Mars Desert Research Station

GreenHab Report – February 7th

GreenHab Report

Sol: 09
Earth Date: 02.07.2017
Written by : Sneha Velayudhan

Functionality: The temperature in the green hab was noted to be 16 deg C with humidity of 30 %, 22.3 deg C with humidity of 35 % under the Misian Mars lamp while the outside temperature was 9 deg C at around 9:30 AM. The evening (5:30PM) temperature was noted as 21.8 deg C with 29% humidity, 24.7 deg C with 42% humidity under the Misian Mars Lamp while the outside temperature was 10 deg C. The heater is working fine.

Status: All plants were watered, the fenugreek seedlings were watered with vitamin D rich water and the growth of the seedlings were monitored and noted. The fenugreek seedlings under the Misian Mars lamp shows more growth than the seedlings in the green hab. The secondary roots are developing for most of the fenugreek seedlings growing under the Misian Mars lamp in Earth soil. There is an average of two leaves per plant and are dark green in color under the Misian Mars lamp. The ones in the green hab are growing slowly and steadily. The Mars sample soil pots in the green hab has dried out completely. Under the Misian Mars lamp, the Mars soil sample shows very less growth. The growth was noted and a graph was plotted as shown in figure below. The corn plants were measured and readings were noted.

Planned activity: The growth of the plants, temperature and other functionality will be monitored.

EVA Report – February 7th

EVA Report:
SOL: 09
Date: 02/07/2017
Report filed by: Saroj Kumar (Crew Scientist and Executive Officer)

Crew members involved in the EVA: Arpan Vasanth, Sneha Velayudhan and Saroj Kumar
EVA leader: Saroj Kumar
Begin: 10.45 am
End: 01.40 pm
Type of EVA: Walking + Rovers (Phobos and Deimos)
Purpose: Sample collection for characterising the transference of human commensal bacteria and developing zoning methodology for planetary protection and photography for outreach activities
UTM Coordinates: Northing: 4256715 Easting: 520914 Zone/Sector: 12S

Summary: The primary objective of today’s EVA was to collect sample number-7 for the experiment on developing zoning methodology for planetary protection. The first five samples for the experiment were taken at a distance of 0, 1, 2, 5 and 10 meters from the hab. Today’s samples were required to be collected from a very far distance from the hab with requirement of almost negligible or no prior human presence. Considering this, the crew selected ‘Green Mars north’ as one of the location for sample collection which is believed to have met the requirement. The secondary objective was towards outreach activities for which the crew had planned to take photographs of the sample collection process and take pictures of beautiful ‘Mars’ scenic view which looked similar to Valles Marineris.

At the beginning of EVA, the crew checked the battery level charge of rovers and made sure both Phobos and Deimos have sufficient charge to support the EVA. While heading towards ‘Green Mars north’ the crew spent few minutes at the entrance of ‘Special region’ to take some pictures. After reaching the destination, Arpan and Saroj took the samples while Sneha took the photographs of experiment procedure during sample collection. Later on, crew members took the pictures of beautiful Green Mars North. The crew spent about 45 minutes at the location and then headed back to the hab. During the end of the EVA after reaching hab, Arpan and Saroj took the readings and checked the status of hab support systems. The EVA for the day was successful by completing all the tasks as planned.

Crew Photos – February 6th

Saroj and Arpan post soil samples collection

Arpan and Sneha discussing about interesting Martian rocks

Picture depicting river bed near Mount Sharp on Mars

Journalist Report – February 6th

Weekly Journalist Report

Prepared by: Arpan Vasanth (Crew Journalist)

Sol: 08

Earth Date: 02.06.2017

For many, a space trip begins with the launch and ends with the re-entry footages of the launch vehicle. But this merely is the tip of a spear. The reality is every manned mission is a complex and intertwined operation!

Dick Costolo (CEO, Twitter) quotes “Timing, perseverance and ten years of trying will is all it takes to make you look like an overnight success”. Astronauts are the perfect example for the amount of practice and dedication that goes into before each and every mission.

We had set out for such an epic experience to Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) to seek perfection and it has been already a week here on Mars. As the time progressed the team has mastered the approach for Martian life, be it simple things like covering plates with aluminium foils to save water or walkie talkie operations. The life on Mars so far has taught us the hard way to live and made each individual stronger in the way we approach bigger issues. I still recap struggling to suit up for the first EVA and the ease with which it’s been done now. Thus the odds of us being able to last or outlast are greatly improved over our chances of survival for this week as well.

Although the first week did not start with all the team members on board/test kits not arriving on-time, it ended on a good note! The team coped up well with the surprises and now most of the things have fallen into place. The botany experiment is promising and we have started to observe good shoot and root growth. The sample collections for the geology research is progressing amidst the difficulty of getting in and out the exact Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) site. The planetary protection experiment comprises of two parts, the first one is to observe the contamination outside the hab and the second one is to find out within the hab. The first part has been successfully completed and the team is planning to wind up the second set of activities towards the end of this week.

