Category: EVA Report

Crew 206 EVA Report 13Mar2019

EVA #13

Author: Cerise Cuny

Purpose of EVA: This EVA will allow us to do some maintenance on the
LOAC and weather station (hygrometry temperature captor). In addition to
that, we will go on an exploration hike at 518600/4248500 that today’s
EVA teams spotted as an interesting place.

Start time: 9:14 am
End time: 10:42 am

Narrative: After the 5 minute depressurization, we checked the water
levels and the rovers’ batteries. We left the station at 9:26 am and
arrived to the LOAC three minutes later. We placed the hygrometry and
temperature captor at the feet of the LOAC, in the same plastic bag than
the battery to protect it from the rain. We left the LOAC location at
9:29, lost communication with the hab at 9:32 am. We did a first stop
not far before Kissing Camels Ridges, and walked a bit (518214/4249859).
At 9:55 we took back the rover to go farthest to the south. We stopped
at 10:03 am at 519433/4248119. We walked for a bit in canyons but
quickly the wind became stronger. I decided to turn around, to go back
directly to the rovers and to the hab. At some point, we couldn’t hear
very well what people were saying in the radios, and we were pushed by
the wind. We arrived to the rovers at 10:19 am and after an 11 minutes
drive we arrived to the station. We picked up some garbage bags that
were pushed by the wind. We entered the main airlock at 10:37, grateful
to be protected from the cold wind.

Destination: LOAC and Weather Station location, Points of interests in
the south.

Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 518500/4257000 (LOAC and Weather
Station), 518214/4249859, 519433/4248119.

Participants: Jérémy Auclair (CMD), Aurélien Mure (XO), Cerise Cuny
(HSO, EVA leader), Norbert Pouzin (GHO)

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

Mode of travel: Driving and Walking

Crew 206 EVA Report 12-MAR-2019
EVA #12

Author: Gaspard Thieulin

Purpose of EVA:
After the wind of past days, the LOAC is back in the Hab for inside measurements but we need to redeploy it outside for the last week. We updated the water protection for these rainy days.

Start time: 09:25 am

End time: 11:14 am

Narrative:
This EVA was quite rich in goals, and we successfully fulfilled every one of them. First we headed up to the LOAC and the weather station, using Spirit to drive Norbert and me, and Curiosity with Benjamin and Aurelien and all our heavy stuff. We had to switch the battery of the LOAC and check on the weather station.
To perform the battery switch, I used our "EVA tracking" app, and its new protocol mode. Following simple vocal instructions, we were able to replace the battery without depending on HabCom giving us instructions. While doing so, I noticed the hygrometry sensor of the station was out of batteries, which we will change on the next EVA.
After the first step of the morning, we took back the rovers to go to White Rock Canyon at 0943. We had to use Spirit, knowing its batteries are weaker than the others, so we were very careful about our driving all the way there. In the end, we were able to stop at our planned location with 74% left on spirit and more than 80% on Curiosity at 0958.
We went for a little walk inside and around the Canyon, fulfilling the second goal of the EVA : taking footage for the after-mission movie. While doing so, we had a funny incident with Norbert who found a deep water pound by mistake : his foot went down 50cm according to his words ! Using the "EVA tracking" app, I was even able to note this happened at precisely 1028.
We ended both the walking and the fiming with rovers shots at 1053. We then headed back to the Hab, again being extremly careful to our driving to save some Spirit’s battery, especially knowing it goes down much faster after 70%. Indeed, Spirit arrived to the bar of 60% at 1102, still far from the Hab. On the road, we also had a little issue with Curiosity, stopping for what appeared to be an engine issue, at 1107. Restarting the rover allowed us to safely arrive back to the MDRS at 1110.
In the end, I’m able to say the last purpose of the EVA, proving an "EVA tracking" app can work and be useful, is a success, providing me with detailed data on our EVA.

Destination: LOAC and Weather Station location, White Rock Canyon

Coordinates: 518500/425700 (LOAC and Weather Station), 52200/4247400 (White Rock Canyon)

EVA Participants: Gaspard Thieulin (NG, leader), Benjamin Auzou (COMMS), Aurélien Mure (XO), Norbert Pouzin (GHO)

Roads and routs per MDRS Map: Entrance Road, Cow Dung Road (South)

Mode of travel: Rovers and Walking

Crew 206 EVA Report 11-MAR-2019
EVA #11

Author: Benjamin Auzou

Purpose of EVA:
After the wind of past days, the LOAC is back in the Hab for inside
measurements but we need to redeploy it outside for the last week. We
updated the water protection for these rainy days.

