MARS DESERT RESEARCH STATION

Astronomy Report – February 27th

ASTRONOMY REPORT

SOL 15

NAME:  Mouadh Bouayad            CREW: 175

DATE: 02/27/2017

DATE OF OBSERVATION: 02/26/2017
SKY CONDITIONS: mostly clear, few clouds here and there.
WIND CONDITIONS: no wind
OBSERVATION START TIME: 8:00 pm
OBSERVATION END TIME: 12:00 am
SUMMARY: Arthur and I went to the observatory to observe Andromeda Galaxy, and took few pictures as well. We then could take some more pictures of Orion Nebulae, and then Jupiter. The images are clearer! As you can see on the photos. We couldn’t however have a better focus on Jupiter, neither could we zoom in.
OBJECTS VIEWED: Andromeda Galaxy, Orion Nebulae, Jupiter.
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED: None

 

 

Commander Report – February 27th

Dear Earth,

Sol 15: The 8th Passenger

Today, a famous physicist sent by the BBC space station (Betelgeuse
Broadcasting Company) honored us of his presence. He joined the crew
for our typical tasks: morning EVA to check the seismometer and
explore the vicinity, engineering check, cooking, EVA debriefing,
experiments in the GreenHab and the Science Dome… Luckily, we had
enough stock to feed eight crewmembers, and our guest could even enjoy
our daily Belgian chocolate (Xavier’s gift to the crew).

The 8th passenger left our little haven in the middle of the
afternoon, since he had more martian bases to visit along his trip. It
was really nice to see a new face after two weeks confined with the
same people. Moreover, he brought with him some news from Earth, and
introduced new subjects to our conversations (which otherwise would
work in closed loop). Not a bad thing, since we are almost running out
of complains about the imperial system.


Ad Astra!
Arthur Lillo
Commander of the CelebriTeam 175

Journalist Report – February 27th

Journalist report, 02/27/17 – Sol 15: Becoming TV stars.

Today was surely very special: we were going to spend the day with a journalist, living in simulation with us, while his four-men crew was shooting images of us, in situ. After our sport session and breakfast, we waited for the whole crew to arrive. The reporter was the only one to completely follow the simulation rules: he arrived in spacesuit, spent the regular three minutes of pressurisation in the airlock, and was then supposed to follow us till the afternoon.

The first encounter with the team was very reassuring: they were science reporters, knowing why they came here, filming a whole documentary on the subject, being well informed, so that they did not just want to film us as animals in a cage, to gain audience. They were very respectful with the rules of the station, did their best not to disturb us, even if being twelve in the tiny hab was a bit oppressing. After a quick talk, some shots of the hab, Arthur, Louis and Mouâdh left with the reporter in EVA, the journalist crew following them in a big SUV. They first went to the seismometer, checked it, took shots while Mouâdh presented it, and then, headed North, to reproduce yesterday’s experiment of the sextant, on “the Moon”. Like during most of the simulation, the wind preventing us from using the atmospheric balloon.

We spent a long time having lunch, as it was the scene the producer chose to interview all of us at the same time. The reporter was leading the conversation, and while eating we discussed about a lot of various subjects, about space exploration, our motivations, how we imagined a trip to Mars, etc. He was very attentive, and raised interesting points. I clearly found this exchange very productive, I hope this satisfied them too, so that it will be released in an authentic way. The fact that the shot was taken during a meal was clever, and clearly helped us remaining natural, as we had something to keep us focused, instead of looking directly at the video camera or one of the four people surrounding us…

The following was a bit more disappointing, as we spent the beginning of the afternoon shooting videos in the different modules of the station, but it was less about science, as the journalists were also looking for some good images. Most of our experiments are not very pretty, so that only some of it had their moment of fame, and had to act a bit to be convincing.

