Category: Greenhab Report

GreenHab Officer: Scott Dorrington
Environmental control: heater off (space heater on overnight), fan on in afternoon, door closed
Average temperatures:
08:01: 47.8 F, 62%
09:30: 57.0 F, 56% heater off
11:00: 85.6 F, 36% fan on
12:48: 83.8 F, 24%
12:56: 79.5 F, 27%
14:12: 63.3 F, 34% fan off
14:43: 67.8 F, 37%
15:16: 67.8 F, 45%
16:00: 65.3 F, 49%
18:36: 48.6 F, 66% heater on
19:11: 48.9 F, 67%
Hours of supplemental light: 24 hrs (lights on all)
Daily water usage for crops: 5 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0 gallons
Water in Blue Tank (200 gallon capacity): 142.5 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 9:30 mist, 12:45pm mist, 2:43pm water + mist, 4pm mist
Changes to crops: None
Narrative:
This morning I woke to a commotion in the hab. Apparently Clare had faced her arachnophobia, capturing another spider from the hab and relocating it to the greenhab (along with another one captured the night before). I headed over to the greenhab to get a temperature reading. I returned to the greenhab at 9:30am just prior to our EVA to turn off the heater and give the plants a nice misting. Following yestersol’s high midday temperatures, I asked Rob to check in on the plants while we were out on EVA. The temperature was picking up through the day, so the fan was turned on for an hour or so. Following the EVA, I returned to check in on the plants, give them a watering, and perform a rotation of the tomatoes. The tunes for the afternoon watering consisted of Spiderbait (for the greenhab spiders) and David Bowie. I also noticed a fly in the greenhab. Hoping the greenhab spiders will sort it out to earn their keep. Over the last few sols, I’ve been experimenting with collecting and re-using some of the water that drains from the tomatoes onto the floor during watering. I figured water conservation would be very important on Mars. I experimented with using the dustpan and broom to scoop up some water – this was working, but not practical to use to collect a good amount of it. Today, I experimented with positioning some empty food cans from the hab kitchen underneath the pallet to catch some dripping water. This was effective, and I was able to pour the collected water back onto the tomatoes. Although, I’m not sure how practical this solution will be applying to all tomatoes towards the back of the pallet. I will keep experimenting. I returned a few times in the afternoon to check temperatures and mist. I also noticed a few tomato leaves that were wilting (likely from the cold), which I pruned. The tomatoes on #9 are looking red and juicy. I think they may be ready for harvesting in a day or two. The challenge will be dividing two baby tomatoes between 6 crew members. Space heater turned on at 6:36. Hopeful that the greenhab heater will be getting repairs sometime soon.

