Category: Journalist Report

Today we woke up to start with a morning EVA. Two experiments were run in tandem, this was the rover and drone project. The rover project was the retesting of the thermal blanket, with assistance, as per the debrief of EVA#4. The initial results suggest a successful experiment. In addition two of the three drones went for their first flight test. This involved first finding points of interest around the Hab, these points will be explored in future EVA with drones.

First observations using the solar telescope were undertaken by two crew members looking through the eye piece. Next time there is hope that the pictures can be taken of the sun.

Secondly, the problem solving experiment was ran twice. This was to make up for the missed day on Sol 1 where the crew misunderstood the explanation of the game.

After a successful European Cultural night where pasta, cheeses and desserts of Europe were showcased the left over pasta was eaten today. Basil was harvested from the GreenHab and used to make homemade pesto for the pasta. The carrots will be used tonight for the Latin American Cultural night as part of the Peruvian dishes. We love the Greenhab!

Interviews were compiled for the WOMAD festival science tent. These videos will be used as part of a final video presentation that will be displayed at the festival. In addition, written statements were taken for The Engineer blog.

[title Journalist Report – May 8th]

[category journalist-report]

Today we undertook an EVA despite the weather, however we had to stop after 1 hour. The EVA was to run three experiments simultaneously, soil collection for bacterial experiments in the science dome, first assembly of the drones and thermal experiments of the rover shielding. However, due to weather uncertainty and overconfidence with the suits none of the experiments could be completed on times.

Upon returning to the Hab, the problem solving experiment was conducted by all members of the crew. We then ate a broccoli and cheese soup with scones.

After lunch we worked on our individual experiments. The first set up of the flight profile for a microdrone using the radio was created for the drone projects and astronomy observations from the evening of the 6th were processed for galaxy NGC4236.

In addition interviews started for the blogs for the Engineer online blogs. These are part of a series of outreach tasks being undertaken.

Finally, success in the GreenHab resulted in a yield of carrots that have been harvested and will be used later this week for a meal.

Tonight is out cultural evening for the European members of our crew. They will be preparing food, music and games from their corresponding countries.

Good Evening,

Today was SOL 1, our first day in SIM.

Each of us took their first Mars shower, most of us managed to receive warm water however there were a few unlucky two!

We took two EVA’s today one at 08:00 and 18:00, with four of the crew in the morning and the remaining three in the evening. During this time both crews went to Marble ritual where we tested the handling of the rovers whilst wearing the suits and learning our crew radio protocol.

We spent that afternoon starting our experiments, completing questionnaires for psychology experiments, analysis astronomy photos and moving equipment to the RAM and science dome.

Kind Regards,

Zoe Townsend

Good Evening,

Today was our second day at MDRS. Our day today consisted of training and settling into the HAB station.

Our crew deep cleaned the HAB and took full inventory of the food and also the Greenhab produce. Here we saw that there are numerous plants ready to be harvested, we hope to use the carrots over the next couple of days.

Afterwards we did a water run in Hanksville, we will return tonight for the second water run.

Finally we undertook Rover training and went out with Shannon to URC North Site, all crew members drove and turned the rovers.

Tonight we will eat a final meal at Hankville before entering SIM tomorrow.

We look forward to the start of the simulation.
Regards,

Good Evening,

Today was our first day in the MDRS. We arrived at midday where we met the previous crew. We met Shannon where she gave us information about the station, afterward we replenished the water and food from Hanksville.

We had our first meal in the MDRS prepared by the previous crew.

We started our training by trying out EVA suits and deciding which type suited each of us better.

Tonight we will have dinner together with Shannon in Hanksville where we will have our first group meeting together.

We look forward to training tomorrow for the start of the simulation.

Regards,
Zoe Townsend, Crew 212

[title Journalist Report – May 1st]

Today was our tenth simulation day. The night was very cold. We woke up at 7:30 am and we had breakfast at 8:00. We try to break the monotony of our routine but the cycle is still there. A part of the crew had to go in EVA at 9 am but the ground was muddy. So the was reported on afternoon.

Before lunch, the crew worked on their experiments. For more informations read scientific report.

At 12 am, Benjamin and Eléonore prepared the lunch. We ate rest of mash potatoes fries. After meal, we wanted to discuss about Nathan’s experience and his martian constitution but Simon, Julien, Carl and Maxime went to EVA at 1 pm.

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. Simon would not recommend any kind of excess regarding this rover.Once arrived on the site, they decided to climb carefully the Kissing Camel’s hills and reach the top of one of them. They’ve received an instant reward regarding our efforts with the lovely landscapes Kissing Camel had to offer.

At 4pm, Nathan, Benjamin, Eléonore and Chloé went to EVA to explored Candor Chasma and gathered soil samples. They came back to the station at 6:30pm

After that, we prepared the Cap Com. Each of us is working on his report and is going to send it between 7 to 9 pm. We will eat rice with tomatoes.

Like usual, we will do a crew meeting to speak about the day.