Apart from technical work, the team had a very good time be it early morning briefings/breakfast preparation/breakfast discussions/recalling previous day blunders/EVAs/lunch time laughter’s/debriefing/evening cup of tea/usual deny of physical fitness activity from our biologist Sneha/7PM – 9PM intense CapCom sessions wherein commander will be glued onto chair like an idol/dinner preparations/planning next day activities. Although Martian day is slightly longer than that of the Earth’s day, the time here passes quickly and we have entered the final week of our mission.

Last weekend was a special one as our commander Mamatha celebrated her orbital anniversary on Mars! The whole team had planned for her special celebration, the master chef Sneha had baked a delicious pineapple cake! The midnight celebration was supposed to be a surprise one however, around 11 PM the crew scientist Saroj almost woke up Mamatha by bursting a balloon while decorating the hab. Somehow we managed the celebration as planned and the crew savoured the cake!

Sunday was the most exciting day as I planned my first drone experiment along with Sneha and Mamatha to help understand EVA scenario beforehand, after months of preparations to get the right equipment I was very eager to fly it on Mars for the first time! Luckily the drone could connect to a lot of satellites, after careful pre-flight checks it was time to fly! Two beautiful ladies were up the small hill for a couple of high elevation footages and photo sessions towards the end of the EVA!

As Nick Woodman (CEO GoPro) quotes “I feel like in a world where we all try to figure out our place and our purpose here, your passions are one of the most obvious guides”. Following our most obvious guides, we are here to absorb the most of the Martian life!

EVA Report – February 6th

EVA Report:
SOL: 08
Date: 02/06/2017
Person filling out the report: Sai Arun Dharmik
Crew members involved in the EVA: Sai Arun Dharmik and Saroj Kumar
EVA leader: Sai Arun Dharmik
Begin: 09:45 am
End: 01:20 pm
Type of EVA: Walking + Driving (Phobos)
Purpose: Collection of rock samples to measure their magnetic susceptibility.
UTM Coordinates: Northing: 4253250 Easting: 518600 Zone/Sector: 12S
Northing: 4252800 Easting: 518400
Summary: The sixth EVA was to collect the rock samples from the Sedimentary outcrops. The sky was cloudy and the wind speed was pretty high when we started the EVA. We reached the Sedimentary outcrops where we found basalt amidst conglomerates, breccia and sandstone. We moved on to the second location, where we found sandstones as expected. Later, we climbed a hill ahead of the reservoir dam and we found a beautiful view of the martian landscape. The wind speed was around 55mph and one of the crew member was feeling uneasy, hence we decided to cut short the EVA and reached the Hab.

Crew Photos – February 6th

Commander inspecting plants under the misian Mars lamp

Our Crew Scientist, Saroj Kumar gearing up for an EVA

Martian (Saroj Kumar) inspecting EVA site

Martian securing the hab static tank against strong winds

Sol Summary – February 6th

Sol Summary:

Prepared by: Saroj Kumar

Sol: 08

Earth date: 02.06.2017

‘Survival against martian storm’
One amongst many challenges the astronauts would face on Mars will be to survive the dust storms which occur about once in two years and last for many months. These storms are so huge that it can even be observed from Earth. We faced the similar condition today where unexpectedly the wind speeds were pretty high than usual. The crew could hear loud sound of wind hitting the hab ‘windows’ early in the morning.

The first activity for the day began as always is an early morning briefing at 0700 hrs, but actually some of us would be awake well before the dawn to get in touch with family and friends when the communication window with Earth is still open. The breakfast for the day was special ‘Aloo paratha’ (Potato stuffed Indian bread) with pickle and tea (a perfect north Indian ‘nashta’ :D) which was different from usual breakfast of cereals and powdered milk.

Soon after the breakfast, Arun and myself started preparing for our EVA. We had planned to visit four locations, which were sedimentary outcrops, reservoir dam, igneous field and candor chasma.
The moment we came out of the hab we realized that our exploration on Mars today will also include our fight against the heavy dust storm. We found sandstones and conglomerates in the region along with basalt. We also found a specific type of lichen in the sedimentary outcrop. We found that the name of the lichen is Heteroplacidum compactum as documented by one of the previous crews. As Arun worked on his geological study at sedimentry outcrop, I worked on the sampling protocols for planetary protection by testing the agility of my spacesuit. We also simultaneously discussed and tried to understand the kind of study and preparation required to do geological study on Mars. Around 12 noon, Arun started to feel uneasy after continuously working for about two hours and this made us decide to cut short our planned EVA. Upon our return to the hab, I was tasked to check the status of operations support equipment and this is when I found that due to heavy winds the tarpaulin on static water tank had almost flown away. Sneha joined me and we together placed the tarpaulin back on the static water tank by placing heavy rocks over and around the tank as a temporary solution.

