MARS DESERT RESEARCH STATION

Crew 181 Daily Summary Report

May 26th, 2017

 

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 13

Summary Title: We’re Done!

Mission Status: The last day of sim is upon us and all have mixed feelings about leaving Mars!

Sol Activity Summary: EVA #17 was fine for Juan and Charlie to finish some last-minute projects. We collaboratively worked on our End of Mission Summary and looked back on all the projects we accomplished. We left simulation around 4pm and did some outside work while we still could. Dr. Shannon came to congratulate us on a successful rotation and we have been chatting with her ever since!

Look Ahead Plan: Going back to Earth!

Anomalies In Work: None at the current time.

Weather: Warm and windy… a Mars norm. 🙂

Crew Physical Status: Everyone is feeling great!

EVA: The EVA today was around the Hab.

Reports to be Filed: end of mission summary, journalist report, EVA report, engineering report.

Support Requested: None at the current time.

 

Prepared by Cassandra

 

Best,

Cassandra Klos

Commander, Crew 181

Crew 181 Daily Summary Report

May 25th, 2017

 

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 12

 

Summary Title: The Mission is Winding Down

Mission Status: Whole crew is starting to realize how close our mission is to being over, and there is a mix of emotions because of it.

Sol Activity Summary: Last night’s surprise by Juan included an “Earth Party” with balloons and streamers as well as a video montage of clips our friends and families had sent us from Earth! It was such a great event (although I do worry about the state of the Earth, as a few of our family members claimed Earth was in a chaotic state…). After that, the four of us watched Hidden Figures together.

Morning EVA with Cassandra and Charlie proved successful, as they traveled to Green Mars North – the farther mission on ATV so far. What a beautiful sight to be held, there. As the sun got hotter, though, they realized they couldn’t stay long and made the long trek back to the Hab.

Midday lunch was leftover mac ‘n cheese with the edition of spam and broccoli. This was followed by the most infuriating game of Catan that we’ve played so far (no connections to brick resources, Charlie dominating the board, etc.)

We are now awaiting the evening EVA (about to start).

Look Ahead Plan: EVAs planned for tomorrow. Not much else besides writing reports and putting the finishing touches on our projects.

Anomalies In Work: None at the current time.

Weather: Warm and windy, with threatening clouds all around.

Crew Physical Status: Slight panic to get all our things done before sim ends! Otherwise, fine.

EVA: Both EVAs today were around the Hab.

Reports to be Filed: journalist report, EVA report, and EVA request, engineering report.

Support Requested: None at the current time.

 

Prepared by Cassandra

 

Best,

Cassandra Klos

Commander, Crew 181

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 181 Daily Summary Report

May 23rd, 2017

 

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 10

 

Summary Title: The Laziest Day on Mars

Mission Status: The laziest and most uneventful day on Mars so far, filled wth Catan and a real breakfast.

Sol Activity Summary: Morning EVA was great for Charlie and Avishek.

Sleeping in is a luxury on Mars. Luckily, we all did that this morning after our very long day with Ozzy Osbourne yesterday. We are down to a crew of four, as we dropped off Avishek to his Earth shuttle last night as well. The mood has changed, but our mission remains the same.

Always something new on Mars. We were dealing with less than pleasant smells yesterday afternoon, and today it became very apparent we had a toilet problem. Charlie (with radio help from Dr. Shannon) was able to come up with a temporary fix that still allows us to all “do our business.” After Charlie’s literally dirty work, we decided to break into our real egg reserve to make REAL scrambled eggs. Charlie deserved it! And with a few slices of bacon from Crew 180, some tortillas and half of hamburger buns, and some strawberry jam, we had ourselves a real Earth breakfast!

Naps and more writing continued through the afternoon until we were met up again with meal time: chicken and cheese quesadillas and left over spaghetti and meat sauce. Now we are playing more Catan before it gets dark enough to us the observatory.