GreenHab Officer: Scott Dorrington
Environmental control: heater off (space heater on overnight), fan on in afternoon, door closed (open briefly)
Average temperatures:
07:52: 46.8 F, 56%
09:27: 86.7 F, 31% space heater off, light off
10:09: 97.7 F, 20%
10:25: 98.8 F, 17%
10:43: 97.7 F, 17%
11:14: 104.4 F, 16%
11:26: 99.9 F, 12%
11:31: 101.8 F, 14%
12:19: 121.3 F, 10% fan on
12:51: 97.3 F, 11%
13:04: 96.4 F, 11%
13:39: 99.9 F, 10%
13:56: 99.1 F, 10%
14:45: 93.9 F, 10%
15:19: 88.2 F, 11% fan off
16:03: 105.4 F, 14%
16:42: 97.5 F, 17%
18:57: 82.2 F, 21% light on, heater on
Hours of supplemental light: 9.5 hrs (counting from midnight to 9:30am)
Daily water usage for crops: 6 gallons + 0.5 gallons mist
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0 gallons
Water in Blue Tank (200 gallon capacity): 136 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 9:30 mist, water at 10:30am, water at 13:30, regular misting through the day (at temp log times)
Changes to crops: None
Narrative:
Today was our first sunny day of the mission. The morning visit at 7:50am showed a still chilly temperature of 46.8 F, however I knew from sol 3 that temperatures were likely to climb in the greenhab with the sun out, so planned to diligently monitor the temperatures throughout the day. Today’s music therapy soundtrack was the Eagles, beginning with Tequilla sunrise. I returned to the greenhab at 9:30 to turn off the space heater, and the temperature was a nice 88 F. It was very sunny in the greenhab, made a note to bring sunnies upon return. I returned at 10am to find temperatures up around 97 F. From googling during comms window last night, I found that tomatoes like a temperature around 70 to 90 F, so wanted to keep the temperatures below 100 F through the day. I did some experimenting with opening the greenhab door to try to cool temperatures. This did manage to drop the temperature a few degrees in 15 minutes, but I also noted that this also dropped the humidity (likely from the dry desert air). I tried closing the door and giving a decent misting of the plants, which seemed to raise humidity a bit, but temperatures were increasing again. I decided misting alone was not good enough to raise humidity, so commenced with a morning watering. Rather than give one large watering as done in previous sols, I decided to do 2 gallons at this time, and return for another watering later in the day. I noticed that this prevented much of the water drainage from the tomato plants I was seeing in previous sols. I aim to continue this twice daily watering as I think it will help with water conservation, and might prevent over-soaking the tomato roots. While watering, with the door closed, I monitored the temperatures rising again. I tried this time with the fan, and noted temperatures dropping from 106 to 100 F in a few minutes. But humidity also dropped again. I turned off the fans, and the humidity increased after a few minutes (likely from water evaporating). I returned to the hab, leaving the fan off. I checked back in 50 minutes later to find the temperature had reached 120 F. I turned on the fan again, which quickly brought temperatures back down to 100 F. I also raised the mesh shade cloth on the south wall of the greenhab to try to block some of the heat coming in. The tomatoes were also moved in off the wall during this stage. I left the fan on for much of the afternoon, setting myself alarms to return at regular half hour intervals. The temperatures were consistently in the 90s, and gave regular mistings on each visit. At 1:30pm, I gave another watering of 3 gallons. At this time I also noticed tomato #7 has a fruit that is beginning to turn yellow! This was a welcome surprise, as tomato #7 was looking smaller than the others from the start of our mission. The tomatoes were shuffled around throughout the day to keep them out of direct sunlight. Temperatures remained in the 90s for the next few visits. At 3.20, I found the temperature at 88, and decided to leave the fan off for a bit to try raise the temperature before the sun started setting in the afternoon. In the afternoon, Mission Support radioed confirming delivery of replacement parts for the heater. The heater was fixed, so we should expect some more comfortable overnight temperatures for the plants.
Harvest: None
Support/supplies needed: None

Crew 290 GreenHab Report 19-01-2024 (Sol 12)

Greenhab Officer: Ben Kazimer

Heater off (not by choice), fan off, door closed

Average temperatures: 1128: 92.3⁰F, 11%, 1310: 79.4⁰F, 30%, 1956: 52.2⁰F, 18%

Hours of supplemental light: nominal 4 hours overnight

Daily water usage for crops: 11.25 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: N/A

Water in Blue Tank 114.05 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops:

1128: 11 gallons watering, ¼ gallon misting

Changes to crops: Trimming, watering, and organization of all plants. Light harvests in some herbs

Narrative:

A bittersweet last chapter in Funk’s Martian Greenhab operations. For my last sol in sim and as acting greenhab officer, I closely inspected every plant to trim off dead leaves, give a healthy watering, thorough misting, and thoughtful repositioning within the greenhouse layout. The music choice was soft alternative/folky music, fitting for the last sol mood. All the plants were doing pretty well, aside from the cucumbers… The cuke in the back blue planter didn’t do too well with the thermal cycling overnight due to the faulty heater, but the 2 plants in the front of the greenhab faired a bit better. I figured an in-depth tomato fruit inventory was worthwhile for all those following along at home and the results are in for the most fruitful plant… Tomato Number 4 with 45 fruit showing!!! Don’t worry, I’m as surprised as you are! For context this was solely based on the number of fruit, not combined size. While more difficult to measure in these facilities, I would eyeball that victory to (unsurprisingly) Tomato Number 9 To be fair, Tomato No. 4 did bear the 3 orange tomatoes our crew shared tonight before dinner (out of this world flavor). Side note: the heater is currently not functioning properly, but I have faith that Roots, Mission Support and myself can return it to nominal status tonight.

The plants are happy and the greenhab is clean! Everything should be in order for 291 to come in and continue the MDRS Greenhab legacy!

Harvest: 2 grams Sage, >1 gram chives, 6 grams basil, 23 g tomatoes (!)