Start time: 09:59 am

End time: 11:04 am

Narrative:
This EVA was , a replay of our EVA#2 of 25th February. The same team and
the same goal.
After our engineering checks (water and rovers), we took Spirit and
Curiosity to drive to the LOAC location. The sky was blue and the sun
was shining on the martian landscape, so the EVA was quiet on the side
of weather.
We managed to install the station and attach it to the ground with pegs
and rocks. It took less time than on EVA#2 and in less than 45 minutes
the weather station and the LOAC were ready to restart their science.
We arrived at the station and entered the airlock at 1059. A successful
one our long EVA !

Destination: LOAC and Weather Station location

Coordinates: 518500/425700 (LOAC and Weather Station)

EVA Participants: Benjamin Auzou (COMMS, EVA leader), Gaspard Thieulin
(ENG), Cerise Cuny (HSO), Jérémy Auclair (CMD).

Roads and routs per MDRS Map: Entrance Road, Cow Dung Road

Mode of travel: Walking and Driving

Crew 206 EVA Report 09-MAR-2019
EVA #9

Author: Norbert Pouzin

Purpose of EVA:

The purpose of this EVA was to test our new ‘SUPAERO spacesuit’ on a short exploration EVA, at Kissing Camels Ridge West.

After our EVA #6 where we tested it near the Hab and made basic nominal checking, we wanted to go further.

What will be tested with the new spacesuit:
– Ability to drive a rover
– Ability to walk for more than an hour
– Testing its autonomy
– Making little sample returns (rocks), to test the storage of the spacesuit

Start time: 9:11 am

End time: 10:49 am

Narrative: This morning we decided that this EVA would be safe to conduct, as there were no wind nor rain. So we left airlock at 9:11 to go to Kissing Camels Ridges, with Curiosity and Spirit.

This EVA was made to test our new prototype, the ‘SUPAERO spacesuit’.

Thus, I wore it for the EVA, as I had already worn it for the last EVA with the spacesuit (EVA#6), to do several tests.

The first thing we tested was my ability to conduct a rover, here Spirit, with the spacesuit. All went well since we had added a little cushion to support the weight of my backpack.

Then, we arrived at 9:29 at Kissing Camel Ridge, and started exploration, for more than an hour. I was able to walk that long, supporting the backpack, and the prototype proved us that it had enough autonomy to do such exploration.

It appeared that with this spacesuit, there is no fog at all on the helmet, but also that it is more tiresome to wear.

Aurélien also did some samples returns, for an educational project for a primary French school.

We came back to the hab at 10:49, after a successful EVA.

Destination: Kissing Camel Ridge

Coordinates: 518300/4249300 (Kissing Camels Ridges)

EVA Participants: Norbert Pouzin (GHO, EVA leader), Aurélien Mure (XO), Jeremy Auclair (CMD), Cerise Cuny (HSO).

Roads and routes per MDRS Map: Entrance Road, Cow Dung Road

Mode of travel: Driving and Walking

Crew 206 EVA Report 07 Mar 2019
EVA #09

Author : Aurélien Mure

Purpose of EVA:
We realized that the weather station and the LOAC had fallen down, so we need an EVA first to assess the damages and to fix it then. We will go out with some tools to be prepared to every case of damage. We won’t have plan B for tomorrow as we know the weather is not fine. Our equipment is endangered so we decide to ask to out.

Start time: 9:15 am

End time: 11:15 am

Narrative: We left the airlock at 9:18 and went to drive Curiosity for team Red (Gaspard and Norbert) and Opportunity for team Blue (Benjamin and me). The brakes of Opportunity were really lazy this morning so team Blue decided to go with Spirit under the HabCom approval. As soon as we arrived at the LOAC location we realized that the weather station has fallen down on its fragile parts. The weather cock and the anemometer are down and appear to be damaged. We quickly decide to take all the equipment back to the Hab to work on it. As strong wind are announced for saturday it is clear that we will deploy the equipment on monday.

