Category: EVA Report

EVA #04

Author: Camilo Andrés Zorro Mendoza

Purpose of EVA: Second testing of drones and first drones flight and thermal rover tests.

Start time: 08:00 AM

End time: 09:45 AM

Narrative:

Today we were running two experiments, following the debriefing proposed yesterday we implemented the recommendations of the buddy system. After pressurization process, a walk was done around the Hab in order to select some points of interest for observe it in a safe distance. After, it was making the pressurization process of the RAM and the drones were taking.

Two experiments were running at the same time, in the first experiment a thermal blanket was tested in order to find the most appropriate number of layers to decrease the heat transfer radiation effects without increasing the effects from conduction, for that was made 5 different configurations. The second one two crewmembers tested the takeoff and landing of a fixed wind vtol drone and multicopter drone. A number of lessons were learnt and are summarized below from the after EVA debrief.

– All radios should be at the channel 12 for the EVA operations, communication with the Hab is critical.

– It was clarified that the radios in the Hab should be in the channel 9. Channel 12 it is only when it is a EVA operation in process.

Destination: Hab surroundings

Coordinates (UTM NAD27 CONUS): Sector12S Northern 4250933, Eastern 518167

EVA Participants: Zoe, Vittorio (Medic), Paolo and Camilo (Commander)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: None

Mode of travel: walking

Crew 212 EVA Report 08-MAY-2019

EVA #03

Author: Zoe Townsend

Purpose of EVA: First testing of drones, soils collection and thermal rover tests.

Start time: 09:00 AM

End time: 09:55 AM

Narrative: This was an EVA aimed at simultaneously running three experiments at once. However, at 07:00H we received a message from Shannon warning us about weather in the area and the potential of cancelling the EVA. It was decided at 08:30 that the weather was calm enough to attempt an EVA, however miscommunication between the crew meant that some believed the EVA was still 2hours whilst other believed it had been shortened to 1 hour from weather constraints. Due to the late start and the equipment required, the crew officially left the Hab at 09:30.

The first of the experiments was to collected soil, rock and sand samples. Whilst soil was collected, due to the location chosen and limited times the rock and sand were not collected in time in sufficient qualities and therefore the collection will be to be completed on another EVA.

The second experiment was to test the effectiveness of the thermal shielding that will be used as part of the rover. However, overconfidence with the flexibility of the suit meant that the experiment was planned for one person. Unfortunately, because of the wind and the fact the experiment takes place on the floor, two people are required next time to prevent damaging the blanket.

The final experiment was the first testing of the drones. The limited time frame prior to the mission meant that the RAM was not organised for pressurization. The contributed to the slow leaving of the HAB. When finally at the site the experiment was unable to be assembled in the timeframe.

Whilst none of the experiments were completed to satiation a number of lessons have me learnt and are summarised below from the after EVA debrief.

· Do a pre-briefing & post-briefing

· Always clarify EVA duration before it begins

· Devote more time to putting on radios & suits, check radios in advance,

· Respect communication protocols (not talk at the same time, only 1 person communicates with the Hab (this person must not be the driver)

· Hab must pay attention to coms with crew, speak slowly

· Keep close distance to each other & buddy system (always in pairs)

· Drone EVAs independent from other EVAs

· Backwards manoeuvres in rovers should be cleared

Destination: South of Poohs Corner

Coordinates (UTM NAD27 CONUS): Sector12S Northern 518781, Eastern 4250775

EVA Participants: Hector, Vittorio (Medic), Paolo and Zoe (Commander)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: 1103 and Poohs Corner

Mode of travel: (walking or driving)? Driving [required for transportation of experiments]

[title EVA Report – May 6th]

[category eva-report]

Crew 212 EVA Report 06-MAY-2019

EVA #01

Author: Paolo Guardabasso

Purpose of EVA: First test of EVA equipment and procedures in Marble Ritual

Start time: 09:00 AM

End time: 09:55 AM

Narrative: This first EVA was intended as an introduction to external activities for part of the crew (another one followed in the late afternoon). After a 5 minutes depressurization in the main airlock, four members of the crew went outside the HAB and tested the suits (in terms of comfort and mobility) and the communication systems (communication between EVA members, with the HAB, comfort of communication devices and comm protocols). The custom handset for long-range communication that was planned to be tested during this EVA proved faulty, so the traditional radios were used. Then we disconnected the rovers Opportunity and Curiosity and drove to the designated location for about 5 minutes; we parked along the road and explored the region of Marble Ritual, going around the small elevated hill South of the site. We observed a peculiar structure that turned out to be an ant hill with a closer inspection. We walked back to the rovers and returned to the habitat in about 5 minutes, where the rovers were parked and connected to the charger. Once in the airlock, one of the suit’s fans appeared to be malfunctioning, but it was verified that the switch was turned off accidentally whilst leaving from the rover, suggesting that additional protection of the switch might be required. After 5 minutes of pressurization, the EVA was considered successfully completed. Pictures were taken during the mission, and some will be included in the pics of the day. The long-range comm system has been repaired and was tested in the second EVA of the day.

