Green Hab Report – Sol 4
Report written by: Victoria DA-POIAN (Crew Biologist)
Date : 02/16/2017
Functionality: The heater in the green hab is working well. Today was a very sunny day again ! As I was in EVA this morning, Mouadh has checked the temperature in the GreenHab this morning. It was around 40 Celsius degrees around 10 :20 AM while the temperature in the tunnel was around 12.3 Celsius degrees. He switched on the cooler (on step 2) and the GreenHab temperature was brought down to 26 Celsius degrees at 4:00PM while it was 16 Celsius degrees in the tunnel. I kept the cooler on (at the first step). Mouadh watered the seedlings this morning, and I did this afternoon too.
Status: The existing seedlings in the green hab are continuing to grow well. There are spinach, lettuce, radish, and beans growing very well in the small pots.
The lettuces are growing well too.
We had a small issue with the Vegidair yesterday so I had to des-install it and I have tried again today.
Planned activity: As I wrote yesterday, I decided to take the natural fertilizer and the seeds sent for the Vegidair and to plant it in plastic pots I have in the greenhab, and to compare the growth of each pots (in the Vegidair in the Hab, and in the greenhab). It was done this afternoon, I will compare each growth.
MDRS is a project of:
GreenHab Report – February 15th
Crew 175 GreenHab Report 15Feb2017
Green Hab Report – Sol 3
Report written by: Victoria DA-POIAN (Crew Biologist)
Date : 02/15/2017
Functionality: The heater in the green hab is working well. Today was a very sunny day again! I checked the temperature in the GreenHab twice today. It was around 38 Celsius degrees around 10 :00 AM while the temperature in the tunnel was around 10.3 Celsius degrees. I switched on the cooler and the green hab temperature was brought down to around 28 Celsius degrees at 3 :30PM while it was 16 Celsius degrees in the tunnel. I kept the cooler on (at the medium step). I watered the seedlings twice today.
Status: The existing seedlings in the green hab are continuing to grow well. There is spinach, lettuce, radish, and beans growing very well in the small pots.
The lettuces are growing well too.
We have received the seeds and the natural fertilizer for the Vegidair, so I was able to install it this morning.
Planned activity: I decided to take the natural fertilizer and the seeds sent for the Vegidair and to plant it in plastic pots I have in the greenhab, and to compare the growth of each pots (in the Vegidair in the Hab) and in the greenhab.
Thanks,
Victoria
GreenHab Report – February 14th
Green Hab Report – Sol 2
Report written by: Victoria DA-POIAN (Crew Biologist)
Date : 02/14/2017
Functionality: The heater in the green hab is working well. Today was a very sunny day again ! I checked the temperature in the GreenHab twice today. It was around 40 Celsius degrees around 10 :00 AM while the temperature outside was around 13 Celsius degrees. Quickly I switched on the cooler and the green hab temperature was brought down to around 35 Celsius degrees in only 20 minutes.
And this afternoon, around 3 :30 PM, the temperature inside was around 28 Celsius degrees so I kept the cooler on. The seedlings were watered twice today.
Status: The existing seedlings in the green hab are continuing to grow well. There are spinach, lettuce, radish, and beans growing well in the small pots.
One lettuce (in a big pot next the window) has been recolted for our lunch and our dinner because it had began to burn a little. So I planted a new lettuce in this pot. There were also 2 radishes which wanted to be recolted for our lunch, I planted 2 new in the pots.
We have also continued to « build» the Vegidair House (with cardboard boxes), in order to install it when we will have the seeds and the natural fertilizer Shannon will bring us. I measured the height of the corn plants (planted by the crew 173 I think).
Planned activity: I hope we will have all the material to begin the Vegidair experience tomorrow.
GreenHab Report – February 7th
GreenHab Report
Sol: 09
Earth Date: 02.07.2017
Written by : Sneha Velayudhan
Earth Date: 02.07.2017
Written by : Sneha Velayudhan
Functionality: The temperature in the green hab was noted to be 16 deg C with humidity of 30 %, 22.3 deg C with humidity of 35 % under the Misian Mars lamp while the outside temperature was 9 deg C at around 9:30 AM. The evening (5:30PM) temperature was noted as 21.8 deg C with 29% humidity, 24.7 deg C with 42% humidity under the Misian Mars Lamp while the outside temperature was 10 deg C. The heater is working fine.
