Category: Sol Summary

Crew 263 Sol Summary 05-03-2022

Sol: 12

Summary Title: Bonus rest day

Author’s name: Cerise Cuny

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: As we decided yesterday in the evening, we skipped the morning sport session and slept in. The Morning EVA was planned quite late so we had time to chill and eat pancakes for breakfast together. The EVA was necessary to change the atmospheric experiment batteries, remove one of the devices that do not handle snow well, and re-oriente the HF antenna. We canceled the afternoon EVA because it was very windy and sometimes rainy. It was a very nice rest day, everyone seems to have a regain of energy.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Unsettled.

Crew Physical Status: Very good.

EVA: EVA 16 in the morning, nominal. EVA 17 was cancelled.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Request (n°17), EVA Report (n°16), Operations Report, Journalist Report, HSO Report.

Support Requested: No support requested.

Crew 263 Sol Summary 04-03-2022

Sol: 11

Summary Title: HF Contact with Toulouse

Author’s name: Cerise Cuny

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: This morning Nicolas and Valentine successfully contacted Toulouse (that was simulating another Mars station). Even if they were the only ones working on the experiment, we were all absolutely ecstatic!

One of the crew members was feeling weak this morning (see HSO report). It may only be the result of consecutive bad nights of sleep.

Globally, the crew is getting a little bit more tired and tense compared to the previous weeks. Cohesion is still very good though. Mathéo and I baked cookies, it lifted the spirits up.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Rain in the morning, violent gusts of wind.

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: EVA 15, nominal.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Request (n°16), EVA Report (n°15), Operations Report, Journalist Report, HSO Report.

Support Requested: No support requested.

Crew 263 Sol Summary 02-03-2022

Sol: 9

Summary Title: Mid mission

Author’s name: Cerise Cuny

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: This morning, the first shower of the sim was taken. Léa only used 1.8 gal of water, which is a very good score compared to normal, non-Martian showers. We will try to all be as economical as her for our own first shower. The EVA was breathtaking. We went to the south to Kissing Camel. I found the landscape of Robert’s Rock Garden absolutely mesmerizing, and it was nice seeing a very different landscape from the surroundings of the Hab.

At lunch, we had debates about the French educational system. This debate has been recurrent during the mission preparation and some of us are getting tired of the same arguments being used again and again. We decided not to talk about it anymore.

In the afternoon, we did some ultrasound image acquisitions for the CNES, and two of us had to go through a very exhausting human factor experiment – one of the tasks is particularly long and tiresome. Marine will try doing some cheese naan for this evening’s dinner, following Clément and Crew 240 recipe. They also gave us a recipe for homemade hamburgers – I can’t wait to try them. Speaking of food, we did a food inventory and compared it to the food inventory we did at the beginning of the mission.

We ate more carbs per person than the serving sizes on the boxes, but I believe we need the energy to do sports and EVAs. We only eat enough food not to be hungry, thus I wouldn’t be comfortable reducing the food servings. We already talked about reducing portions but its provoked anxiety among the crew members.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Clear sky, warm.

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: EVA 13, in the morning, went very well.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, EVA Request (n°14), EVA Report (n°13), Operations Report, Journalist Report, HSO Report.

Support Requested: Food Supplies: We won’t have enough cereals and oat for the third week. We also might need a little bit more flour. Wi-Fi: Our Astronomer has an issue with the Astronomy Wi-Fi. The laptop does connect to the Wi-Fi but displays ‘No Internet’.

Crew 263 Sol Summary Report 01-03-2022

Sol: 8

Summary Title: Deep conversations

Author’s name: Cerise Cuny

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: Today was an intense day in terms of social interactions. At breakfast, we had a long conversation about Police violence and the 2015 terrorist attacks in France and Spain. We were stricken by the fact that even 7 years later the feelings of horror, pain and sorrow did not leave us at all. I mention this because it was quite a deep conversation and I felt like it strengthened our relationships: there is a unique bond between people sharing a common traumatise. The morning EVAs went well. Even if it wasn’t the reason for the EVA, it was nice for some of us to go farther than the atmospheric experiment, for the first time. The landscape stroke me as absolutely beautiful. We met some tourists that did a dangerous trick on us while we were driving the rovers. We were quite upset, but nothing happened, no one was injured. We always have a buddy watching the other during rover maneuvers but it might be useful to have side mirrors on the rovers.

