuing onto Marble Ritual, where they left the crew rovers, and continued foot to the Mirror Sample deposit location. The Mirror Samples were not there by design but had been collected during an EVA earlier in the morning, but the crew conducted another AR demonstration at the Mirror Sample location, before assessing the weather conditions to determine if they should proceed with drone Flight Plan 2 and 3 but concluded the weather conditions had not improved enough to continue with the flight. The three astronauts continued to investigate the flight area of drone Flight Plan 3, which was over Marble Ritual, followed by continuing back to the crew rovers, and returning to the crew habitat. The Mirror Samples, which were retrieved during the morning EVA, were not ready to be returned to the airlock for the EVA crew to return to their deployment location, so a request was put in to Tear 1 Mission Support, to make a second attempt at drone Flight Plan 1. This request was granted, and the EVA crew conducted a successful EVA flight. Mirror Samples were deployed in the airlock, and the EVA crew returned them to their deployment location on foot and returned to the Crew Habitat airlock without incident, ending their EVA at 2:30 pm, 30 min before their 3:00 pm deadline.
Destination: Marble Ritual and Galileo Road
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518100, 4251000, 519000, 4252000 and 520000, 4251500
Participants: Dr. Kristine Ferrone, Barbara Braun, Trevor Jahn
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Rd (0110) to Marble Ritual
Mode of travel: Rovers (Perseverance and Spirit), Walking

EVA # 4

Author: Barbara Braun, Health and Safety Officer
Purpose of EVA: Crew training with small robotic drone
Start time: 12:00 pm
End time: 1:20 pm
Narrative: Trevor, Kristine, and Barbara made their way out the airlock for the drone checkout EVA today at approximately 12:05 pm. With them they brought the crew’s small drone and a tote bag of support equipment. The trio first stowed the spare drone batteries and other equipment in the Spirit rover, and proceeded on foot to an area slightly to the north-northwest of the Hab where they set up the drone for flight. At this point the crew discovered that the drone controller battery was at 28%, and deeming this too low a state of charge to be able to complete the flight safely, the crew connected a battery to the controller to let it charge. While waiting for the controller to charge, the crew took the Spirit and Perseverance rovers to the corner of the road to the Hab and Cow Dung Road in order to pre-stage the rovers at the first drone landing location. The crew proceeded on foot to the location of the mirror sample experiment nearby to check on the integrity of the mirrors, and noted a buildup of salt on one of the mirrors which should provide good data to the experimenters when the mirror is retrieved for examination tomorrow. The crew then proceeded on foot back to the Hab area to check on the state of charge of the controller. The controller had sufficient charge to complete the first flight, so the crew began loading the first flight plan into the drone. The drone SD card then gave an error, but the crew loaded a backup copy of the flight plan and was preparing to launch the drone. At this point mission support called to inquire about the rovers parked at the intersection of the road to the Hab and Cow Dung Road. After consulting with mission support, the team realized that the EVA request did not include sufficient detail about the drone flight plans and the overall plan for the EVA, and the EVA was called off for the day. The crew stowed the drone and its equipment near the Hab airlock and proceeded on foot to retrieve the two rovers. The crew parked the two rovers, noted ending hours and state of charge, left them unplugged, and proceeded into the airlock at 1:15 pm with all equipment.

Destination: Hab, Marble Ritual / mirror deployment location

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 519000, 4251000

Participants: Commander (Kristine Ferrone), HSO (Barbara Braun), Technology Officer (Trevor Jahn)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Road to the Hab, Cow Dung Rd (0110)

Mode of travel: Rovers and walking

EVA # 3
Author: Trevor Jahn, Technology Officer
Purpose of EVA: Demonstrate Augmented Reality Programs, and collect data for future EVAs using a Remote Control Rover named Goose.
Start time: 12:10 pm
End time: 2:59 pm
Narrative: Trevor, Ashely, and Matt made their way out the airlock for their 3-hour EVA today at approximately 12:10 pm, with them they brought the crew’s remote control (RC) rover, now named Goose, an augmented reality (AR) headset, and a tote bag full of support equipment for Goose and the AR headset. The trio first conducted their AR demonstration at the crew habitat to the right of the airlock door from the outside, after their demonstration was complete, they proceeded to the corner of Cow Dung Road, and the road branching off the habitat, using crew rovers Curiosity and Opportunity, where they performed the second AR demonstration. The crew continued onto Marble Ritual in the crew rovers following completion of their work at the crossroads of Cow Dung Road and the road branching off the habitat. Curiosity and Opportunity were parked on the side of Cow Dung Road close to Marble Ritual, where the crew disembarked and made their way to the deployment location of the Mirror Sample experiment, and upon locating the Mirror Samples the crew conducted another AR demonstration before returning the crew rovers and preparing Goose for deployment and data collection. Goose was remote controlled heading south along Cow Dung Road until the crew were nearly parallel with the Mirror Samples, which were due west from their location. Goose’s data collection instruments were activated at the edge of Cow Dung Road, and the crew navigated Goose to the Mirror Sample location without difficulty. Goose made a lap around the Mirror Samples before the crew turned off data collection. The EVA was well ahead of schedule at that point, and the crew took the opportunity to take additional photos, before returning to Cow Dung Road with Goose along the same path. Data collection, using Goose, resumed from Marble Ritual, and the crew continued North along the road to see if they could reach the crossroads of Cow Dung Road and Galileo Road before 2:30 pm, when they would need to return to the crew rovers and make their way back to the crew habitat and airlock. The crew did not make it to Galileo Road before reaching their turn around time, but turned around after turning off Goose’s data collection, and driving Goose back to the crew rovers. The crew made it back into the airlock with time to spare before their EVA concluded at 3:00 pm.

