Category: Journalist Report

Get a lode of this
EVA 1 went out to the area near Marble Ritual, just east of the MDRS, where Steve tested his rover’s mobility in a more ‘natural’ setting across irregular terrain typical of the Martian landscape. He also experimented with the maximum inclines and declines it could traverse (most of the time we found the rover was limited by wheel traction rather than power) and conducted some further tests with its integrated spectrometer, including a panorama and additional material spectrification samples. Clare spent the time doing ‘exogeoconservation’ work – i.e., recreating past conservation imagery to assess geomorphological changes of the terrain over time (several decades in this instance). Somewhere along the line, we stumbled upon some sought-after petrified wood samples.
EVA 2 went out a lot further… i.e., as far as the rovers could physically take them along Cow Dung Road before they hit 55% battery charge (the designated point of no return). They walked the rest of the way to “White Moon”, about 4km due north of the hab and west of Tharsis Montes, where they searched for more gypsum deposits. They found plenty. There was initially some intent to scout for evaporite deposits as well, but that was abandoned in favour of gypsum recovery. Scott also dipped his toes into ‘celestial navigation’ – i.e., using his theodolite app to get bearings of terrain features relative to the sun, for future reference.
Rob spent more time in the observatory. Although the sun was a little fuzzier today, he managed to fully process an image (and troubleshoot the process).
As for the food component of this report: today’s menu consisted of garlic-cheese scones (pronounced ‘skonn’ thanks), cornbread, jambalaya (I only learned about this today and can’t provide much additional context, but can confirm it was a rice-meat meal that tasted great), and a salad, containing (among other things) a self-grown radish and delicately dressed by Clare’s proprietary/improvised secret sauce.
Highlights of the day: Gypsum motherlode, petrified wood, a radish (and soon, cucumber) from the Greenhab, Martian antelopes.
Lowlights of the day: Multiple power outages, misidentified anhydrites (by someone several decades ago), another UWO (the third in as many days), Clare hasn’t watched Aliens, Terminator 1/2, Contact, The Thing (1984) or Jurassic Park.
– Alexander Tobal, Crew 291

Breaking out the Bubbles
Sol 10 was a fairly relaxed day. There was reduced focus on EVAs… with the crew having collected most of the samples they needed during earlier EVAs, today was more about processing what we already had.
For Andrew and Clare, this involved preparing their gypsum samples for water extraction. The samples first needed to be washed, to remove any lingering dirt and other contaminants, and then ground in a mortar and pestle. The resulting powder was then heated. This experiment, although small, yielded the amount of water expected and was generally a success.
At every step of the way, Steve also took the opportunity to spectrify the gypsum – in its dirty state, its clean state, its powdered state, and its anhydrite state (post-water extraction). This went really well, although the spectral readings of the powdered gypsum weren’t fully consistent with Steve’s previous readings of similar samples, possibly implying slight differences in chemical composition between them. The more excitable of us have named this strange new form of gypsum “Stevenite”.
Andrew and Clare also reacted their carbonate samples (or specifically, the clay matrices within the samples) with ascetic acid (vinegar) to extract carbon dioxide, resulting in some very visible effervescence. Meanwhile Rob spent some more valuable time in the observatory.
As the crew’s engineering officer, Scott alternated between spacesuit maintenance (several of the suits were having battery issues) and Greenhab duties. Apparently we have two cucumbers in the ‘soon-to-be-eaten’ pipeline, as well as a surprise new fledgling cucumber from one of the more feeble plants. We didn’t necessarily have high expectations of the cucumber plants given that they had a rough time prior to our rotation with heating issues, so as far as we’re concerned this is all a bonus – clearly they’re enjoying the steady warmth. If we don’t eat them, they’ll make a good welcome present for Crew 292.
Speaking of warmth, in half a week we’ll be flying back into an Australian summer. Alas, our time at the MDRS is steadily drawing to a close. We only have one more full day ‘in sim’ before the end of our rotation – as of 12:00 local time on 2 February, we’re free men and woman (or at least, able to leave the hab without gearing up and depressurising in the airlock). The plan is to make tomorrow count with several large EVAs.
Highlights of the day: Water from rock, discovering Stevenite, discovering dehydrated chicken, Scotty to Engineering, Rob’s epic ‘hunza’ pie, cucumber surprise, discussing volcanoes/space disasters/conspiracies, Clare’s ‘weird rock’ fizzed (in vinegar).
Lowlights of the day: Self-dissembling plant-beds, Clare apparently hates puns and the news as well, and also hasn’t watched any Futurama or Star Wars/Trek (and calls the Force “psychic powers”), spherical trigonometry.
– Alexander Tobal, Crew 291