Status: All plants were watered, the fenugreek seedlings were watered with vitamin D rich water and the growth of the seedlings were monitored and noted. The fenugreek seedlings under the Misian Mars lamp shows more growth than the seedlings in the green hab. The secondary roots are developing for most of the fenugreek seedlings growing under the Misian Mars lamp in Earth soil. There is an average of two leaves per plant and are dark green in color under the Misian Mars lamp. The ones in the green hab are growing slowly and steadily. The Mars sample soil pots in the green hab has dried out completely. Under the Misian Mars lamp, the Mars soil sample shows very less growth. The growth was noted and a graph was plotted as shown in figure below. The corn plants were measured and readings were noted.
Green Hab Report – February 3rd
Green Hab Report:
Prepared by: Sneha Velayudhan
Sol 05
Earth Date: 02.03.2017
Sol 05
Earth Date: 02.03.2017
Functionality: A sunny day on Mars means regular monitoring of the Green Hab as temperature rise quickly. Morning the temperatures were measured. The outside temperature was 9 deg C while the green hab temperature was 38 deg C and under misian Mars lamp it was 20 deg C at around 10:30 AM. Post lunch, the skies were clear and the temperature was high. It was an indication to me that the temperatures in the Green Hab would be high. I went to the green hab to find the inside temperature to be nearly 50 deg C. I switched on the cooler and watered the plants again. The humidity was checked and it was around 30 %. The cooler was left on in order to control the temperature of the Green Hab. In the evening, the outside temperature was 8 deg C, Green Hab temperature was 20 deg C and under the misian Mars Lamp temperature was 22.5 deg C. The Humidity noted inside the hab was 15% and under the misian Mars lamp was 30%.
Status: In the green hab, the plants and seedlings were watered. Special attention given to the Fenugreek seeds. The root growth in the Earth Soil was impressive. The leaves were sprouting out of the seed coat and it was greenish. It was a great relief to see the seedlings grow!!! Unfortunately, there is no much growth observed in the seeds sowed in the Mars Soil. It was expected but that was little depressing 🙁
Under the misian Mars Lamp, the seedlings were watered and observed for growth. The earth soil seeds showed some growth but it looks like plants enjoy sunshine more that the artificial lamp light! Similar to the green hab, the Mars soil pots did not show any impressive growth. The root growth was measured in both Earth and Mars seedlings. In the evening the plants were watered with Vit D in incremental measurement and the temperature was monitored.
Planned activity: Monitoring and maintaining the Green Hab temperature. Tabulating the growth of plants with varied amount of Vitamin D.
Green Hab Report – February 2nd
Green Hab report
Written by : Sneha Velayudhan
Sol 04
Earth Date: 02.02.2017
Functionality: Its a nice sunny day on Mars. Temperature at around
10:20 AM was 2 deg. C outside, while the green hab temperature was 22
deg. C and the misian Mars lamp temperature was 19 deg. C. The
temperature was again checked in the evening at 5:30 PM, inside the
greenhab the temperature was 30 deg. C, it was around 22.4 deg. C
under the misian Mars lamp while the outside temperature was 9 deg. C
and windy.
Status: The temperature was monitored and seedlings were watered.
Special attention was given to the fenugreek seeds sowed yesterday as
a part of botany experiment. It was found that the soil in the pots
was mostly dry. In order to maintain the adequate moisture in the
soil, the pots were watered in the green hab and under the misian Mars
lamp. Some amount of water was poured into the tray beneath the pots
to maintain regular moisture.
By the evening the temperature was monitored again and the seedlings
were watered. The fenugreek was watered with fixed amount of water and
Vit. D ranging from 0.1 gm to 1 gm both in the green hab and under the
misian Mars lamp. The root growth was measured and tabulated
accordingly.
Planned activity: The seedlings will be monitored for growth along
with the temperature and humidity.
Green Hab Report – February 1st
Green Hab Report
Sol-03
Earth Date: 02.01.2017
Written by : Sneha Velayudhan
Functionality: as the climate on Mars is beautiful, the green hab
temperatures are high that we had to switch on the coolers twice
today. The temperatures were noted as 28 degree centigrade while the
outside temperature was 1 degree centigrade at 10:10 AM. By 12:20 pm,
the temperature rised to around 45 degree, the cooler was switched on
to decrease the temperature. The temperature was brought down to
around 30 degree. In the evening temperatures were noted, the green
hab was 18 degree while the outside temperature was 9 degree
centigrade.
Status: The botany experiment started with 2 sets of pots, 10 each
prepared with earth soil and marked with 0-0.9 grams of Vitamin D.
