Category: EVA Report

Crew 263 EVA Report 28-02-2022

EVA # 9

Author: Valentine Bourgeois

Purpose of EVA: Atmospheric Experiment Battery Change

The atmospheric experiment includes 5 devices: LOAC (Light Optical Aerosol Counter), an Electrical Field Mill, Purple Air (Aerosol Counter), Mega-Ares (Electrical Field Counter) and a Weather station. The aim of this experiment is to do testing of Martian-Atmospheric Study Equipment and their maintenance by human operators. Performing their maintenance and set-up while wearing spacesuits and following EVA protocols is the purpose of the experiment. All devices are located at the same place.

Batteries for the LOAC, the Electrical Field Mill, Purple Air and Mega-Ares needs to be changed daily. The Electrical Field Mill and Mega-Ares share the same battery. Hence, during this maintenance EVA, the 3 batteries needed to be replaced.

Start time: 08:58

End time: 09:35

Narrative: EVA Participants entered the airlock at 08:58. Depressurization ended at 09:03. EVA participants checked the rover batteries just in case. The obtained information is:

Perseverance: Usage Duration – 228.1 Battery Charge – 100%

Spirit: Usage Duration – 157.2 Battery Charge – 100%

Opportunity: Usage Duration – 84.7 Battery Charge – 100%

Curiosity: Usage Duration – 168.7 Battery Charge – 100%

The EVA participants arrived at the Atmospheric Experiment location at 09:09. The 3 batteries were replaced. Lea and Valentine changed the LOAC battery and changed the SD card to collect data. Valentine changed the Purple Air Battery and Nicolas changed the Electrical Field Mill and Mega-Ares batteries. The status of the devices was checked and we realized that the Electrical Field Mill was not working anymore. The three of us have dismounted it to bring it back to the station for maintenance.

At 09:25, the participants left the atmospheric experiment location.

At 09:29, the participants arrived at the Hab and entered Airlock.

09:35, pressurization over.

Destination: Atmospheric experience site (at intersection between Cow Dung Road and Entrance Road)

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 518288 E, 4250586 N

Participants : Valentine Bourgeois (EVA leader), Nicolas Wattelle, Léa Rouverand. HabCom was Marine Prunier.

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Entrance Road

Mode of travel: Foot

Crew 263 EVA Report 28-02-2022

EVA # 9

Author: Valentine Bourgeois

Purpose of EVA: Atmospheric Experiment Battery Change

The atmospheric experiment includes 5 devices: LOAC (Light Optical Aerosol Counter), an Electrical Field Mill, Purple Air (Aerosol Counter), Mega-Ares (Electrical Field Counter) and a Weather station. The aim of this experiment is to do testing of Martian-Atmospheric Study Equipment and their maintenance by human operators. Performing their maintenance and set-up while wearing spacesuits and following EVA protocols is the purpose of the experiment. All devices are located at the same place.

Batteries for the LOAC, the Electrical Field Mill, Purple Air and Mega-Ares needs to be changed daily. The Electrical Field Mill and Mega-Ares share the same battery. Hence, during this maintenance EVA, the 3 batteries needed to be replaced.

Start time: 08:58

End time: 09:35

Narrative: EVA Participants entered the airlock at 08:58. Depressurization ended at 09:03. EVA participants checked the rover batteries just in case. The obtained information is:

Perseverance: Usage Duration – 228.1 Battery Charge – 100%

Spirit: Usage Duration – 157.2 Battery Charge – 100%

Opportunity: Usage Duration – 84.7 Battery Charge – 100%

Curiosity: Usage Duration – 168.7 Battery Charge – 100%

The EVA participants arrived at the Atmospheric Experiment location at 09:09. The 3 batteries were replaced. Lea and Valentine changed the LOAC battery and changed the SD card to collect data. Valentine changed the Purple Air Battery and Nicolas changed the Electrical Field Mill and Mega-Ares batteries. The status of the devices was checked and we realized that the Electrical Field Mill was not working anymore. The three of us have dismounted it to bring it back to the station for maintenance.

At 09:25, the participants left the atmospheric experiment location.