To conclude, it was a very exciting experience, even if we had to sacrifice about half a day to let it happen. We met very respectful and well informed people, not here to try to create something, but really to learn about what we do and understand our goals. It was surely deeper than almost every interview we had had already, those ones focusing more on what we eat and how many times we have showers…

Louis MANGIN, crew journalist MDRS 175

EVA Report – February 27th

EVA #14

Crew members (4): Arthur Lillo (EVA leader), Mouâdh Bouayad, Louis
Maller, Brian Cox (EVA buddies)

Location:
•       South of the Hab at the seismometer burial (12N 518500, 4250000)
•       The Moon area (12N 516500, 4254500)
Vehicles used: Deimos rover, 2*350 ATV

Departure time:  10:10 AM
Return time: 12:52 PM
Duration: 2 hours 42 minutes

Purpose:
Recover the data from the seismometer on a USB key, use the Optinvent
glasses to transmit an image of the engineering check to the Hab,
explore the Moon area with our guest Brian Cox, and use the sextant to
determine our position.

Summary:
We entered the airlock later than planned because the documentary team
came at 9 AM, and we did all the briefings before the EVA. We did a 10
minutes engineering check, then headed South with the rover and the
ATVs until we reached the seismometer’s burial. The wind was terrific,
at some points it was difficult to stand up. We lost our map while we
were driving. The plates covering the seismometer were still in place,
we successfully recovered the data on a USB key. We also did an angle
measurement with the sextant, in order to compare our estimated
position with the one determined before with other reference points.
After that, we took the vehicles to go to Tank Wash, for an interview
with Brian and another sextant measurement on top of a hill. Finally,
we went to the Beige/Grey Moon area and filmed another interview. When
we went home, the wind stood strong all the way to the Hab and forced
us to drive quite slowly.

Crew Photos – February 26th

Xavier Simon and Arthur showing the example

 

Treating malaise

 

Taking the victim back to the hab

 

Sitting an unconscious marsonaut

 

Sitting an unconscious marsonaut being three

 

Marsian recovery position

 

Cleaning before the BBC arrival

 

Lettuces Growing

Journalist Report – February 26th

Journalist report, 02/26/17 – Sol 14: Emergency simulation.

Today was a bit special: Simon as health and safety officer declared it a rest day. We woke up 2 hours and a half later than usual, didn’t do our morning sport session, and had a brunch at 10 a.m. The EVA that was planned for the afternoon was also supposed to be special, as 5 people would take part to it, led by Simon and Xavier, to prepare us for emergency situations.

We all went downstairs for the EVA briefing at 1:30, where Simon and Xavier showed us how to react in case of emergency outside the station. In case of a medical emergency, the first thing to do is to notify the hab, and to put the victim in a safe posture: sitting down or in recovery position. It is not very difficult in everyday life as long as you know what to do, but with a spacesuit on yourself and on the victim, it clearly becomes a lot more complicated. Then, we must transfer the injured marsonaut. It is possible to give him oxygen, coming from another spacesuit, to increase the duration of the EVA, but he cannot stay outside forever. Here comes the second problem: transport the victim by foot to a vehicle, load him, and take him back to the station.

The reason why we only leave the hab being three, is because one has to stay with a potential victim, while the third one may have to leave to look for help or at least move to establish a radio contact. We also need to be minimum two inside the hab, in order to watch each other, such as EVA members that have to go at least by pairs. Mars is dangerous, and this is why we always have to be able to rescue each other.

Going back to our story, Xavier and Simon briefed the whole crew about all this, then, they left with Mouâdh, Louis and Arthur to repeat it on the outside, letting Victoria and I in the hab. Victoria was habcom, writing the report as the scenes were played outside, me working on the mission video.

Tomorrow will also be very special: a whole journalist crew from the BBC will visit us, to film the final part of a documentary on private exploration of Mars. Brian Cox, the reporter, will spend a whole day with us, following the simulation rules, while his team will try not to interfere with it. We are pretty lucky to have this opportunity, and the experience seems like it’s going to be very enjoyable!