Australia Day
Sol 5 began with another interesting convo over breakfast – this time about human lung capacity and blood oxygen saturation, and whether/how a human could feasibly survive atmospheric depressurisation on Mars – at least, long enough to reach and operate an airlock. Somehow this led into a genealogy discussion about family trees, our ancestors, and their connections to Australia. Very fitting, given that today was Australia Day.
For international readers: Australia Day is the country’s official national holiday, observed by all its states and territories, and is one of the biggest events in the Australian calendar. The date of 26 January marks the anniversary of the British First Fleet’s landing near modern-day Sydney in 1788. While this specific date means different things to different Australians and has become somewhat controversial, for most it means a day off to come together and celebrate in solidarity. It’s also a day around which many citizenship and award ceremonies take place.
To commemorate the occasion, today was light-on with EVAs. We only conducted one, to Cowboy Corner again – but it was a doozy, pitting humans against Steve’s rover to compare their spectral capture and traversal capabilities. Humans won (the battle at least, maybe not the war). The team also took the opportunity for a flag-planting ceremony with the crew’s mascots.
Meanwhile, back at the hab, Commandrew was busy making improvised ‘lamingtons’ while dressed in his patriotic red, green and blue (see Pascal Lee’s Flag of Mars). Somehow they turned out great. We also baked more bread – at one point having three different loaves on the go – and improvised some ‘pseudo-snaggas’ that turned out… not-so-great.
Highlights of the day: None of the crew have known convict ancestors, Clare’s Scottish (Murray) side once owned a castle (Blair Atholl) with its own private army, Andrew’s eligibility to wear four different tartans, Rob’s Boer War family heirloom.
Lowlights of the day: Clare’s other side is a family of doppelgangers and she literally has no imagination (that’s not a joke), bread addiction, what happens on EVA stays on EVA.

– Alexander Tobal, Crew 291

Mining and Dining
Milk rationing is now in effect. In practice, this meant experimentation with some pretty egregious alternatives – i.e., Scott and Clare eating strawberry frosted flakes with ‘Orange Delight’ cordial… and Rob using diluted buttermilk pancake mix in lieu of actual milk.
We also experimented with dehydrated potato slices in the hopes of creating a super-chip (crisp). There’s potential there. Potential that wasn’t realised today, but potential. By the end of the day we also got a couple of pizzas up and running, which rounded off things in a special way.
You’ve probably noticed that I talk a lot about food. I suppose this is meaningful in a way that might not initially be apparent – i.e., that food will be incredibly important to crew morale over long-term expeditions to Mars, just as it has been to us. There’s something to be said for the joy of recreating a staple meal (or creating a new one) in a restrictive environment where many other luxuries might be unavailable, and especially in growing your own. It brings people together, provides an outlet for creativity and experimentation, and serves as a daily (for some, hourly) motivator.
We conducted two EVAs today, both of which involved a drive out to mineral sites for reconnaissance purposes. Scott also (successfully) used both opportunities to experiment with a theodolite app to help measure angles between geographical features, as well as conventional analogue measurements.
EVA 1 travelled south to Kissing Camels Ridge (another name that never gets old) and found some great samples (as well as ‘weird things in the dakota’… Clare’s words, no further explanation given). From there the team also got a great view of Skyline Ridge.
EVA 2 travelled further north-east to Candor Chasma and found some good samples of their own, as well as some other curiosities: a fossil bed (fossilised worm burrows and more ‘Devil’s Toenails’), lots of cow dung, plus a watering hole (possibly two?) with surrounding hoof-prints. They also found unexpected salt deposits.
Back at the station, Rob got to spend six hours in the station’s observatory studying the sun.
We also had a UFO incursion – i.e., a car drove directly through the station and then encountered our EVA team on the road. Luckily they came in peace.
Highlights of the day: Pizza, EVA 2 returning early, surprise salt, accidentally fossil discovery.
Lowlights of the day: Pre-diabetic improvised breakfasts, EVA 1 returning late and losing a marker pen to Mars, dodgy Greenhab thermometers, UFO incursions are escalating.

– Alexander Tobal, Crew 291.

