Category: Sol Summary

Crew 236 Sol Summary Report 20-DEC-2021

Sol: 1

Summary Title: Living Martian

Author’s name: Kasey Hilton

Mission Status: Nominal, sim started this morning

Sol Activity Summary: Today was the first day of simulation. After our first Martian breakfast, we headed to the lower deck of the Hab to prepare for the two training EVA to Marble Ritual. While part of the crew was on EVA, ENG had the amazing opportunity to practice emptying the toilet tank! We settled down this evening to discover a little more about each other over dinner (like the fact that everyone else in the crew puts the toilet paper roll facing the wrong way).

Look Ahead Plan: Tomorrow will be spent in the Hab working on research and outreach projects inside. More EVA are planned in the following days.

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Sunny and clear all day, high in the upper 30s.

Crew Physical Status: Crew Scientist accidentally inhaled a whole Thai pepper during dinner, but besides that everyone is still feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed.

EVA: We had two EVA today to train the crew. Both went to Marble Ritual and the nearby hills. All members of the crew felt confident and comfortable with both EVA attire and protocol after.

Reports to be filed: Operations Report, GreenHab Report, EVA Report, Health and Safety Initial Report, Sol Summary, and Journalist Report (with photos).

Support Requested: None

Crew 236 Sol Summary Report 28-DEC-2021

Sol: 9

Summary Title: One Hab to Rule Them All

Author’s name: Kasey Hilton

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: The crew awoke at a modest 8:00 and by 9:00 was eating crepes with Nutella and sweetened condensed milk. Not a bad way to start the morning. By 10:00, it was time to start preparing for today’s EVA, which took Vladimir (GHO), Ben (JOU), and I to Candor Chasma in search of alternate habitat locations. Our descent into Candor Chasma felt a lot like Bilbo Baggins’s trek into the goblin caves in the Misty Mountains. Except it wasn’t dark. And there weren’t any goblins. And instead of a ring, there was a potential location for another Hab hidden somewhere. But besides that, it was the same. There was even a weird, pale creature following us the whole way! I guess you could call him Gollum, but we normally just call him Ben… Anyways, after EVA, the crew fell into their same routine of a short nap and continuing to chip away at research and outreach projects. After a dinner, we plan to watch the rest of Apollo 13!

Look Ahead Plan: The first half of tomorrow will be spent starting to wrap up research and outreach projects and then there’s an EVA scheduled for the afternoon. The crew on EVA will be going back to Barianca Butte for additional thermal readings and scouting for additional Hab locations.

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Overcast, windy, with temperatures in the 30s

Crew Physical Status: Health and Safety Officer, Cesare, yelled “good!” from downstairs, so we must be in pretty good shape!

EVA: EVA to Candor Chasma was successful although it did not yield the results for Vladimir’s (GHO) project on finding alternate habitat locations as hoped.

Reports to be filed: Operations Report, GreenHab Report, EVA Report, EVA Request, Health and Safety Report, Sol Summary, and Journalist Report (with photos)

Support Requested: None

Crew 236 Sol Summary Report 30-DEC-2021

Sol: 11

Summary Title: The One Where They Leave Mars

Author’s name: Kasey Hilton

Mission Status: Nominal, last day on the fourth rock from the Sun

Sol Activity Summary: Today was the last day of sim. It’s bittersweet. On one hand, we dreamed of hot tubs and gin and tonics over our oatmeal breakfast, while on the other, we reminisced over the past EVAs while waiting to depressurize in the airlock. Once the crew left for the last EVA, Dylan (ASTRO) spent some time in the Musk Observatory, while Pavi (ENG) and I chatted about life sitting by the downstairs heater. After EVA and chowing down on some hot soup, the crew gathered around the kitchen table and took turns painting each other’s nails a cheddar cheese color, galaxy, or a combination of the two. The remainder of the afternoon was spent finishing up some research and outreach. Cesare (XO) baked some rocks to analyze the water content in the ScienceDome, I filmed a video answering questions from a third grade class, and some others studied the back of their eyelids. Our last dinner in the Hab was homemade pizza made by our resident Italian and we’ll probably spend the next few hours in a heated debate about which movie we should watch as our last on Mars. When we wake up, we’ll be back on Earth!

Look Ahead Plan: We will be out of sim tomorrow at 8am. Majority of tomorrow will be spent cleaning the Hab, completing the food inventory, and shedding a few tears when thinking of leaving the place we’ve called Hab, sweet Hab, for the last two weeks.

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Partly cloudy, temperatures in the low 40s F

Crew Physical Status: Nominal

EVA: Today’s EVA was originally planned for Summerville Overlook, but was rescheduled to Candor Chasma. The EVA ended early due to two space suit fans dying, but was still considered successful because Cesare (XO) finding four rocks composed of salts and Vladimir (GHO) found one potential Hab location.

