Crew Photos – February 28th
MDRS is a project of:
Journalist Report – February 28th
Journalist report, 02/28/17 – Sol 16: Mardi gras.
Today, no EVA was planned in the morning, so that we decided to wake up one hour late. After our sport session, we celebrated Mardi Gras in the American way: eating blueberry pancakes. The day was supposed to be studious: everybody has realised that we now have only three days left, and we all want to end the simulation well. Everything that we wanted to be done by the end of it is now supposed to be well advanced.
Personally, I work hard on the mission video (you may notice a name change). I want it to be quality work and try to do my best on it. Video is probably now the best and fastest was to reach a very large audience, to achieve my journalist goal: make noise, spread the idea that it is possible to work for space exploration without being a 45 years old engineer hidden in a lab, or to make it simple: promote our project and the Mars Society’s. The problem is, I don’t really master video editing, and even if I learn as fast as I can, I am not very productive, even if my efficiency increases every day. It is a pleasure to discover the tools we use to create quality projects, and I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a good video camera from a student association from my school, so that I am very well equipped. I now have already hours of work, and absolutely want to be able to release it before leaving, that is why I will have to lock me in for a couple of hours during the days to come.
At the same time, Xavier and Simon are writing a paper on emergency situations on Mars, and how to deal with it. Xavier is comparing it to sub diving, and Simon to alpinism. This is why, this afternoon, during a short EVA, in which I took part with both of them, after a quick engineering check, I was mandated to shoot new photos of them showing how to assist a victim, while being in EVA, to illustrate their explanations. I was also sent by Louis to test our Optinvent glasses. He was following me from inside the hab, using their video camera, and I was able to record my voice during key moments of the EVA, by using the accelerometer, triggered by a head movement.
Tomorrow, Simon would probably be able to deploy his atmospheric balloon, according to the meteo. This is why we planned a long EVA in the morning. At the same time, I will stay in the hab, filming my last missing shots, and editing our video.
Louis MANGIN, crew journalist MDRS 175
EVA Report – February 28th
EVA #15
Crew members (3) : Xavier Rixhon (EVA leader), Simon Bouriat and Louis Mangin (EVA buddies)
Location: Hab surroundings
Vehicules : None
Time: departure at 1.53pm and back at 2.35pm
Duration : 42 minutes
Purposes:
• Collecting data (water, propane and diesel levels) for engineering reports purpose
Crew members (3) : Xavier Rixhon (EVA leader), Simon Bouriat and Louis Mangin (EVA buddies)
Location: Hab surroundings
Vehicules : None
Time: departure at 1.53pm and back at 2.35pm
Duration : 42 minutes
Purposes:
• Collecting data (water, propane and diesel levels) for engineering reports purpose
• Taking the key from the red ATV and checking other keys were correctly labeled
• Taking the last shots for illustrating our report about emergency procedures and safety gestures
Summary :
We started with the traditional engineering check (which was the main goal of this short EVA). It was also the chance for me to show other crew members where the propane tank was, next to Shannon’s trailer. Usually, as she’s there, we never go checking it to limit the visual contact with other sources of human life.
After completing the engineering check, we verified the vehicle keys taken off the ATVs and Rovers yesterday were correctly labeled. We also took the key of the Red ATV to secure all the vehicles since the “Deimos incident” 3 days ago. By the way, by now, we never had a look at the Red ATV as we’ve been told it wasn’t working. When we took off the key from it, the key was turned on (on “I” and not on “0”). I have no idea about the issue making this ATV unusable but the battery is probably dead down by now.
We ended this EVA taking the last shots necessary to illustrate our emergency procedures and safety gestures report.
GreenHab Report – February 28th
Green Hab Report – Sol 16
Report written by: Victoria DA-POIAN (Crew Biologist)
Date : 02/28/2017
Functionality: The heater in the green hab is working well. Today was a very sunny day. I checked the temperature in the GreenHab this morning. It was around 30 Celsius degrees around 09:15 AM while the temperature in the tunnel was around 7.6 Celsius degrees. I switched on the cooler (on stage 2).