Loafing around
Sol 2 began with more natural beauty – this time in the form of a sunrise that congregated the entire crew around the hab’s upstairs eastern window. Said sun – while small and pallid – stayed visible through the day.
The crew conducted two separate EVAs. The first of these was a practice run to test the deployment of an environmental sensor package. It began as a test of the sensor package itself, which decided it didn’t want to initiate.
This was followed by a more successful second EVA, which sought to test the mobility and traction of Steve’s bespoke rover (current name: "Johan") on different sediments and slopes (up to fifteen degrees). While the limited duration of the EVA prevented testing on all surface materials, the drone performed consistently well. Further EVAs with this drone will likely build on today’s results to explore more surfaces and expanded parameters. On a less serious note, watching Marstronauts operate a tracked rover on faux-Martian soil through the habitat porthole was also really, really special. Congrats to Steve for achieving a lifetime dream.
These EVAs also spawned a useful conversation in the hab about comms jargon and protocol – especially the nuances (or lack thereof) between terms like “copy”, “acknowledge”, “confirm”, “Roger Roger”, and everyone’s favourite: “ten-four”. At one point, we even glimpsed an Unidentified Wheeled Object (spectators who slowed down to watch our second EVA).
Most critically of all, our breadmaking enterprise reached new heights with a stunning herbed loaf from Rob. In combination with some rehydrated butter and Vegemite, it made yesterday’s berry obsession old news. We performed some further culinary experiments, with varying degrees of success.
Highlights of the day: BREAD, rover, morbid anecdotes about aeronautical disasters and animal attacks, Scotty’s 3D visualisation of the habitat’s surrounds, Commandrew’s pun barrage, AC/DC in the Greenhab, Clare’s bolognaise.
Lowlights of the day: Food tins with jagged edges (can opener must be aligned vertically!), our first minor laceration (see last point), mysterious habitat power loss, UWO incursion.
– Alexander Tobal, Crew 291

Miss Beehiving
Sol 3 began with a great sunrise (I know I said that yesterday, belay that, this one was way better) that lit up a sea of mist to the east, and mountaintops in every direction. We had a fun discussion about the Drake equation and alien life over breakfast, and Rob gave us a lesson in tomato pruning.
As with the previous two days, we conducted two EVAs.
During the 1st EVA, we drove out to Marble Ritual and walked on foot to Phobos Peak and the nearby ‘Beehive’ (immediately east). From there we obtained samples of opaline silica (chert) for Clare, as well as a sizable sample of iron oxide for Steve to spectrify with his VIS/NIR pushbroom spectrometer, reporting back coordinates to HabCom. The EVA took almost 3.5 hours (our lengthiest yet) and proved to be quite the hike. It was incredible seeing Phobos peak and its surrounds up close – including a whole raft of interesting geological formations, especially yardangs (not allowed to call them "mushrooms" apparently).
The 2nd EVA was much more relaxed and took us no more than 50 metres from the habitat, under clear skies and bright sunshine. We tested Steve’s drone again on various inclines and soils; despite a few battery issues with the controller (operated from within the hab by Rob). All went well and Steve was able to round out his rover’s performance data. We also tested Scott’s ‘passive regolith-collector’ wheel on soils of different coarseness, and got some good pictures of it in action for later analysis.
Tomorrow (weather permitting) we take the rovers for their longest drive yet (and probably another big hike once the rovers hit their point of no return), north along Cow Dung Road (that name never gets old) to the terrain north-west of Tharsis Montes.
Highlights of the day: Greenhab salad (freshly harvested) and pizza, Rob’s tomato-pruning lesson, Phobos peak (and the sights therefrom), ‘extreme’/’blimp’ shrimp, great EVAs.
Lowlights of the day: Misbehaving rover controller, Clare saying she "dislikes sci-fi", too few spiders in the hab, ‘everything stew’ that someone’s gotta take for the team.
– Alexander Tobal, Crew 291.