Look Ahead Plan: EVAs planned for tomorrow. Observatory time tonight or a movie. A few of us really want to watch Hidden Figures, so I think that’ll be the next movie pick!

Anomalies In Work: We are having major leakage of the toilet sewage tank under the Hab and into the EVA prep space. Charlie will has sent a special report and I assume more will be in his engineering report.

Weather: Sunny and cool, not windy.

Crew Physical Status: Well rested and relaxed.

EVA: none

Reports to be Filed: journalist report, EVA report, and EVA request.

Support Requested: None at the moment.

 

Prepared by Cassandra

 

Best,

Cassandra Klos

Commander, Crew 181

Crew 181 Daily Summary Report

May 22nd, 2017

 

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 9

 

Summary Title: A Red Mars Day of Black Sabbath Proportions

Mission Status: Ozzy and Jack Osbourne invade Mars.

Sol Activity Summary: Morning EVA was great for Charlie and Avishek.

Around noon we started to be invaded by a camera crew. The rest of the daylight was dedicated to giving Ozzy and Jack Osbourne a tour of our Habitat. All hands on deck for a media visit of epic proportions! Jack tried some freeze-dried goodies and Ozzy scoffed at the smell of powdered eggs.

We presented them with honorary crewmember patches, name tape, and country of origin patches. Juan, Cassandra, Ozzy, and Jack then went on a short EVA. Ozzy soon “aborted the mission” as the helmet was a bit too warm for his liking! Jack, Cassandra, and Juan found a rock sample and then re-entered the Hab and finished filming.

After the camera crew left, we talked with Dr. Shannon while Avishek packed up his belongings. We then used a large multi-person rover (the Hab truck) to drive Avishek back to the shuttle docking station in Green River. It was sad to say good-bye to a crewmember before our mission is complete, but sometimes Earth activities can’t wait.

Look Ahead Plan: No EVAa tomorrow, we will have a more relaxing day of writing and projects.

Anomalies In Work: None at the moment.

Weather: Sunny and cool.

Crew Physical Status: Feeling great!

EVA: Morning EVA was to Galileo Road and URC South Site.

Reports to be Filed: journalist report, EVA report, and EVA request.

Support Requested: None at the moment.

 

Prepared by Cassandra

 

Best,

Cassandra Klos

Commander, Crew 181

Crew 181 Daily Summary Report

May 21^st, 2017

 

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 8

 

Summary Title: A Rainy Day on Mars

Mission Status: A day full of Settlers of Catan and getting too excited about a potential thunderstorm.

Sol Activity Summary: Janet and Charlie had another late night troubleshooting the observatory. Luckily, they are starting to make progress! In the early AM, Janet, Charlie, and Avishek went to Gallieo Rd (see EVA report for more).

Around 2-3pm, we endured our first Martian rain storm that brought heavy winds. All crewmembers took advantage of the tunnel system to get a sense of the storm and make sure there wasn’t too much damage afflicted to the Hab and the buildings. We then had tuna melt quesadillas and played Settlers of Catan while the storm raged on.

After a few rounds of Catan, Charlie had remained undefeated for the day and nobody wanted to play a third round. We checked our internet and realized our usage was up (still unclear what caused this). We are now writing our reports that will be sent in the early AM tomorrow.

Look Ahead Plan: More observatory tonight if it’s clear enough. We will be out of sim tomorrow (aside from a morning EVA) as we prepare for our Martian invaders, Ozzy and Jack! We will not have reports tomorrow, as it will be a tiring day for all involved. Avishek also leaves us tomorrow, which we are all sad to lose a crewmember mid way through our sim (but PhD work can’t wait, apparently.)

Anomalies In Work: Water heater continues to not work (more info in the engineering report). We also lost Internet connection around noon and continue to not have it. We are unsure if this is because of an earlier service manual for the water heater that Charlie downloaded, or if someone accidentally had something connected to wifi. There does not appear to be any issue with the router, but we have tried all options with it. During the rainstorm, we realized a panel of the Hab seems to be flapping when winds from the north gust against it, creating a loud heavy sound.

