Category: Journalist Report

Author: Maria Grulich

Title: Love, Bacon and Cookies – It’s Valentine’s Day

Today is a very special day for the crew! It’s the start of the leadership rotation and also it is Valentine’s Day!

The crew has prepared some cookies and our new commander and XO, Dave and Nathan prepared everyone a breakfast of eggs and bacon as a surprise for the crew. After watching The Martian last night, the crew is thinking on how Matt Damon solved the persistent problems with living on Mars. Now the crew is thinking how to germinate potatoes here!

Currently our most valuable resource is data. We solved the water problem by changing the way we clean dishes, so we are on one refill a day. Regarding the data, we still have to investigate the anomaly.

Today only one EVA was planned with the objective of flying the drone for the first time. The preparation went smoothly since we have fixed and inventoried the EVA suits. The crew composed of Natalia (GHO), Daniel (HSO), Veronica (ENG) and Maria (Media) stepped out at 1030 and the weather was cloudy, but stable with a slight wind. Directly after leaving the Hab, the drone was tested to see how it performs and it worked fine. After a couple of tests flights, it was decided to keep moving to a higher altitude to take pictures with the drone from there. After 10 more minutes in the weather conditions changed and it was decided to abort the EVA. It seems like the North Ridge is our curse. 3 EVAs planned there and three cancelations. The crew is still very determined to explore the North Ridge during this rotation.

After the short EVA, the crew found themselves with some free time which gave us the opportunity to exchange our Secret Cupid gifts. Every crew member brought a small gift for another crew member and it was exciting to see who picked whom and it was accompanied with heart shaped Martian cookies.

Today also gave time to start for the video project as well as the detailed categorization and analysis of the rock samples. On one of the rocks that was brought back from Candor Chasma, a skeleton was found. It is probably a skeleton from a scorpion which is a really interesting finding.

Tomorrow, there will be time for more indoor activities and outreach activities.

Ad Astra!

Crew 205 Crew Journalist Report 13-FEB-2019 Sol 2

Author: Maria Grulich

Title: Water, Water, Everywhere

After our Spanish night yesterday, the girls decided to open the first water-efficient hair wash salon on Mars. It felt like on Earth we just had to skimp on the extra products 🙂

After this, the crew woke up refreshed and ready to tackle another day on Mars, including another 4 hour EVA. Dave, Hannah, Veronica, and Nathan left at 10:25 to go towards Candor Chasma. Exploring the cannon, they found beautiful rocks which seemed to be perfectly smooth, a sign of past liquid water. Dave and Nathan seemed to be bighorn sheep in their former life climbing up the Martian mountains.

The team achieved all its objectives and even had time to take some pictures.

The Hab team checked all EVA suits and replaced several batteries to make sure that all EVA suits are working properly before going out.

At 15:00 the second EVA had the plan to go up the mountain and take some samples and fly the drone to take pictures of the terrain. Unfortunately, the wind picked up and we decided not to take out the drone. Still, we planned to collect samples of stratified layers.

Once we stepped out and climbed the first hills the weather changed, and the team could only collect one sample out of the planed 4 of the stratified layers.

The team returned after 50 min. The fog inside the helmet made it very hard to climb down the mountain. Still, the day will be used to do an analysis of the samples, to prepare astronomy observation, maintain the Hab, water the GreenHab, and start the first videos about life on Mars. We also met yesterday’s goal of using only one loft tank of water.

One lesson learned is that data and water are currently our most precious resources and more measures to protect these resources have to be taken.

After the work is done and all reports are submitted the crew 205 will have a movie night.

Ad Astra!

Crew 205 Crew Journalist Report 12-FEB-2019

Sol 2

Author: Maria Grulich

Title: EVAs EVAs…

Second day on Mars we woke up with the smell of scrambled eggs and spam and self-made brownies that we prepared last night.

As a lesson learned we started to prepare earlier today for the morning EVA to collect rock samples.