The GreenHab temperature was 21 Celsius degrees at 5:30PM while it was 3.5 Celsius degrees in the tunnel. I watered the seedlings this morning and I did this afternoon.
Status: The existing seedlings in the greenhab are continuing to grow well. There are spinach, lettuce, radish, and beans growing very well in the small pots. I harvested one lettuce and I planted one new.
The Vegidair has been installed 10 days ago and is functionning very well (cf photos). It seems that a sprout in the greenhab has withered and died in the greenhab however all the ones in the vegidair grow very fast.
Unfortunately, there will not be a new crew to take over after us so I am worried about this.
Thanks,
Victoria
Science Report – February 28th
Science Report
Experiment : Optinvent AR Glasses
Person filling in the report: Louis Maller
I have tinkered some more with Tasker and have therefore managed to implement an interesting function on the glasses:
When you tilt the head to the left, it starts recording what you are saying, and when you tilt your head to the right it stops recording. This functionality was tested successfully during today’s EVA, with the help of Louis Mangin. We have a recording of him giving some information (level of the water tank or propane for example). The voice is clear and understandable even inside the helmet.
The tilt of the head needed is quite strong, the glasses need to be brought to a vertical position, so you have to tilt the body somewhat in order for this to work. I’m currently working to solve this issue.
During the EVA, the glasses and the computer were both connected to the same LAN network created by my phone. The phone was on the second floor of the hab. I could see on my screen exactly what the person wearing the glasses could see, though with a slight lag. The connection was lost as they went to check the propane tank, when they disappeared behind the small hill. The disappointing thing was that even when they came back close to the hab, I was unable to get the connection with the glasses. I am also trying to solve this issue. It seems to require relaunching the AirDroid App that I am using, which I can also do by using position of the head (for example head tilted upwards works).
Experiment: Seismometer
Person filling in the report: Mouadh Bouyad
I have read the data we collected yesterday, and I think that we have coherent data, especially when it comes to the temperature. I have however noticed something weird : in most of daily measurements, I
obtain irregularities that seem very unnatural to me, almost at the same time (4pm french time).
I wonder if they are not data due to the fact that we sometimes change the key ; however, I can see the same kind of anomaly on other days, when measurements have been made continuously (without changing the key).
Sol Summary – February 28th
SOL SUMMARY REPORT SOL 16
SOL: 16
Person filling out Report: Louis MALLER, XO
Summary Title: Rose-tinted glasses
Mission Status: successful EVA in the afternoon, all systems go, work on experiments ongoing
Sol Activity Summary: sport, EVA, science work on different experiments
Look Ahead Plan: Hoping to have good weather for 24-hour balloon deployment tomorrow
Anomalies in work: 3D printer being troubleshooted, clock in the living quarters not functional
Weather: very sunny, some mild winds
Crew Physical Status: Injured crewmember conditions stable, rest of crew feeling well
EVA: EVA for engineering check and some pictures for emergency protocols report
Reports to be filed:
– Commander report
– Operations report
– Journalist report
– GreenHab Report
– EVA #15 report
– EVA #16 request
– Science Report
Commander Report – February 28th
Dear Earth,
Today we broke the routine and planned a short EVA in the afternoon.
Thus, there was no need to wake up at 7 AM: we began our physical
training two hours later than usual, after a long and restful night.
For the rest of the morning, we did some work, took time for ourselves
and cooked.
The EVA began at 2 PM and lasted only one hour. Its purpose was to do
the engineering check and take more pictures of the emergency
positions that we rehearsed two Sols ago. Simon and Xavier did the
first-aid moves while Louis Mangin was holding the camera.
After the EVA, there was a studious mood in the Hab. Louis Maller
managed to control the Optinvent AR glasses using head movement,
Simon and Xavier selected the pictures for the abstract they are
writing, Mouâdh installed the CCD camera on the telescope and got
familiar with all its operation, Louis Mangin edited the video
presenting our rotation, Victoria helped him and wrote down a set of
suggestions about what could be added or changed in the station, and I
worked on my internship report.