Weather: Partly cloudy all day leading up a windy and rainy storm around 2-3pm.

Crew Physical Status: Good spirits all around, a little sad that Avishek will be leaving us tomorrow.

EVA: Morning EVA went to Galileo Rd. Afternoon EVA was canceled.

Reports to be Filed: journalist report, engineering report, EVA report, and EVA request.

Support Requested: Unless you can send out a Martian technician to fix or replace the water heater, we do not have any requests.

 

Prepared by Cassandra

 

Best,

Cassandra Klos

Commander, Crew 181

Crew 181 Daily Summary Report

May 20^th, 2017

 

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 7

 

Summary Title: Third Quarter Effect in Full Effect

Mission Status: Now that all crew members are accustomed to one another, we are feeling the third-quarter effect and getting antsy for upcoming days.

Sol Activity Summary: After a late night at the observatory, only one crew member woke up in time for the scheduled morning EVA. Therefore, the EVA start time was pushed by one hour. Regardless, it was successful for everyone a part of it. Cassandra made breakfast (French toast) for everyone. Janet and Charlie continued to troubleshoot the observatory (with much success).

With the loss of honorary crew member Olly and the stressful events of this upcoming week, we seem to know each other well enough now to realize when idiosyncrasies are driving us crazy. Just a few days ago, the second floor of the Hab seemed like the place to hang out. Now people have settled in different areas – the first floor, the science lab – to work on their individual projects. We will try to work together to gain back some of our crew collaboration time. I hope this isn’t the first signs of the third quarter effect. We are only to the half way mark!

Afternoon was filled with writing, photo editing, and Settlers of Catan. Evening EVA was great in the sunset light, making the landscape a greater saturation of reds than we thought possible. We are now all settling in, the smell of Janet and Charlie’s dinner permeating the second floor.

Look Ahead Plan: More observatory work is in the talks. We are submitting an EVA request for tomorrow. We are gearing up (slowly) for our Martian shipment of Ozzy and Jack Osbourne on Monday (we may be out of sim for the day and reports may be coming in late.) We are also disheartened by Avishek having to leave the mission early to return back to PhD work on Earth (also on Monday.)

Anomalies In Work: None at the current time.

Weather: Bright, sunny, lower than average temperature.

Crew Physical Status: Everyone is okay.

EVA: One EVA took place around the Hab, the other took place at White Moon.

Reports to be Filed: journalist report, engineering report, EVA report, and EVA request.

Support Requested: None at the current time.

 

Prepared by Cassandra

 

Best,

Cassandra Klos

Commander, Crew 181

Crew 181 Daily Summary Report

May 19^th, 2017

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 6

 

Summary Title: Foggy Helmets and Ideal Hab

Mission Status: Tiring EVA and Chana Masala

Sol Activity Summary: We were off to a rough start when our early morning EVA yielded less than spectacular results due to foggy helmets (see EVA report). This led me to be a very grumpy commander (and it didn’t help that we stayed up way too late watching A Close Encounter of a Third Kind, resulting on a lack of sleep.) Some of the EVA crew then had their breakfast routine, others went back to bed.

Lunch was prepared by Juan, a simple mac ‘n cheese and peas. After lunch, we had an interesting discussion about what would make up the ideal Hab on Mars. Some things were simple to remark – helmets that don’t fog, working radio comms, better lighting in the science lab, enclosed tunnel system. Others were interesting and quirky – the Hab should have a glue gun, ideally an art exhibition space/gallery, a beehive in the GreenHab… an unlimited supply of Red Lobster cheddar biscuits.

Janet and Charlie worked together to troubleshoot a mechanism on the observatory rotating roof. They are happy to say that it is now functional! Evening EVA was great, no foggy helmets (well, at least not as bad) and Janet, Cassandra, and Olly all got to work on their projects.

