Mars Desert Research Station

Science Report – March 18th (Engineering)

Name of person filing report: Michał Kazaniecki

Water level detector

One of the systems, that you have to check in the Hab all the time is water tank at loft. It is a reservoir of all water flowing to taps, shower and toilet. Everyone need to control the level of water and refill from external tank before it reaches the limit.

Although the tank is partially transparent, in bad lighting it is hard to tell if it is full.

Today, when I saw that the level is below the limit, I decided to solve that problem by creating an electronic water level detector.

The detector consist of two metal electrodes sunk inside the tank and connected to an electronic board (Arduino). When the electrodes are covered with water, electric current flows between them and the voltage is measured by Arduino. If the water is below the limit, the current doesn’t flow through the wires. It is a signal to refill the tank and it is displayed by flashing LED. Everything is powered by one 9-volt battery.

Tests performed on a water in a mug confirmed that the system works properly. We installed it in a tank and we are waiting for the further results of the tests.

Science Report – March 18th

Yesterday we went to the Murphy’s Canyon. I noticed interesting crystallization of gypsum in the form of ridges sticking from the
surface.

The images taken by different Martian rovers (e.g. Curiosity) show that such crystallization occurs on Mars, which proves the activity of water. In a different place there I also noticed pits caused by characteristic dissolution of sandstone by aqueous solutions.

Such dissolution is a good comparison of chemical weathering by which we can recognize the existence of sandstones and identify them on Mars.

Best regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176
and Crew Geologist

Commander Report – March 18th

Unlike yesterday, we woke up quite early today, i.e. around 7:00 am. We did not have the sport training planned for today but the three of us undertook EVA in the morning and brought a small robot in the field. Right after coming back from EVA, two persons dig a trench in front of the habitat to release the leak (the puddle becomes bigger and bigger every day).

Since the entire crew has been increasingly tired, we decided to take more time than usual to relax. We spent time together on watching the photographs we have taken so far as well as we discussed potential future developments for our team in terms of analog missions.

In the afternoon, Crew Engineers worked on the habitat maintenance in relation to the pomp and the backdoor, while the Green Hab Officer cleaned the space suits. Afterwards, we developed a schedule for tomorrow that focuses mainly on preparing and sending the content for the mass media.

The crew successfully relaxed today and is ready for intense work tomorrow.

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176

EVA Report – March 18th

EVA #3

Crew members (3) : Jedrzej Gorski (EVA leader), Karolina Zawieska, Michal Kazaniecki (EVA buddies)

Location: Lith Canyon

Vehicles : Rover Deimos and ATV #2 and #3
Time : Departure at 8:50 pm and back at 11:30 pm

Duration : 2 hours 50 min

Purposes:

Testing of black space suit with prototype of a gas mask supported with Gaia Rover
Preliminary studies related to human-robot collaboration

Summary:
During our third EVA we had occasion to explore Lith Canyon in a purpose of testing how our Gaia Rover interact with selected crew members. Interaction was well documented by our crew. We have also tested gas mask prototype received from our partner and refuel ATV’s. We set of collected pictures are attached to Scientific Report.

Sol Summary – March 18th

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 7

Person filling out Report: Michał Kazaniecki, Engineer

Summary Title: Explore and relax

Mission Status: recharged, thinking about everything except problems

Sol Activity Summary: human-robot interactions on EVA, relax, maintenance

Look Ahead Plan: EVA, media and outreach activities

Anomalies in work: due to accidental software update, we’ve lost almost 30% of our daily internet data allowance.

Weather: sunny, small clouds

Crew Physical Status: everyone is alive

Reports to be file:
-Operations report
-Commander report
-EVA Report
-EVA Request
-Science report (geology)
-Science report (engineering)
-Science report (Human-Robot Interaction)

Commander Report – March 17th

Crew 176 Commander’s Report 17 March 2017
Natalia Zalewska
Commander Report
17 March 2017 – Sol 6

Dear Mission Support,

Today we woke up a bit later than usual, that is around 9:00 am. All crew
starts feeling a bit tired but the mood is still good. We undertook our
morning sport training, as usual, and some of us completed psychological
tests. From the very morning, we continued to use holter monitors.
Afterwards, we had a breakfast together and discussed the agenda for
today.