At lunch, we talked about the Covid pandemic, and how it has impacted our lives for 2 years. I feel like our conversations are getting deeper as time goes. I wonder if it is an effect of us getting closer or the absence of exterior stimuli. The afternoon went smoothly, working on experiments, writing reports for Mission Support and researchers. We had some heated debates in the afternoon but no feelings got hurt.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Clear sky.

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: 2 EVAs (n°10,11). Both went well, no issue to report.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, 2 EVA Requests (n°12,13), 2 EVA Reports (n°10,11), Operations Report, Journalist Report, HSO Report.

Support Requested: No support requested.

Crew 263 Sol Summary Report 28-02-2022

Sol: 7

Summary Title: Back to work

Author’s name: Cerise Cuny

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: Surprisingly after a day of rest, we felt more tired this morning when we woke up than during the previous week. The two morning EVAs went smoothly. Meanwhile, the crew Engineer and I tested the broken earpiece with several radios and modes. We spotted some exposed wires which may be the source of the issue. As the earpiece has not been subject to any violent/unusual use, maybe it is very sensitive. To make sure we do not damage any other earpiece, we will think about ways to attach the wire so that it cannot get caught in anything while on EVA. Our astronomer worked on astrophotography images and tried to retrace the light curve of an exoplanet transit using the data from the New Mexico remote telescope.

We had lunch all together, as usual: we deeply value these moments when we can share the latest development in our experiments, our feelings about being on Mars, far from our family and friends, how confinement and isolation impacts our mood, etc.

In the afternoon, our GreenHab officer started a spiruline experiment, which reminded her of her role even with the GreenHab being closed. We prepared our EVA plans for tomorrow. Some of us did artistic activities (water color painting and knitting).

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Sunny, 12°C at 6pm (warmer than last week).

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: 2 EVAs (n°8,9). Both went well, no issue to report.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, 2 EVA Requests, 2 EVA Reports, Operations Report, Journalist Report, HSO Report.

Support Requested: No support requested.

Crew 263 Sol Summary Report 27-02-2022

Sol: 6

Summary Title: Rest day

Author’s name: Cerise Cuny

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: Today was our rest day, except for two very short EVAs. We thoroughly cleaned the Hab. We watched movies, played games. I worked a bit on my water consumption monitoring experiment. Shannon worked all day to fix the SOC issue, we are very grateful for her work.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Mostly sunny, thin clouds, cold.

Crew Physical Status: Very good.

EVA: Two EVAs, one in the morning to change the batteries of the atmospheric experiments, and one in the afternoon for an application testing with a HoloLens. Both went well.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, 2 EVA Requests, 2 EVA Reports, Operations Report, Journalist Report, HSO Report.

Support Requested: None except the spare earpiece mentioned in the Operations report.

Crew 263 Sol Summary Report 26-02-2022

Sol: 5

Summary Title: Back to (Martian) reality

Author’s name: Cerise Cuny

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: In the morning we did an EVA to change the batteries of the atmospheric experiments. Nicolas and Valentine tried to make contact with Toulouse, in France (simulating a different Mars settlement) but it failed, they are going to try again in a few days.

For lunch, we cooked soup with some of the cabbage of our last harvest. It warmed up the crew members which was quite necessary as the day was very cold. Just after lunch, Shannon retrained us about EVAs and the philosophy of the sim. We were very grateful to have feedback: it will help us live the Martian experience better. We then finished the Mars puzzle together, which was quite a nice cohesion activity.

In the afternoon, we worked on our EVA requests to make them precise. Some of us went through human factors experiments. Two of the crew members used the RAM and its tools to do some repair work.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Mostly sunny.

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: One EVA in the morning, went well. We are doing 2 EVA Requests for tomorrow.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, 2 EVA Requests, EVA Report, Operations Report, Journalist Report, HSO Report, Astronomy Report.

Support Requested: None.

