Category: EVA Report

Crew 293 EVA Report 19-02-2024

EVA #002

Author: Marie Delaroche

Purpose of EVA: Training EVA for the second half of the crew

Start time: 14:27

End time: 15:22

Narrative: The EVA objectives were to test the EVA suits, and check how our movements and flexibility are impeded by them. We also took the opportunity to try writing/drawing with the suit, and test the use of camel bags to drink, with longer EVAs in mind.

14:40 : Rovers parked near Marble Ritual

14:42 : Testing camel bags, testing radio frequency changes

14:50 : Testing cameras

15:00: Exploring

15:09 : Drawing and writing near rovers

15:11 : Leaving Marble Ritual

15:22 : Back at Hab, entering Airlock

Destination: Marble Ritual

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518750, 4251000

Participants: Marie Delaroche, Yves Bejach, Lise Lefauconnier

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Exited the Hab through the main Air Lock, drove the driveway to Cow Dung Road 0110 to the north until the crew reached Marble Ritual.

Modes of travel: Curiosity Rover and Opportunity Rover, and walk within a radius of 400m only.

Crew 292 EVA Report 14-02-2024

EVA #012

Author: BHARTI SHARMA

Purpose of EVA: To collect gypsum samples.

Start time: 13:30

End time: 16:30

Narrative: Very long but worth every second. The Crew started their EVA on time. After reaching the Canyon, they walked around the edges and went inside the canyon to look for the gypsum samples. Fortunately, they found great samples for biology and engineering projects.

Destination: Compass Rock and Candor Chasma

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 519900, 4251794

Participants: Daniel, Rajvi, Aditya and Mehnaz.

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Exit the Hab through the main airlock, drive the driveway to Cow Dung Road 0110 and continue in the north direction. Reach compass rock and south of Candor Chasma and conduct the fieldwork within a range of 800 m.

Mode of travel: Curiosity and Opportunity Rover

Crew 292 EVA Report 15-02-2024

EVA #013

Author: BHARTI SHARMA

Purpose of EVA: To return gypsum samples.

Start time: 09:30

End time: 12:00

Narrative: A short EVA to return all the samples where they came from for the next MDRS missions and Crews.

Destination: Near the HAB, towards the east direction. It is between the Marble Ritual and Pooh’s corner, towards the northwest of the road. The field is within a radius of 900 m.

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518640, 4251224

Participants: Clare, Annalea and Mehnaz

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Exit the HAB through the main airlock, drive the driveway towards the Cow Dung Road 0110 in the East direction, 518640, 4251224. Conduct the EVA within a radius of 900 m radius from the HAB.

Mode of travel: Spirit and Perseverance

Crew 292 EVA Report 15-02-2024

EVA #014

Author: BHARTI SHARMA

Purpose of EVA: To return the samples to the Field.

Start time: 14:00

End time: 16:30

Narrative: A short EVA to return all the samples where they came from for the next MDRS missions and Crews.

Destination: Near the Dry Creek Bed and Cow Boy Corner.

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518164, 4253773

Participants: Bharti, Clare, Rajvi, and Aditya

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Exit the Hab through the main Air Lock, drive the driveway to Cow Dung Road 0110 and reach Cow Boy Corner, return the samples. Get back to Rover and drive to the dry creek bed.

Mode of travel: Curiosity Rover and Opportunity Rover, and walk a little bit.

Crew 292 EVA Report 12-02-2024

EVA #009

Author: BHARTI SHARMA

Purpose of EVA: To collect samples of concretions, soil, water and rocks. To mark the locations of different types of weathering and concretions.

Start time: 09:30 AM

End time: 12:30 PM

Narrative: First early morning EVA, the crew was excited and all geared up. The crew started sharp at 09:30 AM and reached the Kissing Camel Ridge. The morning EVA was to explore the eastern side of the ridge. The crew found many concretions of different kinds, they marked the locations of different types of weathering. They hiked up the ridge supporting each other, Clare teaching them geology. The crew was able to collect all the samples required.

Destination: Kissing Camel Ridge West Side

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518271, 4249556

Participants: Aditya, Clare, Daniel and Mehnaz

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Exited the Hab through the main Air Lock, drove the driveway to Cow Dung Road 0110 until the crew reached the Kissing Camel Ridge. The crew conducted the detailed field within a radius of 800 m only.

Mode of travel: Spirit and Perseverance Rover

Crew 292 EVA Report 12-02-2024

EVA #010

Author: BHARTI SHARMA

Purpose of EVA: To collect samples of concretions, soil, water and rocks. To mark the locations of different types of weathering and concretions.

Start time: 14:00

End time: 16:30

Narrative: Our second EVA to the Kissing Camel Ridge was to explore the western side of the ride. We found the cross-bedding sample just near the road; I explained its formation to Annalea and Rajvi. Annalea drew the geomorphology of the area. Rajvi and I were taking slope measurements of the sandstone beds. Later we did rock hunting on the base to understand the area more. We found the contacts, types of weathering and rocks which can be found on Mars.

Destination: Kissing Camel Ridge West Side

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518271, 4249556

Participants: Annalea, Bharti and Rajvi

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Exited the Hab through the main Air Lock, drove the driveway to Cow Dung Road 0110 until the crew reached the Kissing Camel Ridge. The crew conducted the detailed field within a radius of 800 m only.