Reports to be filed: Operations Report, GreenHab Report, EVA Report, EVA Request, Health and Safety Report, Sol Summary, and Journalist Report (with photos)

Support Requested: None

Crew 236 Sol Summary Report 21-DEC-2021

Sol: 2

Summary Title: A Slow Day

Author’s name: Kasey Hilton

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: With no EVA scheduled for the day, the crew had a late wake up finished off with pancakes and Nutella for breakfast. With full bellies, everyone spent the afternoon working on research and outreach projects, processing images captured in the observatories, and harvesting a long awaited carrot and cucumber. By the end, everyone felt refreshed and recharged. Today was indeed a slow day in the Hab for crew 236.

Look Ahead Plan: There is an EVA planned for tomorrow for collecting rock samples. Everyone else at the Hab will be continuing to work on research and outreach from inside the Hab.

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Partly overcast, temperature in the 30s

Crew Physical Status: Everyone is happy and healthy. However, crew journalist, Ben, is quoted saying that he “cannot be defeated by conventional weapons”, but I guess a metal stair to the shin does not fall into that classification. No physical injury occurred, just an injury to his pride and a short moment of pain.

EVA: No EVA today

Reports to be filed: Operations Report, GreenHab Report, EVA Request, Health and Safety Report, Sol Summary, and Journalist Report (with photos)

Support Requested: None

Crew 238 Sol Summary Report 02-01-2022

Sol: 320

Summary Title: Arrival

Author’s name: Sionade Robinson, Commander

Mission Status: Training

Sol Activity Summary: We arrived at MDRS early afternoon and spent the rest of the day familiarising ourselves with the MDRS Mission Campus and beginning our training with MDRS Mission support.

Look Ahead Plan: We will complete our training and assessments tomorrow and seek to commence Sim on Tuesday morning.

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Clear and crisp

Crew Physical Status: Nominal

EVA: TBC after training.

Reports to be filed: Sol and Operations

Support Requested: Training completion and sign off.

Crew 236 Sol Summary Report 29-DEC-2021

Sol: 10

Summary Title: Martian Twilight Zone

Author’s name: Kasey Hilton

Mission Status: Nominal, last day of Sim tomorrow!

Sol Activity Summary: After a late night of battling with emptying the toilet tank, the crew had a late wake-up and a delicious pancake breakfast. We quickly learned that we needed to go into energy conservation mode since the solar panels couldn’t charge while it was cloudy and the propane level for the generator was low.

That meant we spent the afternoon working on research and outreach until our laptop batteries died and playing more Durak in the window lit Hab. Today’s EVA was scheduled for the second half of the afternoon, so the remaining crew continued work on research, outreach, and troubleshooting the toilet issues. And by “outreach”, I mean our Crew Journalist, Ben, filming himself belting out Mama Mia in the Hab living room.

During a quick evening conversation with The Outpost, we had a good laugh at the idea that the last few days have felt like a Martian version of The Twilight Zone with a handful of things breaking or not working how they should (read the Operations report, you’ll understand). After trying out a new Philipino stew for dinner, we will attempt to end the night with Apollo 13… again.

Look Ahead Plan: Tomorrow is our last day of Sim, so some of the crew members will be going on the last EVA of the rotation and the remaining crew will be wrapping up the last parts of their research and outreach projects in the Hab.

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Partly cloudy, temperatures in the high 30s/low 40s F

Crew Physical Status: Nominal (if not a bit hyperactive)

EVA: Today’s EVA to Barianca Butte was successful. Vladimir (GHO) scouted and found three additional Hab locations, while Tyler (SCI) generated a second heat map of the Barianca Butte with different weather conditions

Reports to be filed: Operations Report, GreenHab Report, EVA Report, EVA Request, Health and Safety Report, Sol Summary, and Journalist Report (with photos)

Support Requested: None

Crew 236 Sol Summary Report 27-DEC-2021

Sol: 8

Summary Title: Three Cheers for Mancos Shale!

Author’s name: Kasey Hilton

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: The day started with an early wake up so the crew could get out the door for an EVA. Executive officer, Cesare, has been chasing a kind of rock called a Mancos shale for the last four years and we were going to get it today on EVA if it was the last thing we did. And we did just that! Cesare’s face lit up like a Martian Christmas tree as we entered the area near Copernicus Hwy that held the precious rock. After returning to the Hab, just about everyone knocked out for an afternoon nap. After waking up, I continued working on my outreach projects, which includes answering questions for an elementary school class and making a MDRS cookbook. We’re ending the night with fresh-out-of-the-oven brownies and Apollo 13.

Look Ahead Plan: EVA scheduled for tomorrow afternoon/morning. There’s a small chance of snow in the afternoon!

