Category: Sol Summary

Crew 275 Sol Summary Report 26Feb2023

Sol: 14

Summary Title: Halfway through

Author’s name: Jeremy Rabineau, Commander.

Mission Status: Nominal.

Sol Activity Summary:

Here we are! Exactly halfway through our mission. Even though we decided that Sundays should be rest days, some of us found themselves busy with work-related activities. But we made sure to also take the opportunity of this day off to clean the station, play games, etc.

In the early afternoon, we were surprised when we heard people speaking Japanese on the Channel 1 of our radios. When looking at the window of the Hab, we indeed saw two pickup trucks on the road. Two days ago, while on EVA, we saw a helicopter turning around us and around the MDRS at a very low altitude. We were not aware of how close we were from the other Martian stations!

Our crew journalist and crew engineer worked hard on the mid-rotation video, and we are very happy about the result! With the weather getting better, the crew astronomer is excited to finally be able to start his observations. The crops in the GreenHab are very pleasing to see and we all look forward to the next harvests. Everything is set for this third week to be fantastic!

Look Ahead Plan:

Next week, we would like to plan 3 additional EVAs dedicated to photogrammetry in Candor Chasma. The first one would take place tomorrow (Sol 15) and would be dedicated to the mapping of the area. In the two following ones (on Sol 17 and Sol 19), the EVA crews would have to find specific checkpoints based on a 2D map or a 3D render, respectively. We are also planning to have a second geology EVA on Sol 20, to further test the MetMet instrument. We would like to take the opportunity of these different EVAs to change the batteries of the weather instruments, since they cannot last for more than two days, especially in cold weather.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Sunny, low -1°C/30°F, high 10°C/50°F.

Crew Physical Status: Optimal.

EVA: None.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Request, Operations Report, Journalist Report, GreenHab Report, Mid-mission research report.

Support Requested: None.

Crew 275 Sol Summary Report 25Feb2023

Sol: 13

Summary Title: Field Day for Crew 275

Author’s name: Jeremy Rabineau, Commander.

Mission Status: Nominal.

Sol Activity Summary:

After almost two weeks at the MDRS, all the crewmembers are getting more and more efficient in all their tasks. This gives a little bit more time to relax between activities, which is appreciated by everyone. Today was the first geology EVA and it was a success. It started by a first stop at the atmospheric instruments site to change the batteries and retrieve the data, before heading to Kissing Camel Ridge W. The EVA Crew had the opportunity to test an instrument to easily measure both the magnetic susceptibility and the conductivity in real field conditions.

On the campus, everyone is now very happy to be able to follow the past and current temperature, humidity, and luminosity in all the buildings. Human factors experiments have continued, while our crew journalist has started working on our mid-rotation video. We are all looking forward to seeing the results!

As we are reaching the end of this second week, I also decided to spend some time to see each crewmember individually and talk about how they felt so far. I know that the third quarter of any long-duration challenge (like a Marathon, for instance) is the most difficult. It is also the case for analog missions like ours, and I want to make sure that everyone is in the best condition for this period.

Look Ahead Plan:

Today we have changed the batteries of the atmospheric instruments. This means that tomorrow can be a real rest day without any EVAs. Next week, we would like to plan 3 additional EVAs dedicated to photogrammetry: One for the mapping of the area, one for the exploration with a 2D map, and the third one for the exploration with a 3D render. This time the target area would be Candor Chasma.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Sunny, low -4°C/25°F, high 6°C/43°F.

Crew Physical Status: Optimal.

EVA: EVA #12 was successful. All the objectives have been accomplished and the collected samples will soon be analyzed.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Report, Operations Report, Journalist Report, GreenHab Report.

Support Requested: None.

Crew 275 Sol Summary Report 24Feb2023

Sol: 12

Summary Title: When stomachs are full, hearts are too!

Author’s name: Jeremy Rabineau, Commander.

Mission Status: Nominal.