Look Ahead Plan: If the weather cooperates, Janet will be using the observatory tonight and everyone else will want a chance to look into the telescope (although Janet will be the only one working it.) We are sad to be saying goodbye to Olly tonight. We are submitting an EVA request for tomorrow.

 Anomalies In Work: None at the current time.

 Weather: Partly cloudy, lower than average temperature.

 Crew Physical Status: All in good spirits.

 EVA: Both EVAs today were conducted around the Hab.

 Reports to be Filed: journalist report, engineering report, EVA report, and EVA request.

 Support Requested: None at the current time.

Prepared by Cassandra

Best,

Cassandra Klos

Commander, Crew 181

Crew 181 Daily Summary Report

May 18^th, 2017

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 5

Summary Title: Tired Marstronauts

Mission Status: Tiring EVA and Chana Masala

Sol Activity Summary:  Juan made us all blueberry muffins again for breakfast, which was really nice of him. This was followed by a very tiring journey to the URC South Site by Juan, Avishek, and Cassandra (see EVA report for more details). Lunch was made by Charlie and Janet, soup and sloppy joes. Everyone then took a break to work on their own projects or rest.

Olly joined us again and will be staying over to understand the simulation better before he leaves tomorrow. Evening EVA contained four crewmembers on ATVs while Avishek and Cassandra stayed behind to make dinner (and dessert!) Everyone has been loving Avishek’s authentic Indian cuisine, and it makes the whole Hab smell delicious.

Look Ahead Plan: If the weather cooperates, Janet will be using the observatory tonight and everyone else will want a chance to look into the telescope (although Janet will be the only one working it.) Olly is staying with us as well, so hopefully we will do a crew bonding activity in the form of a game or movie.

Anomalies In Work: We are wondering if the Hab printer is out of ink. We will try it later tonight once we submit reports because we need to download the driver. If it is out of ink, we are wondering the possibility of getting more.

Weather: Sunny, lower than average temperature.

Crew Physical Status: Tired and hungry.

EVA: Three crewmembers went to the URC South Site on foot earlier in the day. Four crewmembers went to the Hab Ridge via ATV this evening.

Reports to be Filed: journalist report, engineering report, EVA report, EVA request, and mission statement.

Support Requested: Just information about the printer, if possible.

Prepared by Cassandra

Best,

Cassandra Klos

Commander, Crew 181

Crew 181 Daily Summary Report

May 17^th, 2017

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 4

Summary Title: Dodging Rain for a Successful EVA

Mission Status: Informative meeting with Dr. Shannon followed by a long EVA whilst dodging the rain.

Sol Activity Summary:  Dr. Shannon came back to her home planet today. She came into simulation so we could have a long discussion about MDRS and what is expected of our Mars crew. This turned into a long interesting conversation among crewmembers about the ideal government we might need on Mars (avoiding Earth politics discussions as much as possible.) We welcomed Olly back to the Hab and prepared for our evening EVA.

Dinner was prepared by Janet and Olly and was delicious! Tuna and couscous! We are now all scrambling to finish our reports! 😉

Look Ahead Plan: We will be submitting an EVA request tomorrow, otherwise we are hoping to have honorary crewmember Olly stay over tomorrow night so he can get the full experience before his final day on Friday.

Anomalies In Work: We reset the hot water heater and still do not have hot water coming out, no matter how much water we pump through. Charlie will talk about this in his engineering report.

Weather: Cloudy, unusually cold and slight rain.

Crew Physical Status:  All are in good spirits – after a slight fall yesterday during EVA, Janet has a bruised forearm that we are monitoring. Cassandra has a mysterious scraped knee. I think we’ll both survive.

EVA: Four crewmembers when to Gateway of Lith.

Reports to be Filed: journalist report, engineering report, EVA report (sent), EVA request (sent), mission statement, and crew headshots (sent).

Support Requested: About the hot water heater, if you have any advice.

Prepared by Cassandra

Best,

Cassandra Klos

Commander, Crew 181