Support/supplies needed: Heater is on the fritz again

GreenHab Officer: Scott Dorrington
Environmental control: heater off (broken), fan off, door closed
Average temperatures:
10:02: 57.6 F, 75%
13:00: 71.4 F, 65%
16:27: 60.6 F, 54%
17:00: 56.7 F, 62%
18:22: 49.5 F, 77% (space heater turned on)
19:07: 51.1 F, 84%
Hours of supplemental light: 0 hrs (inside hab previous night)
Daily water usage for crops: 5 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0 gallons
Water in Blue Tank (200 gallon capacity): 180 gallons (starting from ~185 gallons)
Time(s) of watering for crops: 12:00 mist, 16:30 water + mist
Changes to crops: None
Narrative:
Today was the first official sol as greenhab officer, however duties started the previous day during our induction. Prior to our arrival during the changeover from previous crew, we learned that the greenhab heater is non-operational. The majority of plants were moved into the first level of the hab, taking up space around the engineering airlock and next to the EVA comms. The plants spent the whole night and next sol (sol 0) in the hab, with artificial light. I gave my first watering in the evening of sol 0, using 2 gallons. I tried to minimize water leakage onto the floor of the hab, cleaning up any puddles with paper towels. At midday on sol 1, I commenced the migration of plants back to the greenhab. I aimed to judge how long it would take, so as to decide if I want to continue to move them back and forth from greenhab to hab every sol until the heater is fixed. I started with the tomatoes, moving 6 plants into the engineering airlock, out into the tunnels before sealing the airlock. I then shuttled the plants to the greenhab door, then inside. This was followed by a second trip to move the remaining 6 tomato plants. Transporting the tomatoes took around 30 minutes. Once all in, I gave the tomatoes a good misting and inspection. Tomato #9 was looking a little sadder than the rest, with smaller leaves and not so many fruits. I noticed this plant was close to the hab gas heater the first night, so may have had some heat stress.
The Great Plant Migration was interrupted by our scheduled training EVA to Marble Ritual, and was recommenced at 4:30 pm with cucumbers and remaining plants. This was done in one trip through the airlock. I then did my first watering, giving 5 gallons between all the plants. I experimented with several of the watering cans to find one that I liked. In the evening, I visited the greenhab a few times to log temperatures, and turned on the floor space heater around 6pm. I checked an hour later and the temperature had gone up slightly. I will keep monitoring temperatures this evening and might migrate the plants back into the hab if the temperature is too cold. During some quick research during comms window, I found advise to keep tomatoes above 55 F to avoid blossom drop. Back in the hab while writing reports, I found a little spider crawling around in the games cupboard. After discussing with crew how we would respond on Mars, it was decided to relocate the “Spider on Mars” to the greenhab. He is now enjoying his new environment amongst the red cabbages.
Harvest: None
Support/supplies needed: Advice on status of the hab heater. Also, any recommendations re daily migrating plants between greenhab and hab until the heater is fixed.

Crew 290 GreenHab Report 15-01-2024 (Sol 8)

Greenhab Officer: Ben Kazimer

Heater off (not by choice), fan off, door closed

Average temperatures: 0956: 74.8⁰F, 22%, 1623: 75.9⁰F, 15%, 1955: 51.4⁰F, 20%

Hours of supplemental light: nominal 4 hours overnight

Daily water usage for crops: 4 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: None!

Water in Blue Tank 147.05 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops:

0956: 3 gallons watering, ½ gallon misting, 1623: ½ gallon misting

Changes to crops: rearranged tomatoes again, harvested some dill for dinner

Narrative:

Turns out it isn’t always sunshine and rainbows in a Martian Greenhouse (especially the former) as the tomato plants are showing conflicting signs of stress and the heater system is currently on the fritz. I individually inspected every tomato and cucumber plant today on the examination table (my newly acquired sitting stool which has already been sacrificed to my plants) and found that some plants had curling leaves that might indicate heat stress while others had browning leaves with small holes that could be from frostbite. It is quite puzzling so I trimmed most of the stressed leaves and gave them some fresh water and mist. They were all moved further away from the greenhab wall as these showed the greatest stress so I was hoping to see at least some improvements right before I started this report but instead I was faced with disaster! The heater is repeatedly clicking on without providing heat to the now 51⁰F habitat so I am trouble shooting with Mission Support on solutions as trivial power cycling did not change the heater status… updates to follow. In better news, I had a bountiful harvest of the rapidly growing dill which was immediately incorporated into a compound butter that was a tasty topping for our dinner of black bean burgers, cheddar biscuits, and mashed potatoes! Finally, today I spun some classic rap for the plants, ranging from A Tribe Called Quest to MF Doom.