Sol Activity Summary:

The day started with a big misunderstanding regarding the conditions of the simulation. Indeed, even if we are very aware that a pressurized tunnel starts from the door of the engineering airlock, we were using it in the context of EVA to store material to be retrieved by EVA crews when there was not enough space in the main airlock for both the EVA crew and the material. We were very aware that this was a limitation of the simulation, but we were considering this as a virtual “third airlock” dedicated to transfer of material from the inside to the outside of the Hab, while the crew was either in the Hab or in a pressurized suit. I have been instructed to do so during my first mission at the MDRS in 2016, and last year’s Supaero crew was also operating this way. I reckon that the good practice would have been to include this in the EVA request, so that we could have had this important discussion beforehand. We have never tried to hide this procedure from Mission Support. For all our EVAs dedicated to the atmospheric instruments, our communications (in English) on channel 1 included sentences like “Request permission to open the door of the Engineering Airlock”, but I understand that this may have been lost in the middle of communications in French between the EVA crewmembers on channel 2. We now understand very well that we are not allowed to use the Engineering Airlock this way. From now on, do you confirm that we must wait for 5 minutes of re-pressurization to open the internal door of the main airlock, before putting the equipment there, and then wait another 5 minutes of depressurization before the EVA crew is allowed to open the external door of the main airlock and retrieve the equipment?

Besides this misunderstanding, the EVA was very successful: both the re-deployment of the instruments and their functional tests have been successful. We now have a fully functional set of atmospheric instruments.

The other good news of the day is the food resupply. It is always very impressive to observe how food can boost the crew’s morale!

Look Ahead Plan:

Tomorrow (Sol 13), we would like to perform our first EVA dedicated to the MetMet experiment. The plan would be to collect geological samples based on the information given by a user-friendly instrument measuring the magnetic susceptibility and conductivity of rocks (the aim being to check the interest of a rock sample before collecting it). In addition to this, we would change the batteries of the atmospheric instruments, because we do not plan to go on any EVA on Sunday (Sol 14), and the batteries cannot last more than 48 hours in cold weather.

Next week, we would like to plan 3 additional EVAs dedicated to photogrammetry: One for the mapping of the area, one for the exploration with a 2D map, and the third one for the exploration with a 3D render. This time the target area would be Candor Chasma.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Windy and cloudy, low -3°C/27°F, high 5°C/41°F.

Crew Physical Status: Optimal.

EVA: EVA #11 was successful. All the objectives have been accomplished and we now have a fully operational set of atmospheric instruments.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Request, EVA Report, Operations Report, Journalist Report, GreenHab Report, HSO Report.

Support Requested: None.

Crew 275 Sol Summary Report 23Feb2023

Sol: 11

Summary Title: The sweetness of success

Author’s name: Jeremy Rabineau, Commander.

Mission Status: Nominal.

Sol Activity Summary:

Today, the EVA Crew going to North Ridge had the opportunity to study a 3D map of the area before starting their exploration tasks. They reported that they felt almost like they already knew the place and managed to reach all the targeted checkpoints very quickly. This seems to show that such 3D maps generated by drones are very effective in training crews to explore a place they have never been to before. It was actually so effective that they came back about an hour earlier than planned. We decided to spend this spare time cooking, and ended up with a very tasty brioche and an amazing cake!

Inside the Hab, we continued our activities, including installing the software dedicated to AI-assisted echography on a more powerful tablet. It is now even easier for non-trained subjects like us to perform ultrasounds on each other.

In the context of our experiment with the Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), our Crew Engineer is now working on a location tracking system that will enable the possibility to correlate our stress and emotions to our position in the station.

Look Ahead Plan:

If the weather conditions allow it, we would like to perform the tasks planned for EVA #9 (which was cancelled) tomorrow morning (Sol 12). We would thus re-install the antenna of Mega-Ares and the weather instruments that have been removed during EVA #7. As no rain is forecasted for the next few days, we will also re-install the LOAC.

On Saturday (Sol 13), we would like to perform our first EVA dedicated to the MetMet experiment. The plan would be to collect geological samples based on the information given by a user-friendly instrument measuring the magnetic susceptibility and conductivity of rocks (the aim being to check the interest of a rock sample before collecting it). In addition to this, we would change the batteries of the atmospheric instruments, because we do not plan any EVA for Sunday (Sol 14) and the batteries cannot last more than 48 hours in cold weather.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Windy,low -6°C/22°F, high 3°C/37°F.

Crew Physical Status: Optimal.

EVA: EVA #10 at North Ridge went smoothly, and the EVA Crew managed to reach all the desired checkpoints very quickly.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Request, EVA Report, Operations Report, Journalist Report, GreenHab Report.

Support Requested: None.

Crew 275 Sol Summary Report 22Feb2023

Sol: 10

Summary Title: Wuthering Heights and Rainy Nights

Author’s name: Jeremy Rabineau, Commander.

Mission Status: Nominal.