Mode of travel: Curiosity and Opportunity Rover

Crew 292 EVA Report 13-02-2024

EVA #011

Author: BHARTI SHARMA

Purpose of EVA: Detailed geology and geomorphology fieldwork. To collect data on the types of rocks, structures, micro and major geomorphological features and draw a map.

Start time: 13:30

End time: 16:30

Narrative: The EVA was worth it. It was a long drive, a bit difficult on Galileo Road 1104. We parked our cars near the compass rock and walked to the Candor Chasma. We explored the Canyon from the ridges first and then we went down and collected data for our research. We hiked up the canyon and explored more from the ridges. We were able to see the contact between Salt Wash and Somerville Formation. We clicked pictures of the bedding so that we could draw the lithology. It was a 3-hour EVA and every second is going to contribute to the knowledge pool of canyons on Earth and Mars.

Destination: Compass Rock and Candor Chasma

Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 519900, 4251794

Participants: Annalea, Bharti and Clare

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Exit the Hab through the main airlock, drive the driveway to Cow Dung Road 0110 and continue in the north direction. Reach compass rock and south of Candor Chasma and conduct the fieldwork within a range of 800 m.

Mode of travel: Curiosity and Opportunity Rover

Crew 292 EVA Report 10-02-2024
EVA #007
Author: BHARTI SHARMA
Purpose of EVA: To collect the concretion sample, mark the locations of different types of weathering and understand the landscape at large for geo-conservation studies.
Start time: 13:00
End time: 16:00
Narrative: The weather cleared up today. However, there was snow on the ground but by the afternoon the weather was pleasant and the ground was not muddy at all. The EVA started at 13:00, on time. The crew walked towards the east direction from the Hab, in between the marble ritual and Pooh’s corner. The aim was to understand the landscape better for geo-conservation, collect concrete samples for biology and engineering projects, and identify and mark the locations for different types of weathering for geology projects. The crew collected some water samples as well for the biology project, using a syringe and falcon tubes. Clare was explaining in detail the geology of the area to Mehnaz, Aditya and Rajvi and they were quite intrigued. However, there was an issue with Rajvi’s suit, the fan couldn’t be lowered as the voltage dropped when they entered the airlock after finishing the EVA (refer to operations report). The crew was happy to be on the field, ticking off their field goals and collecting samples. As the crew was able to complete the EVA goals early, they came back to the Hab at 16:00.
Destination: Near the HAB, towards the east direction. It is between the Marble Ritual and Pooh’s corner, towards the northwest of the road. The field is within a radius of 700 m.
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518640, 4251224
Participants: Clare, Rajvi, Mehnaz and Aditya
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Exited the HAB through the main airlock, and walked towards Cow Dung Road 0110 in the East direction. Walked further towards the east direction till the concretion point i.e., 518640, 4251224. Conducted the EVA within a radius of 700 m from the HAB.
Mode of travel: Walking

EVA #008
Author: BHARTI SHARMA
Purpose of EVA: To collect concretions and soil samples for biology and engineering projects. To map and locate different types of structures and features for geology and geo-conservation studies.
Start time: 13:30
End time: 16:00
Narrative: Bright sunny day and our CREW members ABC were all set for exploration. Bharti drove the rover (the first time that long) to the destination. The crew started the exploration journey to identify as many rocks, concretions, cross-beddings and if there is any igneous intrusion. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any igneous intrusion. However, there was a thin layer of shale bedding (shale is a sedimentary rock formed by the compression of mud), and there were some signatures of meta-sedimentary rock such as meta-conglomerate. We were able to mark the locations of several cross-bedding features. However, the cross-bedding was on the big boulders of the country rock which got weathered away from the top so, slope angles were not measured as they would not be accurate. We found various micro-folding on the sandstone bed. Overall, our in-detail geology EVA was great.
Destination: South of Cowboy Corner – 518681, 4252888
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518681, 4252888
Participants: Annalea, Bharti and Clare (the ABC)
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Exited the Hab through the main Air Lock, drove the driveway to Cow Dung Road 0110 to the north until the crew reached the south of the Cowboy corner. The crew conducted the detailed field within a radius of 400 m only
Mode of travel: Curiosity Rover and Opportunity Rover, and walk within a radius of 400m only.

EVA #004
Author: BHARTI SHARMA
Purpose of EVA: To collect samples for the biology experiment and conduct field research for geology.
Start time: 10:00 AM
End time: 12:30 PM
Narrative: Long EVA but worth it. It was good fieldwork within the vicinity of a 500m radius. We started our EVA on time at 10 AM, and reached our destination in 20 minutes via the Cow Dung Road 0110, parked our rovers and started our exploration for gypsum and geology structures. Daniel collected the endolith samples he wanted for his experiment. Unfortunately, we missed the gypsum spots and couldn’t collect the sample. I was able to draw out the geomorphology of the area as we wandered in and around the chasm. See the cross-bedding and bird’s eye view of the desert. I was not able to collect the dip angle because of the suit, it takes time to get habitual of the suit and do the fieldwork. Aditya and Rajvi had a great time exploring the field with a biologist and a geologist. Learning never stops. We were back in the airlock at 12:30 PM.
Destination: Cowboy Corner – 518547, 4253056
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518547, 4253056
Participants: Bharti, Daniel, Aditya and Rajvi
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Exited the Hab through the Air Lock, drove the driveway to Cow Dung Road 0110 to the north and reached the Cowboy corner. The crew conducted the field within a radius of 500 m.
Mode of travel: Curiosity Rover and Opportunity Rover, and walked a little bit within a radius of 500m only.