Destination: Marble Ritual and Galileo Road
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): stop 1: (~518400, ~4250900), stop 2: (~518400, 4250800), stop 3: (~518550, ~4251000), stop 4: (~518500, ~4251000), stop 5: (~518550, ~4251000), stop 6: (~518950, ~4251500), stop 7: (~518550, ~4251000), stop 8: (~518400, ~4250900)
Participants: Matt Eby, Ashley Kowalski, Trevor Jahn
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Rd (0110) to Marble Ritual, and almost to Gateway to Candor
Mode of travel: Rovers (Curiosity and Opportunity), Walking

EVA # 1
Author: Alli Taylor
Purpose of EVA: Familiarize with radio communications protocols and driving rovers with spacesuits on.
Start time: 1:17pm
End time: 2:00pm
Narrative: Three crew took two rovers a short distance to Marble Ritual in order to acclimate to driving in a spacesuit and familiarize with use of radio. Short amount of time spent exploring the local area before heading back to the habitat.
Destination: Marble Ritual
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84):
Participants: Kristine Ferrone, Alli Taylor, Matt Eby
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Rd (0110) to Marble Ritual
Mode of travel: Rovers (Curie, Oppy), Walking

EVA # 2
Author: Alli Taylor, Trevor Jahn
Purpose of EVA: Familiarize with radio communications protocols and driving rovers with spacesuits on.
Start time: 2:42pm
End time: 4:11pm
Narrative: Three crew took two rovers a short distance to Marble Ritual in order to acclimate to driving in a spacesuit and familiarize with use of radio. Additionally, the crew used a remote control mini-ATV with cameras, dubbed “Goose”, controlled from a follow distance of roughly 80-100 ft. The trio drove the RC rover from Marble Ritual, south along Cow Dung Road, and back to the road which turns west back towards the crew habitat collecting data along the way. The EVA was running out of time by then, so the three quickly changed the RC rover configuration for a 3rd time and drove it in a short loop around Marble Ritual collecting data before returning to the crew habitat. The EVA team had some trouble with the airlock door but were able to get it shut after much labor, and concluded the EVA. Crew was 11 mins late getting back to hab due to misunderstanding the EVA would be full 2 hours but the team had failed to re-check the EVA request to confirm before starting the EVA. Next time the crew will double check EVA end time prior to beginning EVA.
Destination: Marble Ritual
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84):
Participants: Barbara Braun, Ashley Kowalski, Trevor Jahn
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Rd (0110) to Marble Ritual
Mode of travel: Rovers (Spirit, Percy), Walking

EVA #: 13
Author: Jenni Hesterman
Purpose of EVA: Biological sample collection.
Start time: 10:30 AM
End time: 2:30 PM
Narrative: CDR and XO drove north to the Gateway to Lith to explore the “Special Region”. CDR and XO collected several samples throughout the canyon.
Destination: Gateway to Lith and Special Region
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518000, 4256000
Participants: CDR & XO
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map:
“Cow Dung Rd” to “Gateway to Lith” by rover
Rover from “Gateway to Lith” to “Special Region” by rover
Explore “Special Region” by foot
Return

Mode of travel: Rovers (Curi, Spirit), Walking

EVA # 12
Author: Elizabeth Balga
Purpose of EVA: Biological sample collection.
Start time: 10:30 AM
End time: ~2:00 PM
Narrative: XO, BIO, and HSO drove north to the Gateway to Lith to explore the “Special Region”. XO used the drone to preview the region at the beginning of the EVA while BIO and HSO explored on foot to identify an entry point. BIO collected several samples of ice and other specimens throughout the canyon. On the return trip, XO tested the drone in various locations and wind conditions.
Destination: Gateway to Lith and Special Region
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518000, 4256000
Participants: XO, BIO, HSO
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map:
“Cow Dung Rd” to “Gateway to Lith” by rover
Rover from “Gateway to Lith” to “Special Region” by rover
Explore “Special Region” by foot
Return, stopping at several points along the way to test the drone

