EVA #11
Crew members (4) : Xavier Rixhon (EVA leader), Louis XO, Louis Journalist and Simon HSO (EVA buddies)
Location: Hab surroundings, North of the Hab to do PR (at Tank Wash : 518500, 4253500)
Vehicules : 1 rover (Deimos), 2 ATV (350 #3 and 300)
Time: departure at 09:00 a.m and back at 12:00pm
Duration : 3 hours
Purposes:
• Deploying the balloon at the acceptable location near the hab, found during EVA #9
• Since this place is absolutely stunning, tank Wash exploration, shooting of other “official photos” (with our official photographer-journalist this time)
• AR glasses testing : battery autonomy, potential mobile app (if available) testing
Summary:
Unfortunately, we started the EVA 15 minutes, the classic “quart d’heure toulousain”, late because of last minute balloon preparation. The EVA commenced with the traditional engineering check (see Operations Report for details). After this super fast pre-EVA engineering check, we headed to the location near the hab to deploy the balloon. As soon as we tried to open it, we understood we couldn’t make it because of the strong wind and gusts. It was that strong that the balloon tore apart and had to be fixed up in the afternoon. After putting it back in the engineering airlock, we took Deimos and instead of taking two 350, we trie the ATV 300 for the very first time and the 350 #3. We started a long drive to the North. Louis, the Journalist, took amazing panoramic shots on the hills of Tank Wash. As we still had heaps of time, we went on North and ended up in the middle of a lunar landscape, next to “The Moon”. It was particularly exceptional to pass from Mars to the Moon in only few yards. I decided to head to back to the Hab around 11:15, considering the ride back duration and the post-EVA engineering check. This time, pumping up the tires was away more efficient. As accurate as a Swiss watch, we entered the main airlock at 11:56 and, after 3-minute pressurisation, join our crew mates at 11:59 in the Hab.