At 09:29, the participants arrived at the Hab and entered Airlock.

09:35, pressurization over.

Destination: Atmospheric experience site (at intersection between Cow Dung Road and Entrance Road)

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 518288 E, 4250586 N

Participants : Valentine Bourgeois (EVA leader), Nicolas Wattelle, Léa Rouverand. HabCom was Marine Prunier.

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Entrance Road

Mode of travel: Foot

Crew 263 EVA Report 27-02-2022

EVA # 8

Author: Elena Lopez Contreras Gonzalez

Purpose of EVA: Augmented Reality application testing with a HoloLens device. This AR tool has been designed for astronauts and future geological fieldwork on the Moon and Mars.

Start time: 15:00

End time: 15:15

Narrative: Mathéo (the astronaut wearing the HoloLens) and Elena (the support astronaut) entered the airlock at 14:54h. Inside the airlock, Mathéo launched the application successfully. There was no need for troubleshooting or restarts.

At 15:00h they exited the airlock. The application was functioning nominally. The first waypoint was placed in the RAM. Due to the luminosity, the menu was not as visible at it should have been. Therefore, it took a couple of minutes to find a shadowed place for the menu to be visible. The waypoint was successfully placed reported to HabCom. The pictures were correctly taken as well.

Then, waypoints were placed in the Hab, the GreenHab, the Sciende Dome and the Musk’s Solar Observatory. All were successfully placed by Mathéo and there was no need for troubleshooting or application restarts. However, a second waypoint was visible in the Science Dome. The current hypothesis is that it was placed by the previous astronaut to test the application.

Afterwards, a quick tour of the station was done, to check the waypoint placements. All of them had disappeared, with the exception of the ones placed in the Science Dome. The working hypothesis is that it was too bright outside for the waypoints to be seen –as the Science Dome was shadowed-.

Mathéo and Elena entered the airlock at 15:10h after having successfully completed the two tours around the station. The pressurization was completed at 15:15h, time at which they re-entered the Hab. Mathéo had been support astronaut twice before, therefore, he was already familiar with the application and the potential issues that he could encounter.

EVA went nominally and the application was successfully tested.

Crew 263 EVA Report 27-02-2022

EVA # 7

Author: Nicolas WATTELLE

Purpose of EVA: Atmospheric Experiment maintenance (batterie change, MegaAres Setup)

The atmospheric experiment includes 5 devices: LOAC (Light Optical Aerosol Counter), an Electrical Field Mill, Purple Air (Aerosol Counter), Mega-Ares (Electrical Field Counter) and a Weather station. The aim of this experiment is to do testing of Martian-Atmospheric Study Equipment and their maintenance by human operators. Performing their maintenance and set-up while wearing spacesuits and following EVA protocols is the purpose of the experiment. All devices are located at the same place.

Batteries for the LOAC, MegaAres, the Electrical Field Mill and Purple Air needs to be changed daily. Hence, during this maintenance EVA, the 3 batteries (the Field Mill and MegaAres use the same battery) needed to be replaced.

Start time: 08: 58

End time: 09:55

Narrative: EVA Participants entered the airlock at 08:58. Depressurization ended at 09:03. EVA participants checked the rover batteries just in case. The obtained information is:

Perseverance: Usage Duration – 228.1 Battery Charge – 100%

Spirit: Usage Duration – 157.2 Battery Charge – 100%

Opportunity: Usage Duration – 84.7 Battery Charge – 100%

Curiosity: Usage Duration – 168.7 Battery Charge – 100%

The EVA participants arrived at the Atmospheric Experiment location at 09:10. The 3 batteries were replaced. Marine was in charge of changing LOAC battery, she did it without any problem to declare. Nicolas changed the Purple Air and Electrical Field Mill batteries, and tried to recover data. But there, while taking out the waterproof protection, condensation appeared inside the box. Then it was impossible to turn it on again. Matheo set the MegaAres antenna, the installation went well, the measurement started correctly.

Nicolas’ radio moved out from his ear at 9:19, but stayed inside the helmet. He could still hear the radio, but had to make efforts speaking to be heard.