During the day we cleaned the kitchen and we proceeded with our daily
tasks assigned to each member. In particular, Crew Engineer continued
testing the small robot Gaia for the purposes of the tomorrow’s EVA
and Green Hab Officer did some works in the Green Hab. I prepared tools
for data collection and a preliminary framework for the analysis of the
samples.

In the afternoon the three of us participated in EVA. Each time when we
get ready for EVA we face serious issues with communication setups that
are hard to explain and they cause delays. In the course of EVA, we went
to the Murphy’s canyon and were very excited to find petrified wood,
as expected (I remembered that spot from the previous mission I was part
of). I also found interesting pieces of gypsum and silica and the places I
had visited 12 years ago while being on the mission at MDRS. I was curious
to verify the degree of erosion that occurred over the last decade in
those spots.

We had no problems with the habitat facilities today. Collaboration within
the five-member team is good, just as it was when we were in four.

Best regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176

Sol Summary – March 17th

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 6

Person filling out Report: Michał Kazaniecki, Engineer

Summary Title: It’s a good day to explore Mars

Mission Status: we can focus more on our field work instead of current hab maintenance

Sol Activity Summary: geo research during EVA, installing new pump, other work in hab with robot

Look Ahead Plan: EVA, mid-term summary session

Anomalies in work: our first day with every hab system working nearly properly

Weather: sunny, no strong wind

Crew Physical Status: one of crew members has mild cold sympthoms

Reports to be file:

-Operations report
-Commander report
-EVA Report
-EVA Request

GreenHab Report – March 16th

Karolina Zawieska

16 March 2017 – Sol 5

Dear Mission Support,

Today it was a very interesting day for me as I have tried to bring some life to Green Hab. I have planted seeds, namely radish, swiss, onion and two types of flowers, as well as 5 potatoes and 1 avocado seed, all of them in separate pots (I felt like a protagonist of the film “Martian”). I am aware I will hardly see any progress during my stay in MDRS, however, I truly hope the crews that will come next, will see some grown plants and will carefully take care about them. I have left notes with the name of the plant on each pot.

I have decided to fill a watering can water on a daily basis rather than keep it fully filled inside the Green Hab. This is because it gets very hot inside and I don’t want the water to get too warm. The tap outside the Green Hab does not work, so I will need to bring water from the hab, just as I did today. The fan does not give any problems. I haven’t found any thermometer to measure the temperature inside the Green Hab but I keep the track of the temperature outside the Hab (30 C degrees today at noon).

I have brought a cactus from the field and I am planning to plant it tomorrow. I am aware it does not belong to crops, but I think the presence of even a tiny piece of green inside the Green Hab will give it a more positive look and will have a positive psychological effect on me and future Green Hab officers.

Best wishes,

Karolina Zawieska

Green Hab Officer, Crew 176

Sol Summary – March 16th

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 5

Person filling out Report: Michał Kazaniecki, Engineer

Summary Title: Team is finally complete

Mission Status: successful EVA, progress with current work

Sol Activity Summary: training for 5th crew member, EVA, maintenance, green hab work

Look Ahead Plan: further work with robot, EVA,

Anomalies in work: mysterious water leakage outside the hab getting even bigger, need to manually refill static tank without a pomp

Weather: sunny, winds in the evening

Crew Physical Status: everything is correct

Reports to be file:

-Operations report
-Commander report
-Green Hab Officer’s report
-EVA request

Science Report – March 15th

Crew 176 Science Report 15 March 2017

Natalia Zalewska
Science Report
15 March 2017 – Sol 4

Dear Mission Support,

I am in the hab. ! I continue study of the geology map. I have done rock
separation from Cretaceous Dacota Formation and Jurassic Morrison
Formation. Base on my study I concluded that fluvial sandstone originate
from Morrison Formation and concretions in the light sandstone from
Dacota.

Best regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176
and Crew Geologist