The EVA 1 crew: Nathan, Daniel, Natalia and Maria left the hab at 0930AM. First, EVA1 crew took some pictures with signs for outreach before heading to the White Moon area using the rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

The road was windy, and every corner revealed a new area of Mars. Opportunity rover was doing great whereas the Spirit rover concerned EVA1 crew more, as the State of Charge seems to be dropping fast. Therefore, EVA1 had to stop earlier than planned to start walking by foot and leave the rovers behind.

Finding the White Moon seems to be more challenging than earlier EVAs as the road was not properly marked and the helmets of the space suits kept fogging and limiting visibility. EVA1 lost communication with the hab because they were out of reach of the communication system, which added more challenges.

During this walk the blazing Sun revealed shimmers and flashes of light from the crews´ visors that were actually shiny rocks (believed to be quartz containing crystals) underneath their feet. They stopped to retrieve these jewels in the desert as their first sample of the day.

EVA1 crew kept on walking, stopping from time to time to figure out where they actually were until they arrived at their desired location: White Moon. The white soil of the hill they stopped on let us guess why they called it the Moon. Small stains of red underneath the chalk-white hill intrigued the crew, and a short hit with the hammer revealed a bright red soil underneath. Described as a geological “red velvet cake”, it was great for their samples.

The curiosity kept running through EVA1 crew veins and let them keep moving anuntil they found crevice. Everyone of that EVA got so excited as this indicated that there had been water running through this land a long time ago. Two crew members climbed down into the crevice to take samples of the different sediments.

While EVA1 were busy in the White Moon, the rest of the crew were busy working in the hab. The crew astronomer was busy working on photometry and setting up new observation for tonight. Work in the GreenHab was also ongoing by watering the plants and making sure everything is in place.

Pumped up with excitement of their discoveries, the crew went back towards the hab where the support crew welcomed them with a hot chicken soup.

Just one hour later after EVA1 crew arrived EVA2 crew was about to get ready. During the preparation it was clear that not all space suits are working properly, and we are unclear on how long they have to be charged before being used again.

As there were not enough spare suits that not had been used before, or where the fans are running properly, the commander came to the decision that the EVA2 has to be scrubbed. It was a tough call but Safety first.

After that first difficult decision the team meeting was all about how to improve the EVA preparation to achieve two EVAs a day that would accommodate all our science objectives. During the analysis of the first rock samples in the science dome it was observed that the state of charge of the solar panels dropped significantly and that was a wakeup call for everyone:

Mars is not easy it is hard.

We have to keep more focus on the maintenance of the habitat while being focused on our personal goals. Still the crew found time for their first yoga sessions and preparing for the Martian Spanish night with tapas and Spanish jamón.

Tomorrow we will be planning for two EVAs again and making sure to keep checking and preparing accordingly.

Ad Astra!

Crew 205 Crew Journalist Report 12-FEB-2019

Sol 2

Author: Maria Grulich

Title: EVAs EVAs…

Second day on Mars we woke up with the smell of scrambled eggs and spam and self-made brownies that we prepared last night.

As a lesson learned we started to prepare earlier today for the morning EVA to collect rock samples.

The EVA 1 crew: Nathan, Daniel, Natalia and Maria left the hab at 0930AM. First, EVA1 crew took some pictures with signs for outreach before heading to the White Moon area using the rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

The road was windy, and every corner revealed a new area of Mars. Opportunity rover was doing great whereas the Spirit rover concerned EVA1 crew more, as the State of Charge seems to be dropping fast. Therefore, EVA1 had to stop earlier than planned to start walking by foot and leave the rovers behind.

Finding the White Moon seems to be more challenging than earlier EVAs as the road was not properly marked and the helmets of the space suits kept fogging and limiting visibility. EVA1 lost communication with the hab because they were out of reach of the communication system, which added more challenges.

During this walk the blazing Sun revealed shimmers and flashes of light from the crews´ visors that were actually shiny rocks (believed to be quartz containing crystals) underneath their feet. They stopped to retrieve these jewels in the desert as their first sample of the day.

EVA1 crew kept on walking, stopping from time to time to figure out where they actually were until they arrived at their desired location: White Moon. The white soil of the hill they stopped on let us guess why they called it the Moon. Small stains of red underneath the chalk-white hill intrigued the crew, and a short hit with the hammer revealed a bright red soil underneath. Described as a geological “red velvet cake”, it was great for their samples.

