Daily Summary Report
SOL: 05
Person filling out Report: Anselm Wiercioch, XO
Summary Title: Week One Nearly Complete
Mission Status: Research moving along, but slowly.
Sol Activity Summary: Second EVA to dinosaur quarry, minor greenhab concerns
Look Ahead Plan: Christmas is coming up!
Anomalies in work: None
Weather: High 37F, Low 31F, wind avg 3mph, gust 4.5mph, precip 0.04″,
grey cloudy skies
Crew Physical Status: Active. Full crew functional.
EVA: Crew B to dinosaur quarry
Reports to be filed:
– Sol Summary
– Journalist’s Report
– Science Reports
– 6-8 Photos
– EVA Plan
– Operations Report
Support Requested
– None
MDRS is a project of:
GreenHab Report – December 23rd
GreenHab:
We are afraid the plants in the GreenHab may die. The temperatures
are just not favorable for plant growth. The GreenHab is too hot
during sunny days and too cold while the sun is obscured. The
GreenHab is not sealed well enough to stabilize the inside
temperature. Almost all of the plastic located inside of the GreenHab
has noticeable heat deformation making several of the items unusable.
Also, the seeds that were stored out there are not viable. The seeds
that we brought with us have germinated but no growth is being seen
from those supplied through MDRS, likely due to the heat they were
stored in. The heater is severely undersized to keep up with the
thermally inefficient GreenHab structure. Radish, lettuces and
mystery crop are germinating very well in the crew quarters.
Warmest Regards,
Science Report – December 22nd
Science Report
EVA Proposed Plan SOL 5 – We had to cancel the EVA for SOL 4 due to the inclement weather here at the HAB. For SOL 5 we propose the same format of EVA as SOL 3 but for the other three crew members who did not set out on SOL 3 (Geoffrey, Brittany and Sean). They will go to the dinosaur quarry and explore via rover. They will also take a GPS and map in order to gauge how easy it is to navigate to a precise location. The coordinates of this final location are the same as SOL 3: Northing: 4257412, Easting: 518238 Zone 12S.
Geology: Today no one had an EVA due to the inclement weather. We noticed that over the past 24 hours the temperature has remained very constant due to these clouds that have been around. The air has also spiked in humidity this afternoon which could be a factor in keeping the daily temperatures stable. The temperatures in the GreenHAB have also remained steady. The desired temp is 75 in the GreenHAB all the time, so this is an improvement from the wild temperature fluctuations the first couple days.
An interesting observation is that even though today the solar radiation was lower due to the clouds, the UV flux stayed about the same as past days. Proof that even on a cloudy day you need sunscreen!
The barometric pressure is lower today and has been dropping slightly this afternoon.
Max/Min: Outdoor Temp – 29 F – 35 F
GreenHab Temp – 53 F – 68 F
GreenHAB Humidity – 18% – 46%
Barometer – 29.52 – 29.92 inHg
Wind – 1.5 mph, gust – N/A mph
Solar Rad. Max – 173.9 W/m^2
UV Index – 526 uW/cm^2
Outdoor Humidity – 35% – 98%
Submitted by Connor Lynch – Crew Geologist/Astrophysicist
Crew Photos – December 22nd
GreenHab Report – December 22nd
GreenHab Report:
Today marked the completion of the transplantation effort in the GreenHab. We have assembled eight total conveyor trays (four Red Oak Lettuce and four Green Oak Lettuce in both hydroponic solution and in soil) and one tray with a density experiment which was planted in soil. The slow process of sealing the GreenHab also began today. We have continued to notice that despite the near continuous operation of the heater, the GreenHab does not stay within an acceptable temperature range. At night, the temperature gets down to between 48 F and 54 F which is not conducive to productive and rapid plant growth that is necessary to sustain a healthy astronaut’s diet. In order to help prevent some of the theorized leakage of heated air, clear caulk is being used to seal the places at the top of the GreenHab where air could escape. This is a difficult process as the materials from which the GreenHab is constructed are clearly not meant to be used for a greenhouse. We are concerned there may not be enough caulk on Mars to seal the GreenHab. I hope future crews can figure out how to stabilize the temperature. Finally, the seedlings are germinating at excellent rates! We can easily identify growth in the radish, green and red oak lettuce, carrot, and mystery crop. Yay mystery crop!
Thank you,
-Sean Gellenbeck
SEDS-MDRS Crew HSO
SEDS-MDRS Crew GreenHab Officer #2
Journalist Report – December 22nd
Sol 04
Journalist report to be posted
Authored by Anselm Wiercioch
It snowed for a few hours today. That’s not supposed to happen.
Going to have to put some serious effort into revamping our
understanding of Mars’ climate. Coldest day since we landed. The EVA
crew decided to postpone until tomorrow due to potentially inclement
weather. I’m not on tomorrow’s crew, but we might need to reprioritize
some climate data while they’re out.. Will keep investigating.