Crew 263 Sol Summary Report 25-02-2022

Sol: 4

Summary Title: Productive work day.

Author’s name: Cerise Cuny

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: While four of us were on EVA, the others (including me) did a sport session, swept the lower Hab and started the Mars puzzle. For lunch we cooked a delicious french gratin dauphinois -it is good to know that it is possible to do béchamel with dehydrated butter! In the afternoon, some of us were occupied with prepping MegaAres -that we might finally setup outside with the rest of the atmospheric experiments by the beginning of next week, Human Factors experiments that were exhausting, HF communication tests, and astronomy post-processing. Some bread is in the oven for tonights diner.

Look Ahead Plan: We are looking forward to trying communication with Toulouse tomorrow with our HF antenna. Hopefully the weather and terrain conditions will be good enough to do our first LIBS analysis during EVA.

Anomalies in work: None.

Weather: Mostly sunny.

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: Two EVAs in the morning, both were successful.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, 2 EVA Requests, 2 EVA Reports, Operations Report, Journalist Report, HSO Report, Astronomy Report.

Support Requested: None.

Crew 263 Sol Summary Report 24-02-2022

Sol: 3

Summary Title: Critical Alert in GreenHab

Author’s name: Cerise Cuny

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: The morning EVA went pretty well, until one of the participants lost her mic, so we headed back to the Hab. The setup of the antenna was a great success and we were soon able to listen our first signals.

Just after lunch we were contacted by Shannon for an emergency in the GreenHab: we had to act right away to get rid of a fly contamination, all hands on deck. Sadly we had to get rid of all the plants, harvesting everything we could. There probably won’t be enough time to grow any new plants before the end of our sim. On the bright side, this evening, diner is going to be made of fresh vegetables.

This emergency prevented Elena and Mathéo from doing their afternoon EVA that should be postponed to Sol 5.

Look Ahead Plan: In the next days we are going to try to catch up with the missed experiments of this afternoon.

Anomalies in work: GreenHab emergency.

Weather: Mostly sunny.

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: Two EVA’s. The morning EVA went well. The afternoon EVA was cancelled.

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

Support Requested: We found a tool holder in the RAM which would fit perfectly our LIBS analyser for EVAs and would also allow us to carry it in a safer manner. Could we use it during our EVAs? We would put it in the RAM immediately after use.

Crew 263 Sol Summary Report 23-02-2022

Sol: 2

Summary Title: Tiresome cognitive experiments.

Author’s name: Cerise Cuny

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: This morning we woke up with a Mars polar landscape, and immediately knew that the EVA would be jeopardized because of the snow. In the end, it was decided with mission support that we would only get out to change the batteries of the atmospheric experiment. It was a brief EVA (40 minutes); the landscape was beautiful. The Crew members that stayed in the Hab performed the ultrasound experiment for the CNES. After the EVA, our Crew Engineer repaired the faulty suit and swept the corridors.

In the afternoon, we went through our experiments just as planned. Mathéo and Marine did our human factors experiment, we all were subjects and operators for the ultrasound experiment, and Nicolas and I were subjects of a cognitive experiment. This last one was particularly exhausting: we had to teleoperate a rover lying on the side (among other body positions). I was totally disoriented, I flipped the rover, and it took me 15 minutes to get it back on its wheels! Nicolas is also frustrated because he flipped the rover too: this experiment may have an impact on our mood.

Look Ahead Plan: If the weather allows it, we will set up the antenna during the EVA to be able to start communicating with Toulouse, France (simulating another mars station) and explore a predefined geological area of interest for LIBS analysis. The afternoon will be less intense than today, just a few experiments and hopefully some rest.

Anomalies in work: None to report.

Weather: Cloudy, windy.

Crew Physical Status: Good.

EVA: One performed, everything went fine.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, 2 EVA Requests, EVA Report, Operations Report, Journalist Report, Astronomy Report, HSO Report.

Support Requested: We are out of garbage bags, and digesters. Just in case it did not reach the right person yesterday: it would be more convenient for us to have a second working GPS for tomorrow’s EVA as we need to record the GPS information of the observed point. Currently, only one GPS is working, it would be better to have another one for redundancy.