Five different types of Martian soil, each type of soil were prepared
in 2 pots and marked for the variety. A mixture of earth soil, the
different tryps of Martian soil was prepared in equal ratio and filled
into 4 pots. Each of the respective sets such as the 10 pots of Earth
soil, 5 pots of mars soil, 2 pots each of the mixture of Earth and
Mars soil were consolidated. The germinated fenugreek seeds were
delicately sowed into the pots. One set is placed in the green hab
and the other under the misian mars lamp. All plants including the
newly potted seedlings were watered twice today.
Planned activity: The growth of fenugreek will be monitored along with
the other plants in the coming days.
GreenHab Report – January 31st
Green Hab Report
Report written by: Sneha Velayudhan (Crew Biologist)
Date : 01/31/2017
Functionality: The heaters in the green hab is in perfect working condition. The temperatures are monitored twice a day. Today it was noted that the temperature in the green hab was around 48 degree centigrade while the temperature outside was 10 degree centigrade around 11:30 AM. As the temperature was too high the cooler was switched on and the green hab temperature was brought down to around 33 degree centigrade. The seedlings were watered twice today. The temperatures were monitored in the evening, it was noted to be 23 degree centigrade inside while the outside temperature was around 8 degree centigrade.
Status: The fenugreek and the Chick pea seeds have germinated well and are ready for potting. The pots are prepared with earth soil for the experiment to monitor the effect of Vitamin D on the growth of plants. An EVA was done to collect different types of soil from different locations on Mars. There were 5 different types of soil collected. The soil collected are different in color and texture. Seeds will be planted in each of the soil type and the seedling growth will be observed. The existing seedlings were monitored for growth. The height of the corn plants were measured.
Planned activity: The germinated seeds will be planted into the earth and martian soil. There will be 2 sets each of 10 pots marked in increments of 0 – 0.9 g of Vitamin D. One of this set will be placed in the Green Hab and the other under the misian Mars light and growth will be monitored.
GreenHab Report – January 21st
Sol 6
21/01/17
GreenHab Status:
It’s toasty warm all Sol round now that the new heater has been installed. This means the GreenHab is essentially fully functional (minus a few mod cons), and ready to have long term experiments. This also means the capacity for botanical experiments has dramatically increased. The seedlings planted by prior crews are really picking up the growth pace, and the seeds I have planted are already sprouting. Soon the GreenHab will live up to its colourful name, being lush with greenery.
The grow tent is still inside the main Hab, where I suggest it should stay (if left in the GreenHab it gets far too hot to support plant life). It is being used primarily as an incubator for newly planted seeds until they have sprouted and are ready to be moved to the GreenHab proper.
GreenHab Update:
The heater is now fully functional, including automation, leaving only fan cooling to be done manually (if it is needed at all).
A corn growth experiment is now underway by myself and Michaela in the GreenHab, determining the base growth rate of corn (interestingly sown from popcorn kernels courtesy of crew 171!) under simulated Martian conditions. This data will go on to help design a later experiment testing the effects of heavy metals on growth rate, to be conducted by Michaela in collaboration with the Masaryk University in the Czech Republic.
There is also an experiment in the grow tent, by myself and Michaela, measuring the effects seedlings experience based on the density of seeds. Six different crops were sown in pots with seed densities ranging from 1 to 12 seeds per 4cm2. This experiment is to be followed up by Michaela in collaboration with researchers at Mendel University, also in the Czech Republic.
I have also begun to test soil samples from the surrounding area for salinity and pH. This is to determine where soil quality is best, in the hopes that small quantities of soil can be sourced locally and improved with compost in the future.
The chard is sprouting.
Requests:
– More potting mix, large pots / planter boxes
– Larger plants such as fruit trees, eg. a citrus fruit.
– Any instructions for setting up the aquaponics system.
GreenHab Report – January 17th
GreenHab Report
Sol 2
17/01/17
Richard Blake
GreenHab Status:
Still too cold at night to leave plants in there, the seedlings I have growing are moved in there in the morning (~9am) and brought back to the Hab in the afternoon (~5pm). Currently have spinach, lettuce, onions, (pop)corn?, carrots, radishes, and beans growing amongst other things.
GreenHab Update:
Received some more seeds, will start to plant some in the coming days, namely tomatoes, beans and coriander.
Requests:
– I want to move the grow tent from the GreenHab to the lower level of the main Hab, it gets too hot in the sun to be used.
– Any instructions on setting up the hydroponics equipment?
– GreenHab heater should theoretically be fixed this week (crosses fingers).
– For Patrick – Am I correct in assuming the popcorn growing was from the popcorn in the kitchen? If so, that is hilarious (the almonds didn’t work out so well).
Photos of repotted plants in GreenHab attached
I know what chard is now.