Otherwise, today was a slow day. Some progress was made in the
greenhouse, and the network connectivity issues persist despite many
hours of messing with it. Felt like a snow day in elementary school
where you’re off class and can feel christmas around the corner.
Our crew engineer engineered some cinnamon raisin swirl bread and it’s
magical. The freeze dried food stores will probably start to wear on
us eventually, but for the time being we’re living it up. As long as
coffee and tea holds out, crew morale is going to be coasting just
fine.
Connor and I’s sleep schedule is holding out strong. We aren’t being
too strinct about the schedule and we aren’t going too extreme – still
a solid six hours or so per night, spaced into ~3 naps. We’ve been
ever so slightly tired but that’s to be expected on the first day or
two. Generally feel pretty energized though.
The most annoying thing at the moment for me is just being cooped up
in a tin can. Really struggling to understand how all those super
smart engineers on the ground decided a treadmill wasn’t necessary.
Yoga and pushups only get you so far. The hab’s air system isn’t
exactly refreshing either. Meh. It’s all good though. I’m sure we’ll
get used to it. Or at least, we’ll be gone before it really starts to
get to us.
We did find a massive binder of awesome (mostly old and/or super
goofy) movies, so that’s helping the nights pass faster after work is
done each day.
Nothing too crazy. The days are moving by faster as a whole.
#Snowday
Sol Summary – December 22nd
Daily Summary Report
SOL: 04
Person filling out Report: Anselm Wiercioch, XO
Summary Title: Snowday
Mission Status: Active. Full crew functional.
Sol Activity Summary: Snow on ground, greenhouse work continues, EVA postponed
Look Ahead Plan: EVA tomorrow to follow up on initial Quarry recon
Anomalies in work: Nothing
Weather: High 35F, Low 29F, wind avg 1.5mpg, gust N/A, humidity
35-98%, grey cloudy skies
Crew Physical Status: Slightly stir crazy, but ok.
EVA: Postponed until tomorrow
Reports to be filed:
– Sol Summary
– Journalist’s Report
– Science Reports
– 6-8 Photos
– EVA Plan
– Operations Report
Support Requested
– None
Science Report – December 21st
Mars Self Sleep Report Study/Crew Well being:
Last night I tried to get up at 2 am but was not able to do work for
long before going back to sleep. I know our plan was to only sleep for
three hours at night and nap during the day but we found that the
first few days of adjusting to this process are the worst. Almost as
bad as flying to Europe or Asia through may time zones and adjusting.
We want to raise awareness of the time differences for a Mars mission
compared to living on Earth. How will the greater than 24 hr day on
Mars translate to astronauts work and sleep patterns? Obviously on
Mars, astronauts will be working and fixing things every minute while
they are awake. We want to see how we can maximize astronauts’
productivity.
As a crew we are going to try and go to sleep earlier one night and
start our day by 6 am instead of 8 am like we usually do to see how
this improves or reduces productivity.
The crew seems to be in great spirits doing their work and surviving
here on Mars. Cannot wait to see what SOL 4-13 bring!!
Crew Photos – December 21st
wild. Be free, Bernie!!
Commander Report – December 21st
Alison Gibson
Commander Report
21 Dec 2016 – Sol 3
Mission Support,
We’ve been on Mars for 3 sols now, and are forming a strong crew
dynamic. Everyone is doing their best to ensure a productive and
successful mission. Three of us went on an EVA today (Connor, Anselm,
and myself) out to the Dinosaur Quarry to explore the area and get
comfortable on the rovers while suited up. It’s been a cold and cloudy
day, so the ride out and back was frigid. On our way out to the
quarry, we set our pack rat (Bernie) free in the middle of the Martian
desert. After returning, we all ate lunch together and discussed our
plans for baking holiday treats this weekend.
We are generally staying warm and hydrated; although, while the
facility issues have been addressed, we are disappointed with the
internet access. Many of us were relying on internet access to
complete tasks during our mission, and I personally need wi-fi to
complete my research project. We cannot receive email or even navigate
to a page on a browser about 90% of the time. This has made evening
communications with CapComm, Mission Support, and Shannon Rupert very
difficult. We also cannot track our package of mission patches or
flight suits without the internet. Due to access settings put in place
by the previous Crew Commander, we cannot utilize the other two
routers at all. We’ve been monitoring our bandwidth, have turned off
all Bluetooth devices, taken turns using our computers, and reset the
router numerous times. Nothing has helped. This issue is causing
seriously impediments to our mission goals, and we hope there is a way
to resolve it with the help of Mission Support.
A Sol Summary, Engineering Report, HSO Report, Science Report, and
photos will follow. There is also an EVA Request for Sol 4.
Thank you for the weather report and your support.
Respectfully submitted,
Alison Gibson
Commander, MDRS Crew 171