Destination: LOAC and Weather Station location, Hab Ridge

Coordinates: 518500/425700 (LOAC and Weather Station), 517900/4251200 (Hab Ridge Road /Sagan Street)

EVA Participants: Norbert Pouzin (GHO), Aurélien Mure (XO), Jeremy Auclair (CMD, EVA leader)

Roads and routs per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road

Mode of travel: Driving and Walking

Crew 206 EVA Report 26-Feb-2019

EVA #8

Author: Cerise Cuny

Purpose of EVA: This EVA was supposed to allow us to do some maintenance on the LOAC (battery level and rain protection). In addition to that, we wanted to go on a long hike to compare the actual space suits to the one our crew is developing.

Start time: 9:06 am

End time: 11:20 am

Narrative: After the 5 minute depressurization, we checked the water levels and the rovers’ batteries. At 9:16 am the engineering check was over and we took the rovers to go to the LOAC location. We changed the battery and improved the water protection on the LOAC. When that job was done, at 9:26, we didn’t take the rovers immediately because we saw a car moving ahead of us, probably the CNN filming crew. After asking the hab to sort the issue with Atila, we decided to change our plans and go to the north. We stopped at 9:46 am at 518545/4253080 to go for an exploration walk. We found the landscape really interesting and were surprised that the canyon we walked in wasn’t named on the map. There was a light shower but it was so short that we didn’t have time to go back to the rovers and I decided that it wasn’t necessary to go back to the hab. When we got to the rovers (10:46) we decided to keep exploring around Reservoir because CNN filming crew was still in the hab. At 11:05 we took the rovers back to Pouce corner and when the HabComm Team assured us the CNN filming crew was gone, we went back to the hab and entered the airlock.

Destination:
Coordinates (use UTM NAD27 CONUS): 518500/425700 (LOAC and Weather Station), 518545/4253080 (first exploration stop), 518545/4252800 (Reservoir)

Participants: Jérémy Auclair (CMD), Benjamin Auzou (COMMS), Cerise Cuny (HSO, EVA leader), Gaspard Thieulin (NG)

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

Mode of travel: Driving and Walking

Crew 206 EVA Report 05 Mar 2019
EVA #07

Author : Jérémy Auclair

Purpose of EVA: The EVA has two purposes :

– Maintenance of the LOAC, installation of a rain protection

– Exploration and photography of the Hab ridge

Start time: 9:15 am

End time: 11:15 am

Narrative: We were happy to discover that the ground was very dry this morning. At 09:20 am, after having done the checks around the Hab, we took Spirit and Curiosity to go to the LOAC with some equipment. We installed a very simple rain protection for the LOAC, it’s probably not as effective as I’d like, but it’s better than nothing for now. At 09:40 am we parked Spirit and Curiosity and started walking north to climb up the ridge. We took a little less than 15 minutes to arrive to the top. The view is breathtaking, even after a year. Once on top we walked south for 25 minutes, taking picture along the way. It’s a very interesting spot because there are very different landscapes that join to this point.
After the 25 minutes walk, we turned around to find a way to go back down, we walked for 10 minutes. We walked on a south oriented light slope, for maximum security. The way down was easy, the ground was dry, everything went fine. We arrived at the Hab at 11:10 am and entered the main airlock.

Destination: LOAC and Weather Station location, Hab Ridge

Coordinates: 518500/425700 (LOAC and Weather Station), 517900/4251200 (Hab Ridge Road /Sagan Street)

EVA Participants: Norbert Pouzin (GHO), Aurélien Mure (XO), Jeremy Auclair (CMD, EVA leader)

Roads and routs per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road

Mode of travel: Driving and Walking

Crew 206 EVA Report 04-MAR-2019
EVA #5

Author: Gaspard Thieulin

Purpose of EVA:

The main purpose of the EVA was to do the basic checks of our new ‘SUPAERO SpaceSuit’. We brought a prototype of a MDRS suit which worked on it for a year. On wednesday we worked inside the hab on the protocol for pre-EVA and post EVA manipulations. Everything was nominal. Now we wanted to try it just in front of the hab.

Here is what is planned :
– Ability to realize an EVA :
– Isolation from the outside environment
– Providing air to the astronaut
– Providing water to the astronaut
– Enabaling mobility (arms, back and neck) for the astronaut – Ability to communicate with the crew
– Providing a good vision through the helmet
– Providing radio communication
– Protecting the astronaut from the sun
– Deploying the sun protection easily

Once those points were checked, we had to try this second protocole :

– Ability to remove the fog from the helmet
– Try to seat in the rovers without moving
– Try to simulate drivng conditions

But first, the team “Red” had to quickly go to the LOAC to change the battery, and check the weather station orientation after this morning’s earthquake.