The curiosity kept running through EVA1 crew veins and let them keep moving anuntil they found crevice. Everyone of that EVA got so excited as this indicated that there had been water running through this land a long time ago. Two crew members climbed down into the crevice to take samples of the different sediments.

While EVA1 were busy in the White Moon, the rest of the crew were busy working in the hab. The crew astronomer was busy working on photometry and setting up new observation for tonight. Work in the GreenHab was also ongoing by watering the plants and making sure everything is in place.

Pumped up with excitement of their discoveries, the crew went back towards the hab where the support crew welcomed them with a hot chicken soup.

Just one hour later after EVA1 crew arrived EVA2 crew was about to get ready. During the preparation it was clear that not all space suits are working properly, and we are unclear on how long they have to be charged before being used again.

As there were not enough spare suits that not had been used before, or where the fans are running properly, the commander came to the decision that the EVA2 has to be scrubbed. It was a tough call but Safety first.

After that first difficult decision the team meeting was all about how to improve the EVA preparation to achieve two EVAs a day that would accommodate all our science objectives. During the analysis of the first rock samples in the science dome it was observed that the state of charge of the solar panels dropped significantly and that was a wakeup call for everyone:

Mars is not easy it is hard.

We have to keep more focus on the maintenance of the habitat while being focused on our personal goals. Still the crew found time for their first yoga sessions and preparing for the Martian Spanish night with tapas and Spanish jamón.

Tomorrow we will be planning for two EVAs again and making sure to keep checking and preparing accordingly.

Ad Astra!

Crew 205 Crew Journalist Report 11-FEB-2019 Sol 1

Author: Maria Grulich

Title: One small step…

Today we woke up on Mars! The weather looks great, the Red Planet is really showing us its best side. We are just not sure what the white crystal soil is outside…

The morning was preparing for our first crew EVA: Daniel (HSO), Dave (XO), Hannah (COMMS) and Nathan (GHO) are ready to step on Mars to explore the wonders of the Red Planet. Due to the unexpected white crystal soil, crew 205 was instructed to a different location closer located to the hab, near the rock formation known as the “Kissing Camel”. Maria (Media) was in the role of Hab Control as EVA support.

The EVA started with getting into the rovers which seems to be challenging to get used to, due to the size of the space suit (described as “a mid-western barn” by our XO). Once at the location, the new habitants of Mars collected their first samples. These samples will be used later for growing plants in the base’s GreenHab. Communication between Hab and EVA1 crew was difficult due to issues with microphones and distortion.

The second EVA at 1500 with Natalia (Commander), Ghanim (Astro), Veronica (Engineer) and Maria (Media) was supported by Daniel and Hannah as Hab Control. The sun was shining and walking on the red planet was a lot harder than expected. The EVA2 crew members collected another sample.

Earlier than expected the crew experienced rising temperatures in their suits and increasing fog affecting the view. The EVA2 crew therefore decided to return early to avoid overheating. Walking on Mars seems to be easier than it actually is.

The support crew was ready to welcome them with water to cool everyone down.

The lesson for the following days is to reduce the number of layers EVA crews wear, as due to the additional weight of the space suits the body temperature is raised naturally and less warm clothing is needed.

The day was closed with our first dinner on Mars serving mashed potatoes, spam and the first harvested carrots of the Green Hab!

We are very excited for the days to come and hope that we keep the spirit up!

Ad Astra!

Crew 205 Crew Journalist Report 10-FEB-2019 Sol 0

Author: Maria Grulich

Title: Landing on Mars and Handover of Command

3…2…1 Mars is calling, and we must go! The Eagle has landed! After spending several months preparing for this mission, 8 crew members from the USA, Spain, Germany, UK and Kuwait arrived at the lab.

The first day was focusing on exchanging information and get hands on learning how to run the MDRS. Everyone was talking about how to cook on Mars, maintaining the water, and living in the isolation of Mars. The night provided us with a gorgeous view of the stars. Thousands of stars above us like we have never seen before, it is breath taking!