Rocks Rock
Sol 4 began with fritters and cereal. It was tenuous as to whether we’d be able to proceed with planned EVAs due to weather, but luckily the rain subsided and the ground remained roverable.
The sky was still overcast, and with the hab’s solar panels struggling we were instructed to conserve energy – which meant a switch to gas. Later in the evening this spawned a discussion regarding the role(s) of hydrogen on Mars. Water will be electrolysed for oxygen, which as a byproduct will also produce hydrogen – this hydrogen will likely be reacted with exhaled carbon dioxide to form methane, for use as rocket fuel (or perhaps other things)… but what else could hydrogen potentially power on Mars as it becomes a more prevalent fuel source on Earth? Assuming that any early human population on Mars will need to continue obtaining at least some of their oxygen from electrolysis, in addition to various other methods currently employed aboard the ISS (or ideally photosynthesis), what will become of any excess hydrogen once those humans have enough methane? Commandrew says it gets vented. I say (with zero expertise on the matter) that they double down on Mars’ ice supplies and turn it into a green (in multiple ways) hydrogen utopia. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me can reach out for my edification.
ANYWAY, the EVAs. This morning’s EVA took three of our crew out to Kissing Camels Ridge to look for calcium carbonates – which once reacted with various acids would serve as a source of carbon dioxide on Mars, which in turn could be reacted with hydrogen to generate methane (see hydrogen rant above). The team found some good deposits and sent back coordinates. It’s been too cold so far to reach the gypsum deposit approximately 4km north of the MDRS (the rovers’ batteries deplete too quickly in the cold), but multiple members of the crew would benefit from gypsum samples and so we’ll launch an EVA to that site if that becomes possible. Today I learned that gypsum is a hydrate material that when processed via heat or other techniques can yield water (literal water from rocks!). For the geologists in the room, this is all pretty ordinary fare, but for myself (with a biology background) it’s fascinating.
The afternoon’s EVA set out to Cowboy Corner. It was supposed to extend further, to the area north-west of Tharsis Montes, but Opportunity hit the 55% power threshold and the team was forced to disembark… where we discovered an adjacent ‘target-rich’ site anyway. This site was stunning, with the geomorphology of the long-dried stream-bed proving spectacular against the rocky mounds (“hills”?) and distant mesas. Steve was able to get several gigabytes of spectrophotometer data, from multiple types of material.
Highlights of the day: Steve’s taste in music, EVAs being greenlit, incredible geomorphology (like the stream-bed) near Cowboy Corner, Commandrew’s minerology lessons.
Lowlights of the day: More extraterrestrials (this time we also observed a symbiotic quadrupedal species).

– Alexander Tobal, Crew 291.

Journalist Report

Nicole Chan, Crew 290 Journalist

01.19.2024

Sol 12

The morning started with whisking noises in the kitchen outside our rooms. The crew began to get ready one by one, curious about what’s cooking. Turns out Ben (Funk) is making dalgona coffee by whisking instant coffee with water and sugar to make a layer of foam on top of the traditional cup of coffee. With some ice, the drink felt like such a delicacy after being on Mars for two weeks. The crew all enjoyed this special treat coupled with new apple and cinnamon pancakes made by Anja (Freebee). What a great way to start the day!

Today was our last full day at MDRS and also the day we will be “breaking sim.” The crew looked forward to hiking the hills around the station without the weight of the spacesuit. So, in the afternoon, the crew, along with REMI, headed out to the surrounding area to take in the sights and the fresh air. It was great to be able to see the station and the red-striped hills without having a layer of helmet in front of our faces. Suffice to say that it was a long-awaited break from our usual Martian routine. As the sun sets, the crew gathers in the upper Hab to contemplate dinner plans and assign station checkout tasks. Since we’re scheduled to leave the station around 1000 tomorrow, most of the checkout and packing tasks will need to be completed before the end of Sol 12.

Currently, Freebee is cooking up our last dinner on Mars with a variety of entrees including some red-sauce pasta with a side of leftover chicken pot pie from last night. Our recent evening conversations have centered around the kinds of Earth food we have been missing the most, with fresh fruit being the most popular by far. (So we were excited to have a taste of Funk’s harvest of tomatoes from the GreenHab today. It exceeded our expectations!) As we get to work tonight, we reminisce about our time here on Mars, from the first time setting foot in the station to the first time suiting up for EVAs. We’re all so grateful to be here and have learned a lot about what it takes to be a Martian during the past two weeks.