Finally, the EVA teams were also meant to fix the tarp of the corridor between the science dome and the Hab.

Start time: 14h19

End time: 15h26

Narrative: Today’s EVA was conditionnaly approved, initially for the morning. We had to ask for MS’ approval before going out. In the morning, Atila went outside and experienced a very muddy ground and refused the EVA for the morning. However, he decided to let us decide if we wanted to conduct the EVA in the afternoon. The crew decided to take a decision by 1400 for an EVA replanned on 1415.

Having this decision in our hand was a lot of responsibility, especially for the EVA leader. No matter what we would decide in the afternoon, we decided to review a bit our EVA plan and add the maximum of Safety to it . Only two crew members (team Red: Aurelien and myself as EVA leader) would go outside first, taking one final decison on the pursuing of the EVA and looking for a dry area to conduct the prototype tests. Only then they would go for engineering checks and LOAC maintenance. During this whole time, the two other crew members (team Blue: Benjamin and Norbert who would try the prototype suit) would wait in the Hab, wearing EVA suits to be able to save the others as quick as possible.

Only after team Red comes back to the Hab area, one member of team Blue would swap his EVA suit for the prototype one, and go outside to conduct the rest of the EVA.

EVA leader would still be able to cancel the EVA by any time, of course.

We began equipping ourselves at 13h30 to be able to go out at 14h15, if we decided to go out. At 1400 today we decided to take a shot at this EVA’s plan, considering the whole day had been sunny and rather “hot”. Mission support (Atila in this case) accepted our plan and decision.

We went out of the airlock at 14h19. My first step on the ground would be decisive, and we were extremly pleased to discover that the ground had almost completly dried out during the day. In fact, it was very easy to move on dry dust, and the rare muddy zones were visible enough not to represent any danger. Considering that, I decided to conduct the EVA as planned and we successfully conducting every check, changed the LOAC battery and drived back while team Blue was waiting in the hab fully suited. We parked Curiosity at 14h35 and team Blue began
depressurization while Norbert was wearing the prototype suit. They also brought back some fixations for the tarps in the prototype backpack’s storage.

We were then able to conduct every test in the EVA’s protocol, and gathered a lot of data thanks to it. We ended these tests at 15h12, and Norbert was already warning us about his stamina decreasing fast due to the weight of the prototype suit.
We still were able to fix some parts of the teared tarps with the material brought in the suit in a very limited time. The fixations we used are lighter than the previous one, and we didn’t have enough to attach every part of the tarp, so we plan on another fixing session soon. Finally, we came back in the airlock at 15h21 and the EVA successfully ended at 15h26.

Destination: Hab area and LOAC / weather station.

Coordinates: 518500/425700 (LOAC and Weather Station) ; 518150/4250750 (Hab)

EVA Participants: Benjamin Auzou (COMMS), Gaspard Thieulin (ENG, Eva Leader), Aurélien Mure (XO), Norbert Pouzin (GHO, prototype Suit)

Roads and routs per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road

Mode of travel: Walking and Rover (for carrying our heavy battery)

Vehicles used : Curiosity

Crew 206 EVA Report 01-MAR-2019
EVA #4
5
Author: Benjamin Auzou

Purpose of EVA:
The EVA is built to continue our exploration of different regions of
MDRS area. This one will be done without vehicule and so with only three
astronauts. We will climb to Hab Ridge by the 1103 path. Once up there,
the purpose will be to go through Hab Ridge Road and Sagan Street
intersection, to walk along the ridge and to arrive at Hab Ridge. On our
way we will make a stop to take picture of our home from Hab view North.
During the EVA we will also walk around the station in order to spot
degradations after the snowstorm.