Today the crew woke up after a night inside the Hab, which hosted 12 Martians. Blueberry pancakes with maple syrup and coffee put energy inside every crew member.

Early in the morning the two crews gathered outside to take pictures and watch the handover of command. Avishek, the commander from crew 204, shook Natalia´s hand with a smile to pass her the responsibility of commanding the International Emerging Space Leaders Crew 205. Two exciting weeks with a lot of experiments, EVAs and studies to understand leadership in such a diverse crew are ahead of us.

But SAFETY first! So we held a briefing with Attila at 1100. At 1500 the first group of four gathered to get familiar with the rovers and the second crew followed in the afternoon.

Tonight, Crew 205 will hold its first team meeting to go over our research goals, tomorrow´s EVAs, and the standard ISS voice protocol.

Tomorrow we will enter the sim and we can’t wait!

Ad Astra!

Crew 204 Crew Journalist Report 08-FEB-2019

Author: Sonal Baberwal

Title: When we left Earth!

Good Morning Earthlings! The final morning on this soil. Yes, we are returning back to the Earth. Probably the re-entry module has been aligned on the launchpad. But we will miss this place a lot. A completely new world! This isolation acted as a detox from the regular world. It was necessary to have self-analysis. A lot of things have been learnt from this mission.

Another morning starts where the crew had been involved in cleaning the Hab. we had the final two general purpose EVAs. the morning EVA was performed by the Commander and myself followed by the GreenHab Officer and the Crew Engineer.

The day passed by really quickly with no awareness of time! I would like to share a short poem I wrote for MDRS experience, pardon me if not up to date!

“The plants, the lab,
The rovers, the Hab.
The love, the care,
The friendship we share.
The food to cook,
The windows we look.
The signing in and signing off,
The mission support and Cap Com.
The EVAs we risked,
Yes, everything will be missed!”
~ Sonal Baberwal.

Congratulations to the Crew and the mission support for this successful mission. This is Sonal Baberwal, HSO and Crew Journalist reporting live for the last time from the upper deck of the Habitat and signing off on the final day! I wish very good luck and best wishes to Crew 205. Stay connected to hear new stories from Crew 205!

Crew 204 Journalist Report 07-FEB-2019

Author: Sonal Baberwal (HSO & Crew Journalist)

Good Morning from Mars!

The morning seems early today. This was the day we all have been eagerly waiting for! A lot of hope and enthusiasm had been preserved for this day. Today the crew woke up pretty early than the regular schedule as the day had something special. We all started preparing for the EVA.

This has been really exciting because our rover is ready and scheduled to be operated from Earth (India). We got ready and suited up in the Spacesuit with heartbeats that could be heard loud. Will this attempt be a successful one? Is that a dream coming true that a rover will be operated from a remote location from Earth on MDRS terrains? Yes, it is possible! Salute to our technology and emerging IoT trend!

The rover had been operated for 51 seconds from Earth by Mr. Harish Ajankar from Sipna College of Engineering and Technology, India in front of the Professors of the University. The biggest challenge was to find a flexible time for the EVA that supports different time zones. Thanks to mission support for their cooperation and support to make this happen into reality.

It was a pretty good experience to observe the rover crawling on the MDRS terrains which have been operated from India. I believe this legacy will turn into an inspirational and motivational example for the young generation and someday participate in this simulation.

The day has been followed by daily activities. The evenings have been really good as we have been enjoying games and movies together living the final days of simulation to the fullest!

The day had been really interesting in terms of the activities we have been performing. Looking forward to a new sunrise. This is Sonal Baberwal, HSO and Crew Journalist reporting live from the upper deck of the Habitat! Stay connected to know more about our last days of the simulation.

Crew 204 Journalist Report 05-FEB-2019

Title: The Friendship Algorithm

Author: Sonal Baberwal

Good Morning from Mars! Hello Earthlings. So how does our day starts? The very first thing we do is go to the window and observe the beauty of this place. Seems like the mountains have covered themselves by a red blanket.