Destination: Marble Ritual

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): N4250800 E518700 Sector 12S

Participants: Paolo Guardabasso (Commander), Vittorio Netti (Medic), Hector Palomeque, Zoe Townsend.

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road 0110 (0.5km towards the North), you will find attached a plot of the actual GPS track with altitude and speed data (FYI).

Mode of travel: Rovers (Opportunity, Curiosity), Walking

Crew 212 EVA Report 06-May-2019
EVA #2
Author: Marlen Castillo Vilcahuaman
Purpose of EVA: Marble ritual / Getting used to rovers and suits
Start time: 18:00
End time: 19:00
Narrative: We took Oppy and Curry to Marble Ritual. We parked and we walked both sides of the road. We were later notified that we had diverted from our original destination (We apologize in advance. We guided ourselves with a GPS, and we kept track of the route, attached to this report.)
Destination: Marble Ritual
Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): Easting: 518663.00 mE Northing: 420992.00 mN
Participants: Castillo, Badenas, Zorro
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: 1103
Mode of travel: Driving

Crew 212 EVA Report 06-MAY-2019

EVA #01

Author: Paolo Guardabasso

Purpose of EVA: First test of EVA equipment and procedures in Marble Ritual

Start time: 09:00 AM

End time: 09:55 AM

Narrative: This first EVA was intended as an introduction to external activities for part of the crew (another one followed in the late afternoon). After a 5 minutes depressurization in the main airlock, four members of the crew went outside the HAB and tested the suits (in terms of comfort and mobility) and the communication systems (communication between EVA members, with the HAB, comfort of communication devices and comm protocols). The custom handset for long-range communication that was planned to be tested during this EVA proved faulty, so the traditional radios were used. Then we disconnected the rovers Opportunity and Curiosity and drove to the designated location for about 5 minutes; we parked along the road and explored the region of Marble Ritual, going around the small elevated hill South of the site. We observed a peculiar structure that turned out to be an ant hill with a closer inspection. We walked back to the rovers and returned to the habitat in about 5 minutes, where the rovers were parked and connected to the charger. Once in the airlock, one of the suit’s fans appeared to be malfunctioning, but it was verified that the switch was turned off accidentally whilst leaving from the rover, suggesting that additional protection of the switch might be required. After 5 minutes of pressurization, the EVA was considered successfully completed. Pictures were taken during the mission, and some will be included in the pics of the day. The long-range comm system has been repaired and was tested in the second EVA of the day.

Destination: Marble Ritual

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): N4250800 E518700 Sector 12S

Participants: Paolo Guardabasso (Commander), Vittorio Netti (Medic), Hector Palomeque, Zoe Townsend.

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road 0110 (0.5km towards the North), you will find attached a plot of the actual GPS track with altitude and speed data (FYI).

Mode of travel: Rovers (Opportunity, Curiosity), Walking

EVA report #11

Date: 01st May from 4:30 pm to 6:45.

The purpose of EVA was to explore Candor Chasma and gather soil samples.

Destination: Latitude: 4251000, longitude: 52000 (UTM NAD27 CONUS)

EVA Participants: Nathan Pechon (commander), Benjamin Flasse (Medic), Chloé Peduzzi, Eléonore Lieffrig

Roads and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road 0110 (one mile towards the North), then Galileo Road 1104 (0,8 mile towards East), then Cactus Road 1104 (1 mile towards the South). Eventually we walked towards to East to Candor Chasma.

Mode of travel: Driving and hiking with Curiosity and Spirit

Narrative : After about 10 minutes driving, we arrived at Candor Chasma. We walked in the canyon for about 25 minutes. It was really beautiful, but there were a lot of trees, which is not really martian.

We saw beautiful rocks of surprising colors, such as pink, deep red or even green. Then we went back to the rovers and drove home.

EVA report #10

Date: 30 April 2019 from 1pm to 3pm.

Purpose of EVA: We wanted to explore Kissing Camel since it offers an amazing point of view of all the surroundings of the station. We wanted to gather some soil samples regarding the great diversity of the local geology.

Destination: Latitude: 4249500, longitude: 518500 (UTM NAD27 CONUS)

EVA Participants: Carl-Henrik Dahlqvist(Commander), Simon Collignon(Medic), Maxime Bernard, Julien Amalaberque

Roads and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road 0110 (towards south) and we will stop between Kissing Camel Ridge West and Kissing Camel Ridge West.

Mode of travel: Driving and hiking with Spirit, Curiosity and Opportunity.

Narrative : The first challenge of this EVA was to take the rover Opportunity to Kissing Camel. It went very well since Oppy didn’t show any sign of weakness in the whole round trip. However, it was only use in "Max Range" mode and was driven very gently. I would not recommend any kind of excess regarding this rover.