Start time: 9:00 am

End time: 10:52 am

Narrative: Today, we went pretty fast on our EVA preparation like
yesterday, so we left the hab at 0900, instead of 0915, as it was
planned. Starting from tomorrow we will reconsider our preparation time
to leave the Hab at planned time.
That was our first EVA with an odd number of members, that was
unsettling for the preparation time, since we are usually working with
pairs (Team Blue and Red) for security checks. For the rest of the EVA
that change was less disruptive because of the absence of rover travels
and the good cohesion of our EVA team.
After the usual checks (Water tank for Team Red, composed of me, and
rovers states for Team Blue, composed of Cerise and Gaspard), we walked
around the MDRS campus in order to spot eventual degradations. The only
thing we spotted was a piece of tarp from the corridors that has been
moved by the wind. At 0907, all checks had been done and we started our
walk to Hab Ridge.
Looking for the road 1103, we stumbled upon a large black tarp (see
attached picture) at the coordinates 518418/4251029 (read on the GPS).
On the climb to Hab Ridge, the path was still muddy and slippery, even
if the surface seemed dry. However we managed to pay attention to each
other and walked safely toward the ridge.
After a couple minutes being amazed by the geologic diversity of the
landscape, we continued our walk to our goal : Hab View North.
We arrived at this point at 1002. We spent 10 minutes here enjoying the
view and taking some pictures of the Hab from the ridge.
Then we decided to return to the Hab following our steps in the opposite
direction instead of trying to go directly down the ridge. Safety first !
We arrived at the station and entered the airlock at 1047.

Destination: Hab Ridge Road / Sagan Street , Hab ridge, Hab view north

Coordinates: 517900/4251200 (Hab Ridge Road /Sagan Street),
517700/4250800 (Hab ridge), 517900/4250900 (Hab view North)
EVA Participants: Benjamin Auzou (COMMS, EVA leader), Gaspard Thieulin
(ENG), Cerise Cuny (HSO).
Roads and routs per MDRS Map: Road 1103 , Hab Ridge Road

Mode of travel: Walking

Crew 206 EVA Report 28-Feb-2019
EVA #4

Author: Norbert Pouzin

Purpose of EVA: The EVA has two purposes:

– the first one is scientific. It is to make sure that the deployment
of the LOAC and the weather station is fine. Since the snow has melted, we have to re-calibrate the tripod of the weather station. Also, the batteries of the LOAC have to be changed.

– the second purpose of the EVA is the exploration for the other half of the crew who didn’t perform it today. We will go to White Rock Canyon and explore this area. We will park the rovers on the road 1101, at the closest point from the White Rock Canyon, and then walk to the canyon. As the distance between the MDRS and White Rock Canyon is a little bit smaller than the one we did today going to The Moon, the batteries of the rover might not be a problem (34% battery left for Opportunity, 65% for Curiosity).

However, if it appears that the batteries aren’t strong enough to bring us there, we will explore Kissing Camel Ridge West, parking the rovers on Cow Dung Road 0110, near Robert’s Rock Garden. Like today, we prefer being four for this EVA, so that two of us can work on the tripod and the others on the LOAC and we can be two on
each rover, which is safer than being alone.

Start time: 9:00 am

End time: 11:26 am

Narrative: Today, we went pretty fast on our EVA preparation, so we left the hab at 0900, instead of 0915, as it was planned. After the usual checks (Water tank for Team Red, composed of Aurélien and Jeremy, and rovers states for Team Blue, composed of Cerise and me), we went to the localization of the LOAC and the weather station.

We arrived there at 0915. While Team Red changed the batteries of th LOAC, Team Blue measured the inclination of the weather station, as the melting snow might have moved the tripod. Indeed, the angle had moved a little, so we tried to fix it by turning the screw of the tripod. We left the area of the LOAC at 0931, heading into White Rock Canyon with our rovers, taking care of the batteries, like yesterday. It worked pretty well, since we parked at 0952 on the road near the Canyon, with 90% batteries for Curiosity, and 85% for Opportunity!
We started the exploration, following our scout Jeremy. We went inside the canyon, and then hiked to go above it.

The soil wasn’t as muddy as it was yesterday, so we could easily walk. At 1058 our walk was over, and we came back with our rovers. We arrived at the station at 1120, with more than 60% of batteries on both rovers.

Destination: LOAC and Weather Station location, Road 1101, White Rock Canyon

Coordinates: 518500/425700 (LOAC and Weather Station), 520250/4247600 (White Rock Canyon)

EVA Participants: Norbert Pouzin (GHO, EVA leader), Aurélien Mure (XO), Jeremy Auclair (CMD), Cerise Cuny (HSO).

Roads and routes per MDRS Map: Entrance Road, Cow Dung Road

Mode of travel: Driving and Walking