This complete isolation is helping ourself to learn more about self. To make us aware of our weaknesses and overcome them with lot of courage. I have been learning many soft skills from the crew. When you observe someone for a lot of time, you eventually start becoming like them. I couldn’t stop sanitizing my hands before everything because of cleanliness habits of Space Bot. I couldn’t work hard all day and wait for the evening for mind refreshing games and movies that had been eventually taking place because of Cosmos. Nothing ever taught me to be such a brave heart and good sense of humor like the Commander of the crew. I am thankful to Mars Desert Research Station for this opportunity to get oneself analyzed.

Today had been really an interesting day. Space Bot had successfully assembled and tested the rover inside the RAMM and further did a demonstration to test remotely which was operated by Harish Ajankar of Sipna College of Engineering and Technology, India.

Commander Avishek Ghosh had interesting results in his composition of soils that he had been analyzing along with continuing his research in 3D printing.

Our GreenHab officer Cosmos had been welcoming the new sprouts that have spread their leaves in this soil. He had been engaged in taking care of the GreenHab with regular activities.

Followed by the delicious lunch cooked by the Commander, Rice and Lentils are just the Martian thing. Myself and Space Bot performed a short walking EVA around the Hab. Our main objective was to capture images via rover and operate it outdoor. This was a total new experience where we walked in strong winds and felt like a plastic bag drifting throughout the wind wanted to start again (Katty Perry, Fireworks). We had been on the top of the mountain where it was beautiful to observe our Hab from the top waving to the commander. It had been difficult to believe that we climbed the top of the mountain and observing the new perspective of nature. I wish I had words to describe about the view.

The day had been really interesting in terms of the activities we have been performing. Looking forward to a new sunrise with a hope in better weather conditions to support the EVA. This is Sonal Baberwal, HSO and Crew Journalist reporting live from the upper deck of the Habitat! Stay connected to know more about the application of our results.

Crew 204 Journalist Report 05-FEB-2019

Title: The Friendship Algorithm

Author: Sonal Baberwal

Good Morning from Mars! Hello Earthlings. So how does our day starts? The very first thing we do is go to the window and observe the beauty of this place. Seems like the mountains have covered themselves by a red blanket.

This complete isolation is helping ourself to learn more about self. To make us aware of our weaknesses and overcome them with lot of courage. I have been learning many soft skills from the crew. When you observe someone for a lot of time, you eventually start becoming like them. I couldn’t stop sanitizing my hands before everything because of cleanliness habits of Space Bot. I couldn’t work hard all day and wait for the evening for mind refreshing games and movies that had been eventually taking place because of Cosmos. Nothing ever taught me to be such a brave heart and good sense of humor like the Commander of the crew. I am thankful to Mars Desert Research Station for this opportunity to get oneself analyzed.

Today had been really an interesting day. Space Bot had successfully assembled and tested the rover inside the RAMM and further did a demonstration to test remotely which was operated by Harish Ajankar of Sipna College of Engineering and Technology, India.

Commander Avishek Ghosh had interesting results in his composition of soils that he had been analyzing along with continuing his research in 3D printing.

Our GreenHab officer Cosmos had been welcoming the new sprouts that have spread their leaves in this soil. He had been engaged in taking care of the GreenHab with regular activities.

Followed by the delicious lunch cooked by the Commander, Rice and Lentils are just the Martian thing. Myself and Space Bot performed a short walking EVA around the Hab. Our main objective was to capture images via rover and operate it outdoor. This was a total new experience where we walked in strong winds and felt like a plastic bag drifting throughout the wind wanted to start again (Katty Perry, Fireworks). We had been on the top of the mountain where it was beautiful to observe our Hab from the top waving to the commander. It had been difficult to believe that we climbed the top of the mountain and observing the new perspective of nature. I wish I had words to describe about the view.

The day had been really interesting in terms of the activities we have been performing. Looking forward to a new sunrise with a hope in better weather conditions to support the EVA. This is Sonal Baberwal, HSO and Crew Journalist reporting live from the upper deck of the Habitat! Stay connected to know more about the application of our results.