Louis MANGIN, crew journalist MDRS 175

Astronomy Report – February 26th

ASTRONOMY REPORT

SOL 13

 

NAME:  Mouadh Bouayad            CREW: 175

DATE: 02/25/2017

SKY CONDITIONS: mostly clear, few clouds here and there.
WIND CONDITIONS: a little bit of wind
OBSERVATION START TIME: 8:30 pm
OBSERVATION END TIME: 11:45 pm
SUMMARY: We finally had favorable weather conditions yesterday. Arthur and I first went there in order to observe Mars and Venus. However, by the time we got there, the two planets had already disappeared from the sky. Therefore, we observed Betelgeuse, Sirius, and Orion Nebulae. We took pictures of each (see below). We finally observed and took a photograph of Jupiter, but it was too bright, and we it was too cold to try and get a better photograph. So we went back to Hab at 11:45 pm.

I know we should have taken about 50 photos of each objects, in order to have as most photographs as possible, in order to make an image treatment and the better of them all.
OBJECTS VIEWED: Betelgeuse, Sirius, Orion Nebulae, Jupiter
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED: None, except for the cold (about 24°F).

Sirius

 

Jupiter

 

Bételgeuse

 

Nebuleuse Orion

EVA Report – February 26th

EVA #13

Crew members (5) : Xavier Rixhon (EVA leader), Simon Bouriat, Arthur Lillo, Louis Maller and Mouâdh Bouayad (EVA buddies)

Location: Hab surroundings

Vehicules : Deimos
Time: departure at 1.30pm and back at 4.30pm

Duration : 2 hours

Purposes:
• Test of emergency protocoles and safety gestures in case of one EVA member would faint or break a bone. We’ll stay in front of the Hab because there’s no need to move to another place and we might even simulate emergency calls to the HabCom.


Summary:

Today EVA was dedicated to emergency procedures. This session aimed to develop the safety moves and protocoles in case one EVA participant passes out, needs to be put in recovery position and eventually, brought back to the Hab for further treatments in a pressurised and clean environment. As HabCom, Victoria took notes after each exercice. That way, with Simon (HSO), we’ll be able to debrief and set a summary of all these procedures.
After a short briefing given by Simon and I to our three buddies on the lower deck, we started the exercices before the Hab :
Bring the victim to the sitting position : Since our backpacks are rectangular, the sitting position is very stable and relaxing for the victim. This is why we tested to sit the victim with 1, 2 then 3 people to help him out.
Bring the victim to the recovery position : Once the unconscious victim has been sat, the biggest risks are to worsen his case (i.e. choke by throwing up or swelling his tongue). This is why it’s crucial to put the him in the recovery position.
Bring the victim on his back : Some situations of fainting attacks force to put the victim on his back and lift his legs. Since the sitting position was very stable, it was that easy to do it. We then tried many ways to do it and ended up with the most efficient, less exhausting procedures.
Accompany the victim to the passenger seat of the Rover : In case of a break somewhere on the upper body, the victim can still walk but needs help to get in the Rover. Since the opening is quite wide, it was very easy to help him out.
Carry the victim on the rear of the Rover : In case the victim cannot be sat during the transport to the Hab, he has to stay laid (in recovery position) on the rear of the Rover. After trying it with ropes which was very unhandy, we made it very successfully and put the victim in comfortable and safe position. We even drove a bit to be sure it was stable.
Beyond all, the communication between the EVA participants and with HabCom was very efficient and led to a constructive and full of learnings EVA.

Sol Summary – February 26th

SOL SUMMARY REPORT SOL 14
SOL: 14
Person filling out Report: Louis MALLER, XO
Summary Title: Brunch on Mars
Mission Status: successful EVA in the afternoon, all systems go, work on experiments ongoing
Sol Activity Summary: brunch, EVA, science work on different experiments
Look Ahead Plan: Looking forwards to Brian Cox joining us tomorrow for a Sol on Mars.
Anomalies in work: 3D printer being troubleshooted
Weather: beautiful and sunny, breeze with gusts of winds.
Crew Physical Status: Injured crewmember feeling better, rest of crew feeling well
EVA: EVA in front of the Hab, in order to learn, test and refine security procedures, went quite well.

Reports to be filed:
– Commander report
– Operations report
– Journalist report
– GreenHab Report
– EVA #13 report
– EVA #14 request
– HSO report
– Astronomy Report