Sol Activity Summary:

Since yesterday evening, our activities have been highly impacted by the weather conditions. The noise of the wind was very impressive and impaired the sleep of some crewmembers. We were all very afraid for our atmospheric experiments, especially for the LOAC instrument that is very sensitive to rain. In the morning, we were authorized to leave the Hab for EVA #8 and stopped on our way to check the status of our instruments, as per EVA request. We noticed that both the meteorological mast and the LOAC had toppled over. We only retrieved the LOAC and left the meteorological mast, because we were aware that the wind speed would remain quite high. The crew of EVA #8 then reached North Ridge to perform their main mission, but after about 40 minutes they decided to come back because they were too cold, and the wind speed was too high to safely conduct their operations.

Following this event, we decided to also cancel EVA #9 that was planned for the afternoon.

On the campus, the environmental sensors have been fully deployed on all the buildings and can now give us information about temperature, humidity, pressure, and luminosity.

Look Ahead Plan:

We had to adapt our plans because of the weather. We will wait for better wind conditions to put back the antenna of Mega-Ares back at its initial place.

Today, two crewmembers have trained with the 3D map of North Ridge obtained by photogrammetry. Tomorrow, we would like to test their ability to reach some specific checkpoints there, as compared to the EVA crew of today (using only a 2D map). We are thus planning an EVA tomorrow morning (Sol 11), should the weather conditions allow it.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Very cloudy and very windy,low 0°C/32°F, high 9°C/48°F.

Crew Physical Status: Optimal.

EVA: Because of the bad weather conditions, the team of EVA#8 had to retrieve the LOAC instrument, which was done successfully. They had to shorten their EVA because of high wind, which means that the scientific objectives were only partially achieved. EVA #9 was cancelled because the LOAC instrument was already retrieved, and the weather conditions were not good enough to safely leave the Hab.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Request, EVA Report, Operations Report, Journalist Report, GreenHab Report, HSO Report.

Support Requested: None.

Crew 275 Sol Summary Report 21Feb2023

Sol: 9

Summary Title: Aluminum foil and zip ties are an astronaut’s best friends

Author’s name: Jeremy Rabineau, Commander.

Mission Status: Nominal.

Sol Activity Summary:

Even if the food stocks are quickly decreasing, which makes the crew quite anxious about the fact that they will have to limit their food intake more than they already do, several successes have managed to keep our spirits high.

Another EVA dedicated to the atmospheric instruments was successfully conducted today, with the installation of the LOAC, measuring particles in the air. Following the failure of some tests during the previous EVAs, the antenna from Mega-Ares was also retrieved so that we can fix it from within the Hab. A smart fix based on aluminum foil and aluminum tape has indeed been found and all the atmospheric instruments should be fully functional very soon.

In the meantime, the photogrammetry team has finished generating 3D and 2D maps of the terrain explored yesterday at North Ridge. They started training the crewmembers taking part in the next EVAs to explain the tasks they will have to perform onsite, so that it is possible to evaluate the added value of a 3D map over a 2D map.

We started a human factor experiment whose purpose is to evaluate the impact of the architecture of an extraterrestrial station on the overall performance of the crew. To do so, we conducted very demanding cognitive tests at different locations through the campus: the Upper Deck of the Hab, the Science Dome, and the Green Hab. This experiment includes also other protocols that will be implemented progressively.

In the evening, because of the wind, the external door of the main airlock was blown open and we had to secure it with a rope. For safety’s sake, the door of the engineering air lock was also secured with a screwdriver.

Look Ahead Plan:

With the 2D and 3D maps of the terrain explored yesterday fully rendered, we are planning to send two teams to the exact same location to check the added value of the 3D map to ease the ability of astronauts to identify some specific features onsite. We thus plan to send an EVA crew to North Ridge with a 2D map tomorrow morning (Sol 10) and another one with a 3D map on Thursday morning (Sol 11).

As explained yesterday, we would like to perform another EVA tomorrow (Sol 10) in the afternoon to put back the antenna of Mega-Ares back at its initial place. The antenna has indeed been fixed today.

With the LOAC instrument now deployed, it should also be noted that we would like to have the possibility to perform an “emergency EVA” in case too strong precipitations are announced, or at least to take the opportunity of another EVA to retrieve it. Indeed, this instrument is not only very expensive, but also very sensitive to precipitations and could be damaged if it rains or snows too much.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Cloudy and windy, low -4°C/24°F, high 8°C/47°F.