Mode of travel: Rovers (Curi, Spirit), Walking

EVA # 10
Author: Elizabeth Balga
Purpose of EVA: Emergency response scenario – minor ankle injury.
Start time: 9:00 AM
End time: 11:00 AM
Narrative: XO and HSO initiated a walking EVA to the Gateway to Candor region by way of Cow Dung Rd. Upon arriving at the destination, the EVA team simulated a one-way communications failure with the habitat as well as an ankle injury. As the HABCOM for the EVA, the commander sent a rescue team consisting of the Crew Engineer and Crew Biologist to the Intersection of Cow Dung Rd and Gateway to Candor via rovers (Oppy & Curi). Two crewmembers — CDR and Communications Officer — remained at the habitat. The rescue team also brought a first aid kit, splinting materials, and a jacket for additional warmth. The HSO and rescue crew attempted to immobilize the ankle injury. All four crew members returned to the habitat via rover.
Destination: Gateway to Candor
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 519000, 4252000
Participants: Initial team — XO, HSO; Rescue team — BIO, ENGR
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map:
Along Cow Dung Road by foot
Mode of travel: Walking (Rescue team via rover)

EVA # 11
Author: Elizabeth Balga for Judith Marcos & Caitlyn Hubric
Purpose of EVA:
Primary: In-situ demonstration of anchor device carrying capacity
Secondary: Biological sample collection.
Start time: 2:00 PM
End time: 4:00 PM
Narrative: CDR, ENGR, and BIO completed an EVA to Cowboy Corner. ENGR prepared for and performed an engineering demonstration of the Pleiades instrument. During sample collection with the instrument, it broke in two locations — along the handle and along the arms — which informed the weak points of the device. The Crew Engineer was able to visually confirm that the device’s operation was affected by accumulation of debris, as suspected. BIO collected seven unique samples including ice, plants, and soil from the roots of said plants. Additionally, BIO noted upon return that Percy’s left rear tail light was out.
Destination: Cowboy Corner
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 519000, 4253000
Participants: CDR, ENGR, BIO
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map:
Along Cow Dung Road to Cowboy Corner by rover
Mode of travel: Rover, Walking (Percy, Spirit)

EVA # 8
Author: Elizabeth Balga
Purpose of EVA: Biological sample collection.
Start time: 1:30 PM
End time: ~4:15 PM
Narrative:
XO, HSO, and Biologist went to the Sea of Shells via the Overlook on Brahe Hwy for biological sample collection. Curiosity and Spirit were driven on Cow Dung Rd and Brahe Hwy, stopping just before the Overlook. Once at the overlook, the rovers were parked and the crew headed out on foot to The Sea Shells. Samples collected included: ice; mud next to ice; 3 plant samples; 1 salty rock; 3 samples of dirt from roots of three plants; 3 plant samples.
Destination: Sea of Shells with stop at Overlook
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84):
Overlook: 516000, 4254000
Sea of Shells: 516000, 4255000
Participants: XO, BIO, HSO
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map:
North on Cow Dung Rd (0110) to Brahe Hgwy (1572 W)
Stop at Overlook
Brahe Hwy (1572 N) to Sea of Shells
Return
Mode of travel: Rover, Walking (Curi, Spirit)

EVA # 8
Author: Izabela Shopova
Purpose of EVA: Searching for hydrous minerals — clays, sulfates, silica — and/or carbonate salts. Obtaining additional rocks for engineering demonstration (for use with mechanical anchor prototype). Exploring area nearby habitat under alternate lighting.
Start time: 2:45 PM
End time: 4:00 PM
Narrative:
The crew went to explore the area around the Hab and the top of Hab Ridge to search for hydrous minerals. We followed a dried river bed for the first part of the expedition, then turned west and climbed up the side of the ridge. We were able to identify and collect all 3 of the minerals we were searching for. And in addition, we came across a big deposit of seashells at the top of the ridge. After taking photos of the locations of our discoveries, we turned around and walked back to the Hab, taking a longer route to the east. We ended the EVA with a walk around the base and a visual check, confirming that the tunnels and external walls don’t show any new damage, before entering the airlock and completing the EVA.
Destination: Hab Ridge Road
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518000, 4251000 to 518000, 4250000
Participants: CDR, COMM, ENGR
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map:
Walking north from Hab via Sagan Street (1103) to Hab Ridge Road North (518000, 4251000). Then south along Hab Ridge Road (518000, 4250000). Returning via the same path

Mode of travel: Walking