Anomalies in work: No anomalies in work

Weather: Partly cloudy, windy, temperatures in the 30s

Crew Physical Status: Nominal

EVA: EVA to the moon overlook and the Morrison and Mancos shale boundary was a success. Multiple samples of gypsum and Mancos shale were collected for a research project.

Reports to be filed: Operations Report, GreenHab Report, EVA Report, EVA Request, Health and Safety Report, Sol Summary, and Journalist Report (with photos)

Support Requested: None

Crew 236 Sol Summary Report 26-DEC-2021

Sol: 7

Summary Title: Windy Afternoon on Mars

Author’s name: Kasey Hilton

Mission Status: Break of sim this morning when the wind blew open the front airlock door and some of the crew members attempted to close it. Everything else is nominal.

Sol Activity Summary: We awoke this morning to the sound of the wind blowing outside the Hab and listened to it sing us the song of its people during the pancake breakfast prepared by Dylan (ASTRO/DB) and Cesare (XO). The crew quickly started preparing for EVA when the wind kicked it up a notch, the clouds rolled in, and a sprinkle of graupel started to fall. It had been 15 minutes of utter chaos when the clouds pulled back, the graupel stopped falling and the wind quieted down (just a little). With the winds remaining higher than predicted, the EVA was cancelled. But you know what they say, Martian boys make do. Another afternoon around the Hab, playing a Russian card game named Durak, finishing up books, and working on research and outreach projects. The night ended with some hot soup and finally getting around to watching Shrek (…maybe).

Look Ahead Plan: EVA scheduled for tomorrow morning. The remaining crew at the Hab will have free time and continue to work on personal research and outreach projects. With an early EVA start, I’m sure there will be some naps sprinkled in too.

Anomalies in work: No anomalies in work

Weather: Extremely windy with temperatures in the 40s

Crew Physical Status: Nominal

EVA: EVA was scheduled for this afternoon but cancelled due to high winds. Same EVA is rescheduled for tomorrow.

Reports to be filed: Operations Report, GreenHab Report, EVA Report, EVA Request, Health and Safety Report, Sol Summary, Science Report and Journalist Report (with photos)

Support Requested: None

[Commander Report, Sol Summary December 24th]

Crew 236 Sol Summary Report 24-DEC-2021

Sol: 5

Summary Title: Gotta Get Down on Friday

Author’s name: Kasey Hilton

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: It’s Christmas Eve! We decided to sleep in a little bit this morning. Once everyone emerged from their cocoons, we feasted on a breakfast of latke (potato pancakes) cooked by our lovely journalist and GreenHab officer. There was an EVA scheduled for the afternoon, but due to the wind and rain, it was canceled. Instead, the afternoon was spent catching up on some reading. Crew 236 has quite the spread of reading materials here on Mars, let me tell ya! Tonight, we are having a holiday dinner consisting of homemade lasagna, garlic bread, zucchini “meatballs”, and beignets. Once we’ve demolished the spread, we plan to play card games and maybe watch a movie!

Look Ahead Plan: Tomorrow is Christmas Day! A quick EVA is planned for the afternoon and then we will be relaxing and celebrating together.

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Rainy in the morning followed by a warm, windy, and overcast afternoon

Crew Physical Status: Feeling fun and festive

EVA: EVA was scheduled for this afternoon but canceled due to rain

Reports to be filed: Operations Report, GreenHab Report, EVA Report, EVA Request, Health and Safety Report, Sol Summary, and Journalist Report (with photos)

Support Requested: None

Crew 236 Sol Summary Report 23DEC2021

Sol: 4

Summary Title: Groundhog Day

Author’s name: Kasey Hilton

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary: It’s not Groundhog Day but it feels like we lived yesterday all over again. After having to cut yesterday’s EVA short due to radio issues, we retried the EVA today with the same wake up time, same breakfast, same EVA crew, same destination, but without the radio failure. Meanwhile, the remaining crew at the Hab spent time catching up on research and a few good books. After reuniting over bowls of chicken noodle soup, we continued with research and individual free time. The plan is to watch Airplane on someone’s small laptop screen to top the night off. Too bad the Hab doesn’t have any Bill Murray movies.

Look Ahead Plan: The forecast for tomorrow includes some rain, so we will request an EVA and see if the weather allows for EVA tomorrow. If no EVA is possible, the crew will spend a day inside working on research, outreach and free time.

Anomalies in work: None

Weather: Partly overcast, temperature in the 40s

Crew Physical Status: Nominal

EVA: Today’s EVA was successful with both research objectives achieved. A crew member’s spacesuit fan died towards the end, but the crew quickly returned to the Hab after.

Reports to be filed: Operations Report, GreenHab Report, EVA Report, Health and Safety Report, Sol Summary, and Journalist Report (with photos).

Support Requested: It is very windy tonight so is there anything special we need to do to make sure doors don’t blow open?