Crew 178 Mars Desert Research Station Mission Plan
Mission Statement: Experiencing life on Mars simulation to identify scientific experiments which could be significantly useful, relevant and adapted for the first Human’s days on Mars.
Mission Start Date: 9th April 2017 to 23th April 2017
Crew members Aurian d’Avernas – Crew Commander Calogero Montedoro – Crew Executive Officer/Biologist Damien Mertens – Crew Engineer Elke Mergny – Crew Geologist Mathieu Vander Donckt – Crew Scientist/Journalist Nathalie Dupont – Health and Safety Officer Quentin Thomas – Crew Astronomer
Introduction:
Our team is composed of 7 master students and PhD students from the UCL (Université Catholique de Louvain) in Belgium, coming from the fields of mechatronics, electronics, civil engineering, biology, chemistry, physics, health sciences and human sciences. It is the 7th MDRS crew from the UCL.
Aurian d’Avernas
He is currently following his second year of master in mechatronics engineering and will design and study to types of telecommunication relays (omnidirectional and unidirectional) to ensure a proper radio network cover around the base, in order to double radio transmission range and to face any relief variations. Moreover, as Crew Commander, he will manage the team and ensure a good team spirit, the relevance of each experiment and their feasibility, and will oversee solutions of any potential problem during the expedition.
Calogero Montedoro
He is graduated in neuropsychology, in cognitive neurosciences and in biology. He currently pursues a PhD thesis in the biology of behavior. As GreenHab Officer, we will ensure the management of the greenhouse to conduct experiments in the field of life sciences: recycling of urea to grow rice plants. He will also be interested in the relief of the Red Planet throughout geomatics studies, using a drone for 3D mapping of surrounding areas.
Damien Mertens
He is following his third bachelor year in electrical engineering and applied mathematics. As Crew Engineer, he will be the station technician and will check and report water, electricity, vehicles and other technical statuses. He will also perform an experiment in the marking of risk areas using sound beacons to prevent automatically any crewmember in EVA from approaching any dangerous zone.
Elke Mergny
She is graduated in civil engineering and is now PhD student at the Université of Liège. She will ensure daily the localization of the crew during EVA’s following the weather forecasts. As Crew Geologist, she will lead an experiment in geophysics, by collecting geophysical profiles using a ground penetrating radar to map underground structures of Mars.
Mathieu Vander Donckt
He has always been passionate about sciences and is currently in the first year of master in chemistry. He plans to continue his studies in planetary sciences. As Crew Journalist, he will daily inform the general public and will lead, as Crew Scientist, an experiment about X-ray diffraction to characterize and better understand Mars’s undergrounds.
Nathalie Dupont
She is currently following her last year in physiotherapy and rehabilitation. She will be responsible for the safety and health of the crew and will lead an experiment about muscle wasting during a Mars mission.
Quentin Thomas
He is currently in 3rd year of bachelor in physics. As Crew Astronomer, he will be responsible for the use of the Musk Observatory at MDRS, to capture, among others, nebulas and galaxies M65 M66 NGC3628 M51 M97 M81 M82 and will conduct an experiment in the field of astrophysics and particle physics: the detection of muons.