Photo of the Day: 290-01_19_2024 enjoying the walk.jpg

A rocky start
So begin the chronicles of Crew 291: the largest Australian cohort ever deployed to the MDRS, comprising Andrew Wheeler (commander), Steve Hobbs, Rob Hunt, Clare Fletcher, Scott Dorrington, and Alexander Tobal.
We arrived at the MDRS the night of Saturday 20 Jan 2024 – believing ourselves late, but actually a day early. This was a nice surprise for us but a lousy one for Sergii at Mission Control, who nevertheless came out to show us around the habitat and to our quarters. It’s fair to say that the facility exceeded expectations, with its domed, utilitarian architecture immediately immersing us in a Martian mindset. Andrew, aka “Commandrew”, demonstrated his humility and nobility of leadership by sacrificing the commander’s room (with its own porthole!) to a certain crew journalist.
Having arrived in darkness, the Martian terrain had hitherto been shrouded from us. However, dawn revealed the true spectacle of our surrounds: a vast, primordial, alien landscape of ruddy plains and slopes, set against monolithic cliffs, ridges and plateaus featuring spectacular strata and defining the horizon in every direction. Stones and boulders of every shape, size and colour littered the ground, or jutted from larger formations to give them otherworldly silhouettes. The rock nerds in our crew (that is to say, all of us now) were fascinated by the surreal geomorphology and spent our first morning taking photographs.
On Sunday the 21st we began our induction. Sergii led us through comms and EVA procedures, including a demonstration of the station’s impressive EVA suits. This was followed on the morning of Monday the 22nd by rover training. We spent some additional time climbing Hab Ridge and exploring the enormous plain beyond (and its sea of interesting fossils and minerals), bordered to the west by the imposing Skyline Rim.
This was our last chance to do so as carefree visitors… because from exactly 12:00 hours local time on the 22nd, we were ‘in sim’ – i.e., under conditions intended to simulate the lived experience of being on Mars. No contact with the outside world, barring a two-hour comms window from 19:00-21:00. No excursions from the habitat without appropriate EVA gear and a 5-minute stint in the airlock (upon both exit and entry). It was time to look, think and act like Martians.
Our EVAs began almost immediately with a pair of back-to-back, three-person, ninety-minute EVA training excursions. Both teams followed similar routes to nearby ‘Marble Ritual’, in rovers and on foot, to test suit ergonomics and comms (and to further explore and document the terrain). Barring a few minor technical hiccups, primarily in regards to our comms equipment, these excursions went smoothly and successfully.
These technical successes are not what the crew will remember from our first EVAs however. Rather, we will remember the sheer adventure of it all – the sense of childlike glee that overcame even the most stoic and professional members of the crew as, for ninety minutes apiece, we fulfilled our dreams of becoming Martians.
The final revelation of the day was something far less expected – that dehydrated fruit (i.e., strawberries and blueberries, NOT rehydrated) would become our biggest vice. That stuff is mana.
Highlights of the day: EVAs (and rover roving fun), fossil-spotting on Hab Ridge, dehydrated fruit, Scotty’s ‘meteor-wrong’ pun, Steve’s spectrometer worked flawlessly, general awe.
Lowlights of the day: Spider removal, Rob’s hilltop dancing, emptying the toilet holding tank, jetlag, an unnamed crewmember’s glasses now belong to Mars.
Sol 2 awaits.
– Alexander Tobal, Crew 291

Journalist Report

Nicole Chan, Crew 290 Journalist

01.15.2024

Sol 8

Today we got back into our normal routine. With an EVA planned this afternoon, the crew started the day with some slices of bread from yesterday. We all remarked that it was a bit more moist than previous iterations, making the bread softer and nicer to eat. With some raspberry jam and peanut butter, the crew had a wonderful breakfast and got to work. Rebecca (Chopper) began transferring knowledge of the pH meter from yesterday’s ScienceDome session. Madelyn (Melon) used the time to check geological guides for suitable sampling sites around the region of Kissing Camel Ridge, the destination of today’s EVA.

The crew suited up around 1200 and went on a rover ride to the Ridge. We all had fun donning our new and improved flight suits with our Project MADMEN mission patches! (It was a great bonding activity and yet another first for me which was super exciting.) They noted plenty of worthy sites to sample on the way there, so they made notes to CAPCOM, which is managed by Anna (Roots). Many pictures of hills with multicolored layers of deposits followed. As they settled on a site, the EVA crew, Melon, Anja (Freebee), and Ben (Funk), began the multi-step site processing. Melon and Funk focused on collecting soil samples and taking various measurements at the site (pH, temperature, ATP, etc.). Freebee collected more radar samples of interesting terrain with REMI. After returning to the Hab, Chopper went to the ScienceDome to process those samples to keep the data consistent.

Today also saw the continuation of Roots’ study of the crew’s glove dexterity. We were tasked with grabbing and changing our hold on various small objects (washers, nuts, caps, and screws) with and without gloves. Additionally, we also tied and untied a series of knots. It was a fun challenge and we’re all glad to participate in the study for Roots. The most impressive factor is that she had developed the protocols for this study (as well as the materials to carry out the tests) all during our rotation. Talk about resourcefulness! We look forward to the results from this dexterity study. Our frustrations during the tests also informed us of possible changes to our EVA equipment and gear to make the manual manipulation more efficient.

We all enjoy getting back into the groove of things at the station. Although our days are busy and sometimes tiring, we work productively and wind down in team-bonding activities at night. Speaking of, we had a great time learning more about each other during last night’s powerpoint presentations. We covered a span of topics and had many laughs. I look forward to more of these night time conversations as we come closer together as a crew.

Photo of the Day: 290-01_15_2024 science rocks.JPG