Crew Photos – May 26th
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Daily Summary – May 24th
Crew 181 Daily Summary Report
May 24th, 2017
MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 11
Summary Title: The Mars Heat is Upon Us
Mission Status: A really hot day on Mars leads to sleepy crew with much still to do!
Sol Activity Summary: Last night, Janet and Charlie were able to track both Jupiter and Saturn through the observatory telescope! It was amazing! The whole crew was out looking at the stars, quite the bonding experience. Around 1am, we all made our way back into the Hab.
Morning EVA for Juan and Janet around the Hab was successful. Juan performed tasks to test the Mars atmosphere, such as testing to see if compasses work on Mars (they don’t), whether an umbrella is needed (nope, it doesn’t rain on Mars), and whether a lighter would work (it’s doesn’t, not enough oxygen).
Midday lunch was made by Charlie – delicious mac ‘n cheese. We all worked on our projects inside the Hab.
Afternoon EVA was brutally hot. Janet and Cassandra got what they needed done, however their last task was to move Dr. Shannon’s water tank back onto Deimos. The water tank was definitely too heavy for the two of them, so with the help of Charlie they were able to get it up onto the rover. Teamwork!
We are now awaiting dinner to be made by Juan and he has also surprised us with a little “Earth Party” – literal Earth balloons surround Deck 2, as well as green streamers and a slideshow projected onto the wall of great Earth-like scenes (ahhh what it would feel like to walk into the Earth ocean on a day like this…)
Look Ahead Plan: EVAs planned for tomorrow. Juan has a special treat for us tonight (it’s still a surprise), we hope to have more time in the observatory and watch Hidden Figures. So many things, so little time left on Mars.
Anomalies In Work: None at the moment.
Weather: Hot, hot, hot. Humidity hovering around 15%.
Crew Physical Status: Feeling lethargic due to the heat.
EVA: Both EVAs today were around the Hab.
Reports to be Filed: journalist report, EVA report, and EVA request, engineering report.
Support Requested: We are wondering between CapCom and Shannon whether we can expect the refit crew to arrive in a few days? As we plan out our remaining EVAs and activities, we also want to make sure that everyone can make their flights/get back to Grand Junction. Any info on this would be great!
Prepared by Cassandra
Best,
Cassandra Klos
Commander, Crew 181
Crew Photos – May 24th
Journalist Report – May 24th
Journalist Report 24 May 2017
Prepared by Janet Biggs, Crew Co-Journalist
Sol 11
After incredible patience, encouragement, and guidance from star man extraordinaire, Peter (my Astronomy Ground Support), we had successful viewing and imaging in the Musk Observatory last night! Charlie and I opened the dome around 22:40 (10:40 pm) and were able to finally complete a two-star alignment. It took both of us, one on the telescope and the other using a laser pointer, to identify three calibration stars for the alignment. Once we were aligned, we slewed the telescope to Jupiter and saw three of Jupiter’s moons! We were so encouraged that we bravely attached my camera to the telescope to try and get some shots. We viewed and photographed M81, and Saturn too. Apparently, we were pretty loud in our excitement as Cassie and Juan showed up. We all took turns viewing and trying different exposures. Getting a good focus on the camera is challenging, but we’ve got a few more nights to master it. We closed up the observatory around 1:30 am, trying not to think about the few short hours to our 7 am EVA time.
I got up at 6:40 and groggily struggled into my spacesuit. Juan and I grabbed our supplies and entered the airlock. I think we both took a one minute naps during the pressurization.
I had a couple shots around the solar panels that I wanted to get and Juan was a willing astronaut/model. Then it was my turn to be model, focus dummy, and camera person for Juan. Dr Shannon had radioed us that a journalist who had not been cleared for landing had made the trip anyway and would we mind if he took photos of us from a distance. We said sure, but I think the journalist got quite a surprise as Juans’s projects included things like holding an umbrella and spraying bug spray on his spacesuit. He was visually exploring things that would be futile or fail on Mars. I can only imagine what the journalist thought. As if wandering around in an orange spacesuit wasn’t strange enough.
Lunch was mac and cheese again. Sometimes, on Mars, you just need some comfort food … and since we are out of Red Lobster biscuits, mac and cheese did the job. Our conversation at lunch was about power structures, power sources, voltage, and eventually digressed into blowing stuff up.
After lunch, the realization that our mission is soon coming to an end hit us. The need to schedule the next couple of EVAs had an urgency that bordered on frantic. It would be tough to get back here to Mars if we missed a shot. But soon we relaxed back into life here on Mars, in our Hab, talking zero Gs and camera equipment.
Cassie is taking pictures of all us, and today she shot Juan in his stateroom. We are all really respectful of each other’s rooms as it’s the only real privacy we’ve got. As Cassie was setting up, we got a peek into his room. He’s been holding out! It’s so full of cool stuff. Iridescent paper, airplane marshalling wands, countless lasers … and Cheetos! Totally holding out!
Hey, in case you were wondering, our Hab is smelling fresh as daisy. Thanks to the heroic effort of Charlie, who braved the lower depths (remember that scene in the Martian when he was growing potatoes) and Juan, who assisted Charlie in rigging the fan in the ceiling vent above, we are sitting pretty. Echoing the words of Juan, “We are naming a Martian mountain after Charlie”.
The plan for tonight is an EVA at 18:00 (just Cassie and myself … the women of Mars), followed by a photo shoot at the observatory, followed by a special dinner made by Juan, followed by filing our reports, followed by a movie night (and if the sky clears up, followed by more telescope viewing). Think we’re gonna need a longer night … maybe we should have gone to Mercury.