Once arrived on the site, we decided to climb carefully the Kissing Camel’s hills and reach the top of one of them. We’ve received an instant reward regarding our efforts with the lovely landscapes Kissing Camel had to offer.

This point of view could also have a scientific purpose. It could be a perfect place to set up an antenna and thus reach a very large area without interfering with mountainous terrains.

After a few drone footages and a deeper exploration of the place, we took the rovers and headed back to the Hab.

EVA report #8

Date: 29 April 2019 from 9:00 to 12:00 am. But as the PBS crew was there, it was delayed from 10:h30 to 12:30 am.

The purpose of EVA was Mars exploration and collection of soil samples in order to grow plants in a Martian environment for the biologist (Chloé Peduzzi) experiment, but also to show to the PBS team a glimpse of a typical EVA.

Destination: Latitude: 4248000, longitude: 519000 (UTM NAD27 CONUS)

EVA Participants: Chloé Peduzzi (commander of the EVA), Benjamin Flasse (medical officer), Eléonore Lieffrig, Nathan Pechon, Lys Adeola (PBS host)

Roads and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road 0110 south direction for about 1.5 miles.

Mode of travel: Driving and hiking with Spirit and Curiosity (and PBS’s car).

Narrative : After an immersive suit of for Lys, we headed off towards our destination with Spirit, Curiosity and the PBS’s car and drone following us. We managed to take a walk in the planned area, and the EVA commander Chloé Pedduzi harvested some soil samples. After climbing a small hill, we discovered a beautiful Mars-like view. Both the PBS team and us were amazed!

We all hiked in this beautiful landscape and found what seems to be a cavity, we thought that we had just found a shelter ! But after a better and closer looked, we discovered that it was just a small and not big enough cavity.

Crew 211 EVA Report 28-04-2019

EVA #7

Author: Simon Collignon

Purpose of EVA: Exploring the geology of White Rock Canyon
Start time: 09:00 am
End time: 10:45 am

Narrative: The aim of this EVA was to explore the White Rock Canyon and gather some soil samples which were successfully retrieved. After the scientific part of this EVA, we’ve looked after ancient river beds which could be a good evidence of liquid water on Mars.
Destination: White Rock Canyon

Coordinates Latitude: 4248000, longitude: 52000 (UTM NAD27 CONUS)

EVA Participants: Simon Collignon, Julien Amalaberque, Nathan Pechon

Mode of travel: Driving and hiking

Vehicles used: Spirit and Curiosity

EVA #6 Report

Author: Benjamin Flasse

Purpose of EVA: Explore the special region in order to search for ancient Martian life

Start time: 09:10 am
End time: 11:20 am

Narrative: We wanted to explore the Special Region in order to find fossils or maybe others evidence of ancient life.

Unfortunately, despite an intense search of a part of the Special Region, we weren’t able to find any trace of ancient life.

Fortunately, on the way back and after climbing an abrupt rise, we found the entrance of what seemed to be a grand cavity!

Hopefully, we could use it as a shelter in case of strong solar winds
.
Purpose of EVA: Explore the special region in order to search for ancient Martian life

Destination: Special Region
Latitude: 4255600, Longitude: 518000 (UTM NAD27 CONUS)

EVA Participants: Nathan Pechon, Benjamin Flasse (medic), Carl-Henrik Dahlqvist (commander of the EVA).

One crew member was meant to participate but had a hindrance of medical order, nothing important but serious enough to stay in the Hab instead of going on EVA.

Roads and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road 0110 (4 miles towards the North), then we will park on Quarry Road and do the rest of the travel hiking.

Mode of travel: Driving and hiking

Vehicles we used: Spirit and Curiosity

[title EVA Report – April 25th]

[category eva-report]

Crew 211 EVA Report 25-04-2019

EVA #4

Author: Simon Collignon

Purpose of EVA: Explore the Special Region in order to explore and search for ancient martian life.
Start time: 09:00 am
End time: 11:00 am

Narrative: The aim of this EVA was to explore the Special Region as said in the purpose section of this EVA report. Unfortunately, the rover SPIRIT was discharging too fast, the battery’s autonomy was not high enough to reach the Special Region. Therefore, we decided to stop on Cow Dung Road at the intersection with Galileo Road 1104. After a short exchange with the Hab, we decided to take Galileo road and explore the area delimited by Cow Dung Road, Galileo Road, Cactus Road and Stream Bed Connector. Sadly, there were no sign of ancient Martian on this area. Next time we’ll try to reach Special Region

Destination: Galileo Road 1104

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): Latitude: 4252000, longitude: 519500 (Intersection of Stream Bed Connector and Cow Dung Road)

Participants: Carl-Henrik Dahlqvist (commander of the EVA), Simon Collignon (medical officer), Chloe Peduzzi, Nathan Pechon.

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: On Cow Dung Road from Hab to the intersection with Galileo Road 1104. Then we took Galileo road1104 and stopped 500 meters after.

Mode of travel: Driving and hiking