The crew spent rest of the evening relaxing and had casual ‘Nitte’ discussions over chai. The dinner for the day is being prepared by Sneha and Arpan. Our tomorrow’s task will mainly be focused on outreach activities apart from conducting our regular experiments on Mars.
Ad Astra !!

Crew Photos – February 5th

EVA site inspection by Mamatha Maheshwarappa

Sol 07 Mamatha Maheshwarappa Arpan Vasanth and Sneha Velayudhan after successful EVA

Sneha Velayudhan collecting soil samples

Sneha Velayudhan and Mamatha Maheshwarappa heading towards EVA site

Daily Summary – February 5th

Sol Summary

Sol: 07
Earth Date: 02.05.2017
Written by: Sneha Velayudhan (Crew Biologist)

Each day on Mars for the crew comes in with its own set of tasks, excitement and responsibility. Apart from our tasks on research activity we also have to make sure that the support systems for the hab are also in proper working condition. The day is carefully planned with team briefings early morning ;( The day started at 0700 hrs with briefing of the planned activities for the day. My day’s first task was to water the plants followed by a planned EVA. It was a fun day for the ladies in the crew as they were out for an EVA. The biggest question of the day was that the master chefs (Mamatha and myself) will be away and it had to be decided who will prepare the lunch?? !!! Saroj, our Scientist reluctantly took up the responsibility due to his lack of experience in cooking.

Today’s EVA was planned to be performed by Mamatha, Arpan and myself. The EVA preparation started at 1000 hrs, the first task was to pump water, dispose trash and perform regular checks for healthy operations of the Hab. The team left for one of the most exciting EVAs with the task to perform drone experiment and soil sample collection. We had to drive more than a mile from the hab as there is an airport nearby! The drones have the tendency to create excitement among all age groups, this task was challenging as we were in sim mode and that made the pre-flight checks and navigation trickier. Mars has unfriendly terrain that makes EVAs risky, the idea here was to use drone to get a glimpse of the actual terrain of the planned EVA site ahead. The mission was quite successful as the crew could sense the rough terrain that was not supporting the soil sample collection task and avoided the same for a new location! More such operations will be carried out in the coming week’s EVAs and the results will be summarised during the end of the mission!

During our EVA, Saroj and Arun spent 2.5 hours preparing ‘dal fry’ (Lentils curry) and mixed vegetable curry. This is not an exaggeration but the fact!! Each ingredient added to the curry was rigorously tested by Scientist’s taste buds. Surprisingly the lunch turned out to be tasty and the hard work was much appreciated by others. The tired crew took a short afternoon nap. In the evening, Arpan vacuumed the living space while Saroj made Chai. Rest of the evening was spent preparing documents and planning for the next day’s activities.

Thanks,

Mamatha

Commander’s Report – February 5th

Commander‘s Report

Prepared by: Mamatha Maheshwarappa

Sol: 07

Earth Date: 02.05.2017

“Challenges are what make life interesting, overcoming them is what makes it meaningful”

Firstly, I would like raise a toast to Team Planeteers for having completed the first half of the mission very successfully. Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) has become our home and we are now a family sharing our happiness, frustrations, knowledge, memories and experiences in this journey. Our regular day is a mixture of work and fun as it is essential to keep up the team spirit and motivation – we concentrate on technical work when the day is too young and then move towards documentation in the afternoon followed by a relaxed evening where we watch movies, share humorous incidents and celebrations. The most memorable part that I would like treasure forever is my birthday celebration here at MDRS. The team had planned ahead and got together to make my day so special even on Mars – I would like to applaud their effort for preparing cake in the midnight by Master Chef Sneha Velayudhan and Arpan Vasanth and decorating the Hab with balloons by Saroj Kumar and Sai Arun Dharmik, thank you once again guys!!!

Another unique and the most exciting activity at MDRS is to gear up in a spacesuit as the atmosphere on Mars is harsh and one cannot leave the Hab without a spacesuit. Our suits are our personal spaceship, responsible for keeping us alive. Without a spacesuit our lungs would rupture, ear drums would burst, our saliva and tears would boil. Within 10-14 seconds we would lose consciousness. Trust me, nothing in a spacesuit is that easy – trying to understand and articulate what we are seeing, to find analogies for an experience that is so unique. The Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) is incredibly physically taxing. We have carried out several EVAs over the last week and each one has been a unique experience that includes huge learning curve not only for our mission but also for future human Mars missions.

Life on Mars is never easy, one thing that remains unchanged is the number of challenges we face every day with limited resources but what has changed is our attitude of looking at these problems. As the days pass by, we are becoming accustomed to these problems and we work in a constructive and collaborative way to resolve the issues, which has helped us maintain the same or more enthusiasm than that we had before our mission.

Thanks,

Mamatha