Crew Physical Status: Optimal.

EVA: The team of EVA#7 successfully deployed the LOAC instrument and retrieved the Mega-Ares antenna to repair it inside the hab.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Request, EVA Report, Operations Report, Journalist Report, GreenHab Report, HSO Report.

Support Requested: None.

Crew 275 Sol Summary Report 20Feb2023

Sol: 8

Summary Title: Sol 8 – Exploring the eighth continent

Author’s name: Jeremy Rabineau, Commander.

Mission Status: Nominal.

Sol Activity Summary:

Today we conducted the first EVA dedicated to photogrammetry. It started very successfully with a stop at the location of the atmospheric instruments to retrieve some data, change batteries, and conduct supplementary tests on Mega-Ares. The EVA crew then reached North Ridge to start their activities: sample collection and 3D mapping of the terrain using drones. If the scientific objectives were completely fulfilled, it is important to make a few remarks regarding this EVA. 1) One crewmember had a problem with their hat and headset during the operations. There was a misunderstanding regarding the actions to take in this situation, which led to a few minutes before taking the decision to put the hand inside the helmet to solve the issue. This event was discussed as a group and the procedure is now clear for everyone. 2) There were issues regarding radio communications within the crew and between HabCom and the Crew. This led to some confusion. Again, this event was debriefed and the procedure is also clear for everyone now. It includes some reminders on how to communicate efficiently on the different radio channels. 3) The EVA crew was approached by 4 pick-ups getting as close as 150 m from them. They took pictures of the crew conducting their activities. This was reported as a very stressful event by the EVA crew, as this took a lot of their mental space as they were piloting a drone at this moment.

Look Ahead Plan:

The tests conducted during the last two EVAs have shown that there was a small issue with the antenna of Mega-Ares, which can be solved only from within the Hab. For this reason, we would like to perform an EVA tomorrow (Sol 9) morning to retrieve this antenna and proceed to a few additional checks on the atmospheric instruments. We plan to put this antenna back in its place on Wednesday (Sol 10) afternoon and to take this opportunity to change the batteries of all the atmospheric instruments.

With the success of the first photogrammetry EVA, a 3D map of the target area has been rendered. Now, we would like to send two EVA crews to the exact same location to check the added value of the 3D map to ease the ability of astronauts to identify some specific features onsite. We thus plan to send an EVA crew to North Ridge with a 3D map on Wednesday morning (Sol 10) and another one with only a 2D map on Thursday morning (Sol 11).

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Sunny, low -8°C/18°F, high 6°C/42°F.

Crew Physical Status: Optimal.

EVA: None.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Request, EVA Report, Operations Report, Journalist Report, GreenHab Report, HSO Report.

Support Requested: None.

Crew 275 Sol Summary Report 18Feb2023

Sol: 6

Summary Title: If the Moon is made of cheese, let Mars be made of brownies!

Author’s name: Jeremy Rabineau, Commander.

Mission Status: Nominal.

Sol Activity Summary:

Today, the crew was happy to wake up by the sound of their alarm, rather than by the sound of radio communications with Mission Support. Let’s hope that the temperature will not decrease again and give some very relative rest to the generator (and to Mission Support)! As yesterday’s EVA was postponed to this morning, we already knew the procedures very well and the pre-EVA briefing was relatively short. The three hours of this EVA were used efficiently, as the meteorological mast is now standing proudly right next to Mega-Ares and data acquisition is already ongoing on most of the instruments. In addition, we had time to perform most of the tests on Mega-Ares and launched the acquisition as well, even though some additional tests will be needed during a future EVA (potentially during the deployment of LOAC, that has not been done so far because of the weather conditions). After this successful collaboration between the EVA crew and HabCom, everyone was very happy to share a delicious meal, prepared by the ones who remained at the Hab (we even had brownies!). The other activities continued within the station with absolutely no problem, even though it is always difficult to stick exactly to the hourly schedule meticulously prepared by our Crew Scientist, especially for activities requiring the contribution of several crewmembers.

Look Ahead Plan:

As we are successfully reaching the end of this first week, tomorrow will be a well-deserved rest day for the crew. We will take this opportunity for some team building activities and personal time. This rest time is even more important as week 2 will also be packed with many activities, including the beginning of the photogrammetry EVAs and the end of the deployment of the atmospheric science instruments.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Slight cloud coverage, low -9°C/15°F, high 1°C/34°F.