Harvest: 33 grams dill

Support/supplies needed: Heater Repair (In Progress)

Crew 290 GreenHab Report 16-01-2024 (Sol 9)

Greenhab Officer: Ben Kazimer

Heater on, fan off, door closed

Average temperatures: 1012: 75.7⁰F, 12%, 1421: 81.0⁰F, 15%, 1623: 78.6⁰F, 15%

Hours of supplemental light: nominal 4 hours overnight

Daily water usage for crops: 7 ¾ gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 2 gallons

Water in Blue Tank 137.3 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops:

1012: 5 gallons watering, ½ gallon misting, 1421: ½ gallon watering, ½ gallon misting, 1623: 1 gallon watering, ¼ gallon misting

Changes to crops: harvested cilantro

Narrative:

It has been a riveting match of tug-of-war between the tomatoes and me. I’m doing my best to keep the climate constant inside the greenhouse but these warm days and cold nights lead to great temperature swings and frequent monitoring. Everyone is still alive but they oscillate between stressed and thriving throughout the day. It is an emotional rollercoaster out in this little green patch of the desert, but I’m sticking with it for these plants! I’m upping the water dosages as that always seems to help, whether direct to the soil or in the general vicinity for misting. The tomatoes are still showing an ever-increasing number and volume of fruit, I’m still hopeful Crew 290 will be able to split at least one cherry tomato before our time at MDRS concludes. Other positive news is that the herbs are thriving and I was able to trim back the cilantro a decent bit, a fitting garnish for our big Taco Tuesday feast tonight! The dill from yesterday is the gift that keeps on giving, today in the form of compound butter to top my fresh whole wheat honey bread! (Note: Heater is operating at nominal status, thank you for support last night!)

Harvest: 33 grams cilantro

Support/supplies needed: None!

Crew 290 GreenHab Report 17-01-2024 (Sol 10)

Greenhab Officer: Ben Kazimer

Heater on (set to 72⁰F), fan off, door closed

Average temperatures: 0815: 77.0⁰F, 15%, 1505: 86.4⁰F, 15%

Hours of supplemental light: nominal 4 hours overnight

Daily water usage for crops: 5 ½ gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: N/A

Water in Blue Tank 131.8 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops:

0815: 4 gallons watering, ½ gallon misting, 1432: ½ gallon watering, ½ gallon misting

Changes to crops: None

Narrative:

This sol’s narrative starts on the eve of sol 9, immediately after our taco Tuesday feast ended. I went to check on my plants before I settled in for the night, and upon entering the greenhab I knew I was in for a trip. It was about 20⁰F outside and 41⁰F inside the greenhouse… The heater was not running and the plants clearly wore upset emotions on their yellowing and flaking leaves. After a quick chat with Mission Support, I got the greenlight to open up the heater to see what was going on along with the help of Engineer Roots. We took the side panels off to expose the electrical components to clean things out and check a few connections. After some resets and reassembly, the heater was back to keeping the greenhouse at a pseudo-summer like status. Mission Support informed me that this issue could have been occurring the past few nights during the coldest point (they are still testing out experimental remote monitoring systems that are not fully integrated to the habitat). While the greenhouse was warming, I wasn’t convinced it was stable. I stayed up relatively late and checked on the heater throughout the night. I did not actually visit the facility as that would require waking another crewmate for comms check-ins, but instead gauged the heater status by the motion of Riya’s inventory list which was taped to the water tank, right in the flow field of the heater’s hot output. Fast forward to today, the plants have been happy throughout the sol and I’m hoping the heater can continue nominal operations until it is further diagnosed before Crew 291 comes in.

Harvest: None

Support/supplies needed: None!

Crew 290 GreenHab Report 18-01-2024 (Sol 11)

Greenhab Officer: Ben Kazimer

Heater on (set to 65⁰F), fan off, door closed

Average temperatures: 0829: 80.8⁰F, 15%, 1545: 76.8⁰F, 25%, 1750: 70.2⁰F, 29%

Hours of supplemental light: nominal 4 hours overnight

Daily water usage for crops: 6 ½ gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: N/A

Water in Blue Tank 125.3 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops:

0829: 6 gallons watering, 1545: ½ gallon misting

Changes to crops: Big harvest of leafy greens and trimming of some dead leaves on herbs.