We have three Sols left on this beautiful but deadly planet, so we
have to finish our experiments quickly, before our departure. Luckily,
the wind will be low enough tomorrow to deploy the balloon, it was
right about time!
Ad Astra!
Arthur Lillo
Commander of the serious Crew 175
Sol Summary – February 27th
SOL SUMMARY REPORT SOL 15
SOL: 15
Person filling out Report: Louis MALLER, XO
Summary Title: Betelgeuse Broadcasting Corporation
Mission Status: successful EVA in the late morning, all systems go, work on experiments ongoing
Sol Activity Summary: brunch, EVA, science work on different experiments
Look Ahead Plan: Hoping to have good weather for 24-hour balloon deployment
Anomalies in work: 3D printer being troubleshooted, clock on the first floor not working correctly (little arm stuck between 6 and 7 O’clock)
Weather: mostly sunny, very strong gusts of winds.
Crew Physical Status: Injured crewmember feeling better, rest of crew feeling well
EVA: EVA with visiting journalists from the Betelgeuse Broadcasting Corporation, sent by Satellite 5, checked the seismometer, tested the alternative Martian navigation system, and explored moon- and mars- like regions.
Reports to be filed:
– Commander report
– Operations report
– Journalist report
– GreenHab Report
– EVA #14 report
– EVA #15 request
– HSO report
– Astronomy Report
– Science Report
GreenHab Report – February 27th
Green Hab Report – Sol 15
Report written by: Victoria DA-POIAN (Crew Biologist)
Date : 02/27/2017
Functionality: The heater in the green hab is working well. Today was a very sunny but windy day ! I checked the temperature in the GreenHab this morning. It was around 27 Celsius degrees around 10:00 AM while the temperature in the tunnel was around 6.6 Celsius degrees. I switched on the cooler on stage 1. The GreenHab temperature was 21 Celsius degrees at 4:00PM while it was 9.9 Celsius degrees in the tunnel. I watered twice the plants today.
Status: The existing seedlings in the greenhab are continuing to grow well. There are spinach, lettuce, radish, and beans growing very well in the small pots.
The lettuces are growing well too. The new lettuces I planted are growing very well too.
The Vegidair has been installed a week ago and is functionning very well. We were able to see nice sprouts of lettuce today in the Vegidair and some smaller in the similar pots I put in the GreenHab.
Science Report – February 27th
Science report
Experiment: Optinvent AR glasses
Person filling in the report: Louis Maller
The glasses were taken out today once again. They properly functioned during the entire engineering check (part of the team that stayed near the hab, not the one that went all the way to the diesel tank). The signal was lost only when I drove off on the ATV. That’s a good success.
Optinvent gave me access to some software that would allow me to control my glasses from my phone, but it still requires some troubleshooting because of Bluetooth issues.
Also I have been tinkering with Tasker to try to turn on apps with movements from the accelerometer, but I’m not an expert and need to improve what I have started doing.
Experiment: Seismometer
Person filling in the report: Mouadh Bouayad
We went to get back the data today; there was a lot of wind. We even had to put the sensor back to its place again but it had barely moved. Otherwise everything was ok today.
Experiment: Aquapad:
Person filling report: Arthur
Yesterday I put a few drops of filtered water and boiled water in two
aquapad petri dishes and let them at 35°C in the Science Dome oven.
This afternoon (24 hours after), I took them out of the oven and used
the iPad application “Everywear” developed by the CNES, to count the
red points in the Aquapads (the points are caused by the growth of the
bacteria present in the water). Unfortunately, the glass of the petri
dishes was covered with fog, but it was possible to conclude that the
bacterial pollution of our water is stable: I did not see any major
variation in the quantity of red points, compared with mo observations
of the two last weeks.
Experiment: Sextant:
Person filling report: Arthur
I used the sextant three times during today’s EVA, but lost the paper
map because of the strong wind. As a result, in the afternoon I
figured out a way to determine my position on the PDF map by drawing
the lines and angles on a graphics software.
I join to this report the part of the map showing the exact position
of the seismometer, South of the Hab, with additional information
about the sextant angles.