At 09:46, the participants left the atmospheric experiment location.

Crew 263 EVA Report 26-02-2022

EVA # 6

Author: Marine Prunier

Purpose of EVA: Atmospheric Experiment Battery Change

The atmospheric experiment includes 5 devices: LOAC (Light Optical Aerosol Counter), an Electrical Field Mill, Purple Air (Aerosol Counter), Mega-Ares (Electrical Field Counter), and a Weather station. The aim of this experiment is to do testing of Martian-Atmospheric Study Equipment and their maintenance by human operators. Performing their maintenance and set-up while wearing spacesuits and following EVA protocols is the purpose of the experiment. All devices are located in the same place.

Batteries for the LOAC, the Electrical Field Mill, and Purple Air need to be changed daily. Hence, during this maintenance EVA, the 3 batteries needed to be replaced.

Start time: 08:30 am
End time: 09:00 am

Narrative: EVA Participants entered the airlock at 08:33. Depressurization ended at 08:38. EVA participants checked the rover batteries just in case. The obtained information is:

Perseverance: Usage Duration – 228.1 Battery Charge – 100%

Spirit: Usage Duration – 157.2 Battery Charge – 100%

Opportunity: Usage Duration – 84.7 Battery Charge – 100%

Curiosity: Usage Duration – 168.7 Battery Charge – 100%

The EVA participants arrived at the Atmospheric Experiment location at 08:43. The 3 batteries were replaced. Marine and Elena changed the LOAC battery. Cerise and Léa changed the Purple Air and Electrical Field Mill batteries. The status of the devices was checked.

At 08:50, the participants left the atmospheric experiment location.

At 08:55, the participants arrived at the Hab and entered Airlock.

09:00, pressurization over.

Destination: Atmospheric experience site (at the intersection between Cow Dung Road and Entrance Road)

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 518288 E, 4250586 N

Participants : Marine Prunier (EVA Leader), Léa Rouverand, Cerise Cuny, Elena Lopez-Contreras Gonzalez. HabCom was Nicolas Wattelle.

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Entrance Road

Mode of travel: Foot

Crew 263 EVA Report_2 25-02-2022

EVA # 6

Author: Nicolas WATTELLE

Purpose of EVA: Testing the Hololens waypoints protocol

Start time: 11:30

End time: 12:10

Narrative: Nicolas was wearing the Hololens. The device had some trouble working at the beginning of the outing so they left the airlock late. Mathéo and Nicolas walked around and stopped in front of every room of the station. At each stop, Nicolas had to place a waypoint with the Hololens and take photos. Then, they walked back on each point to check if the waypoints were still there.

Destination: Around the station.

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 518288 E, 4250586 N

Participants: Nicolas Wattelle, Mathéo Fouchet

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: NA

Mode of travel: foot.

Crew 263 EVA Report_1 25-02-2022

EVA # 5

Author: Mathéo Fouchet

Purpose of EVA: Augmented Reality application testing to map MDRS, Battery replacement for atmospheric experiment, Search and Rescue exercise with Drone within a 1 mile radius.

Start time: 8:08

End time: 10:01

Narrative: We checked the rover batteries (all full), and the Red team left with Opportunity to reach our atmospheric experiment. During this time the Blue team was mapping the station with Hololens. There was a problem with this experiment because we were not able to see the way points put with the Hololens. In addition, we forgot a cable to plug the LOAC (Light Optical Aerosol Counter) on the battery. Thus, when the Blue team finished the Augmented Reality experiment , they had to wait for the depressurisation of the airlock and got the missing cable at 8:30. The Blue team then joined the Red team at the atmospheric experiment with Curiosity at 8:34. All the Atmospheric experiments were then set up and working correctly.

To implement the Search and Rescue with Drone experiment, the Red team left at 8:39 with Opportunity (97% battery) and stopped at 8:42 (87% battery) near North Ridge while the Blue team was waiting at the atmospheric experiment. Then, the Red team walked to reach the north of North Ridge. At 8:56, the Blue team took the Curiosity Rover (98% battery) and stopped behind the Red team’s rover at 9:04 (86% battery for curiosity at this time). The drone was launched at 9:08 and the thermal camera was turned on in order to look for the Red team. The Red team was spotted only 2 minutes after the launch. The Blue team then used the drone to find the easiest way to reach the Red team and both teams gathered at 9:29.