Narrative:

A rather chill sol in the wonderful world of the greenhab affairs. All system and plant health statuses are nominal, which was quite welcome with other duties occupying most of my time today. The plants have been riding out the early morning watering, with an afternoon pick-up misting, and will hopefully get a post-sunset misting and light watering (if I don’t fall asleep on the bean bag chair after I submit this report). I’ve been letting a bunch of greens grow out to stockpile a fresh salad, hence tonight’s bountiful harvest. I’m holding off on a few miscellaneous veggies for a sampling harvest tomorrow that should contain one pea pod, 3 tomatoes, and an assortment of herbs. Tomorrow, I’ll also update the inventory list and leave a few (optional) recommendations to 291! Last but not least, I forgot to report on yesterday’s music choice ☹ Despite previous trends with disaster, I let out some more rap but this time a bit newer with a curated rotation of Mac Miller. Today, the plants got a pretty wide range of tunes, most notably the long-awaited Dave Matthews Band #41 Live in Rio. I think it’s quite obvious, but everyone in the greenhouse enjoyed that one.

Harvest: 13 grams Cilantro, 47 grams Kale, 47 grams Red Cabbage, 32 grams Arugula, 20 grams Lettuce

Support/supplies needed: None!

Crew 290 GreenHab Report 14-01-2024 (Sol 7)

Greenhab Officer: Ben Kazimer

Heater cycled throughout day due to warm weather but is currently on, fan off, door closed

Average temperatures: 0925: 77.4⁰F, 25%, 1648: 63.5⁰F, 28%

Hours of supplemental light: 4.5 (4 overnight and ½ from watering after sunset)

Daily water usage for crops: 7 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: None!

Water in Blue Tank 151.05 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops:

0925: 5 gallons watering, ½ gallon misting, 1257: ¼ gallon misting, 1648: ¼ gallon misting, 1833: 1 gallon watering

Changes to crops: rearranged tomatoes and cucumbers for more separation on main planter table, also trimmed their leaves

Narrative:

Woahhhhhhh we’re halfway there! While the plants did not listen to any Bon Jovi this sol, Crew 290 is halfway through our rotation. The plants seemed a bit melancholic with stressed leaves, but the fruit looked great so I’m chalking that up to yestersols dosage of Rat Pack (+ Louis Prima) vocals. To remedy the leaves, the cucumbers and tomatoes did another Martian shuffle today, this time to increase separation between pots as branches and leaves were getting a little too close for everyone’s comfort. This did come with the price of my observation bench as I needed more planter real estate, but I am willing to make such sacrifices for the increased health of these plants. During the afternoon check-in, I noticed Tomato No.4 is really excelling after previous struggles! They are the Sol 7 rising star, winning the title “Comeback Kid”. I also made sure all the herbs were staying in their designated growing regions and did my best to reduce any physical altercations. Finally, I added a little compost to Riya’s spinach, mint, and onion to encourage growth (the onions are doing great!).

Harvest: None :/

Support/supplies needed: None!

Crew 290 GreenHab Report 10-01-2024 (Sol 3)

Greenhab Officer: Ben Kazimer, Callsign “Funk”

Heater on, fan off, door closed

Average temperatures: 0955: 61.2⁰F & 22%, 1222: 77.2⁰F & 22%, 1721: 69.6⁰F & 51%

Hours of supplemental light: Nominal 4 hours overnight

Daily water usage for crops: 5 gallons

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0.5 gallons

Water in Blue Tank 176.3 gallons

Time(s) of watering for crops: 1133: 3 gallon watering and 32 oz misting, 1705: 1 gallon watering and 32 oz misting

Changes to crops: pruned some dead flowers off the cucumbers in the large blue planter. Added two Earth-based potato chunks on toothpicks to beakers with water to promote sprouting.

Narrative:

I was able to spend a good amount of time in the greenhab today, it was fantastic! I checked in at 0955 to see a relatively cold environment of 61.2⁰F. I had a chat with Mission Support on nominal greenhab status, to which he sent me some words of wisdom from Crew 289’s GHO (Thanks Riya 😊). Going forward, I’m going to mist the green guys a few times while maintaining 3-5 gallons of direct watering. For most of the morning, Engineer Anna and I measured soil salinity levels of many plants to have as reference for any future changes (fertilizer, repotting, etc.). We were able to setup a makeshift laboratory in the greenhab with my plant-viewing benches and it worked quite well! I even found a tiny pot full of unused potting soil that I plan to use for Earth-grown potato sproutings. I suspended two potato chunks for sprouting over separate beakers full of water, fingers crossed we see some roots! Last note is the now regular music rundown of the day: I downloaded the highlight release of Live in Europe ’72 from the GD and I certainly enjoyed it so hopefully the plants did too. I was apprehensive to expose our crops to rap music, but I felt like a little switch up during the pre-dinner checkup wouldn’t hurt… Sol 4 will tell us all if the greenhouse inhabitants are welcoming of OVO music.

Harvest: N/A

Support/supplies needed: None!