Crew Physical Status: Optimal.

EVA: None.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Report, Operations Report, Journalist Report, GreenHab Report.

Support Requested: None.

Crew 275 Sol Summary Report 17Feb2023

Sol: 5

Summary Title: “Mission Support, we have a problem…”

Author’s name: Jeremy Rabineau, Commander.

Mission Status: Nominal.

Sol Activity Summary:

After working quite late in the evening on the EVA planned for this morning, we had to wake up way earlier than planned because of another blackout. Again, the generator failed in its fight against the cold. The latter reached us in the Upper Deck of the Hab, where it was only 13°C/56°F at 5:27 am. It is at that time that we contacted Mission Support. They reacted very efficiently, and power was soon back in the Hab. Still, in the Lower Deck, the temperature was close to freezing. The Commander, Crew Engineer, and Health & Safety Officer joined forces to monitor the situation, as the propane alarm started to ring. We made sure that there was no actual gas leak using portable devices found in the RAM. To help the main heating system, we then tried to turn ON the propane heater of the Lower Deck. However, only after about 20 minutes we could finally hear that some propane was reaching the heater. With the propane heater running, the temperature of the Hab became nominal again at around 11:00. Given these events and their consequences (necessity to monitor the situation, lack of sleep, lack of time to prepare the last details of the EVA), we decided to postpone the EVA planned for the morning. The whole crew was relieved about this decision and took this opportunity to get some well-deserved rest, to clean some parts of the station, and to sort the numerous files that are already gathering on our respective computers.

Look Ahead Plan:

With the events of this night / early morning, we decided to not proceed with the EVA planned at 10:00. We would like to postpone it to tomorrow, as the weather seems suitable for this. The other EVA, dedicated to photogrammetry and initially planned for tomorrow, will also be postponed (to next week).

Anomalies in work: Issues with the generator, leading to a blackout during the night. This led to a low temperature (13°C/56°F) in the Upper Deck and the necessity to limit power consumption more than usual during the rest of the day. The dome of the robotic observatory was still open until about noon, but then closed.

Weather: Sunny, low -16°C/3°F, high -1°C/30°F.

Crew Physical Status: Optimal.

EVA: None.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Report, EVA Request, Operations Report, Journalist Report, HSO Report, GreenHab Report, Astronomy Report.

Support Requested: None.

Crew 275 Sol Summary Report 16Feb2023

Sol: 4

Summary Title: “HabCom, do you copy?”

Author’s name: Jeremy Rabineau, Commander.

Mission Status: Nominal.

Sol Activity Summary:

Today was certainly the most intense day since the beginning of the simulation. We woke up a bit earlier and shortened our daily sport session, so that we could get ready for a relatively technical EVA. With temperatures getting as low as -17°C/1°F, the three EVA crewmembers had to wear very warm clothes that still allowed them to move freely so that they could proceed with the deployment of the MegaAres instrument. After a three-hour EVA, the first step of the installation has now been accomplished in an area free of snow less than 250 meters away from the Hab. The next step will be to connect the instrument to an external battery during another EVA and install a meteorological mast for contextualization of the data. We spent a large part of the afternoon rehearsing for the deployment of this mast. The cold weather also affected the power supply systems, with a short blackout in the morning, which was fortunately soon fixed by mission support. In the evening we continued to be very careful with our power consumption to be gentle with the generator. On the bright side, we are learning from our mistakes, getting better and better with the bread-making machine, which is fundamental for French people.

Look Ahead Plan:

Should the weather and the ground conditions allow it, we would like to continue the deployment process of the instruments dedicated to atmospheric measurements. To do this, we are planning an EVA tomorrow morning to bring power supply to MegaAres, test it, and install the meteorological mast right next to it. Due to the weather forecast, the EVA dedicated to the deployment of LOAC may be further delayed.

On Saturday, we would like to make a first EVA dedicated to photogrammetry, using drones.

In the meantime, we will proceed with the deployment of our environmental sensors throughout the campus.

Anomalies in work: Issues with the generator, leading to a blackout in the morning and the necessity to limit power consumption more than usual during the rest of the day. In addition, we observed that the robotic observatory has been left in open position since at least this morning.

Weather: Sunny, low -17°C/1°F, high 1°C/34°F.

Crew Physical Status: Optimal.

EVA: None.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Report, EVA Request, Operations

Report, Journalist Report, HSO Report, GreenHab Report, Astronomy Report.

Support Requested: None.