We finally reached the rovers at 9:48 and reached the Hab at 10:01.

Destination: Around the Hab, Intersection between Entrance Road and Cow Dung Road, and North Ridge

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 518250 E, 4250750 N; 518288E, 4250586N; 518500E, 4251800N

Participants: Valentine Bourgeois,Mathéo Fouchet, Nicolas Wattelle, Elena Lopez-Contreras.

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

Mode of travel: Foot, Rover

Crew 263 EVA Report 24-02-2022

EVA # 3

Author: Léa Rouverand

Purpose of EVA: battery change for atmospheric experiment, installation of antenna and geology field campaign with LIBS

Start time: 9:00

End time: 10:40

Narrative: Rover batteries were checked just in case. The atmospheric experiment batteries were changed per the usual routine. The installation of the antenna for the HF wave propagation experiment was performed without any issues. One of the crew members lost their earplug at the beginning of the LIBS analysis so the EVA team leader decided to return to base by communicating through a notebook.

Destination: Atmospheric experience site (at intersection between Cow Dung Road and Entrance Road), around the Hab (antenna installation).

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 518288 E, 4250586 N

Participants: Cerise Cuny, Léa Rouverand, Valentine Bourgeois, Marine Prunier

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Entrance Road.

Mode of travel: Foot

Crew 263 EVA Report 23-02-2022

EVA # 2

Author: Cerise Cuny

Purpose of EVA: battery change for the atmospheric experiment.

Start time: 9:00 am
End time: 9:37 am

Narrative: Because of weather conditions, we only went out to change the batteries of the atmospheric experiments. We checked the rovers’ batteries, just in case. Everything went smoothly, no one slipped.

Destination: Atmospheric experience site (at the intersection between Cow Dung Road and Entrance Road).

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 518288 E, 4250586 N

Participants: Cerise Cuny, Léa Rouverand, Valentine Bourgeois, Mathéo Fouchet

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Entrance Road.

Mode of travel: Foot

Crew 263 EVA Report 22-02-2022

EVA # 1

Author: Cerise Cuny

Purpose of EVA: Initiation EVA, batteries replacement of atmospheric experiments, mapping of station with Augmented Reality, location search for future set up of antenna.

Start time: 9:39

End time: 10:39

Narrative: We checked the rover batteries (all full), and left with Opportunity and Curiosity towards Marble Ritual. We arrived at 9:43, we walked a bit, to see how comfortable we were with the EVA suits, and to get used to them. We took time to admire the Martian landscape. We left Marble Ritual with the rovers at 10:00 to join the atmospheric experiment site. We removed the LOAC because it does not bear snow storms well. We plugged a battery to PurpleAir and re-oriented the anemometer to the North. We had forgotten to bring a garbage bag to protect the battery from the rain ; as it is absolutely necessary to protect it before tonight’s snow storm, we asked our HabCom to put a garbage bag in the air lock. Elena (my buddy) and I went to fetch it while the other two stayed near the weather station to fix some things. We did not lose sight of the other pair and we stayed within the radio range.

When we were done with the atmospheric experiment we went back to the station with the rovers (10:29) and left them there to walk around the station. Nicolas was not able to test the augmented reality to map the MDRS because the HoloLens fell around his neck during the first part of the EVA. We found a nice spot for the communication antenna: far enough from the Science Dome so that it can’t fall on it even in case of extreme winds, but close enough for us to plug its 20m electric cable in the Dome. At 10:39 we were back in the air lock to end the EVA.

Destination: Marble Ritual, atmospheric experience site (at intersection between Cow Dung Road and Entrance Road), and around the station.

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 518600, 4250700

Participants: Cerise Cuny, Marine Prunier, Nicolas Wattelle, Elena Lopez-Contreras.

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

Mode of travel: Foot, Rover