This is the third day being this HAB. I still cannot get rid of the excited feeling. Today is also the media day after we woke up in the morning around 7 am, we had the interview with the National Public Radio journalist, Ms. Rae Bichell. In the morning, four people from our crew and the reporter went out for a short EVA at the Cow Patty Field. In the afternoon, Dr. Villarroel, Joseph Quass, Victoria LaBarre and I went out to the Geology EVA. We ride 2 ATVs and 1 Rover, we went to the two stops, first stop is Cow Patty field, and we collected white-coating rock sample from the geology site 1A and 1B, sketched the sedimentary structure and took some photos of the field. We spent 50 mins on this stop. The next stop is the Little Canyon, we measured the height of the canyon, collected 8 bags of the dirt samples at the canyon, and took some photos there. We spent around 50 mins. Then, we came back to the HAB to enjoy the delicious tortilla meal.
Crew health situation: Everyone feels good, but we are worried about the lack of toilet and it might affect health.
Crew members: Otsmar Villarroel, Caleb Li, Victoria LaBarre, Joseph Quass
Location:
12 N 518524 4249129 12 N 519235 4251489
Time: departure at 2:30 pm. Estimated return at 4:30 pm
Duration: 2 hours approximately Vehicles: 2 ATV’s and 1 Rover
Purposes:
Geology EVA. Teach students about sedimentary rocks, deposition, lithification, and examination of the regolith. Perform Monsell Soil Color analysis, use Brunton Compass to determine strike and dip.
Goal: Complete the Geology EVA.
EVA departure was slightly delayed due to the presence of the NPR reporter, Rae Bichell. During the EVA, we examined pieces of sandstone and used a Brunton compass to obtain the strike and dip of the cap rock on a hoodoo located at the site. Everyone was able to learn and demonstrate how to use the compass. The whole EVA was successfully completed.
Time: departure at 10:25 am. Estimated return at 12:00 am
Duration: 1 hours and 35 minutes approximately Vehicles: 2 Rovers, 1 ATV
Purposes: Geology EVA. Teach students about sedimentary rocks, deposition, lithification, and examination of the regolith. Perform Monsell Soil Color analysis, use Brunton Compass to determine strike and dip.
Goal: Complete the Geology EVA.
Summary: EVA departure was slightly delayed due to the arrival of the NPR reporter, Rae Bichell. During the EVA, we examined pieces of sandstone and used a Brunton compass to obtain the strike and dip of the cap rock on a hoodoo located at the site. Everyone was able to learn and demonstrate how to use the compass. Rea accompanied the crew during the EVA, so we decided to made just one stop (12 N 518524 4249129). Second part of the EVA will be rescheduled to be completed later this week.
Four sols have passed since The McLennan Community College Highlanders Crew 177 arrived to Mars. For sure, four sols full of challenges and amazing experiences. Every activity around here is designed with the main purpose of providing us a unique experience other than that offered by a traditional classroom environment.
After all eight crewmembers took breakfast together, at about 0845 local time; Crew 177 got visited by Rae Bichell from NPR. Rae Bichell spent most of the day with us learning about our routine here on Mars. She is was very interested in knowing about our experiences, projects, our college as well as all related with the MDRS program. After giving her a short talk about our goals followed by a tour around the MDRS complex, she was invited to escort us during our morning Geology EVA.
After the daily routine of getting suited followed by the depressurization process before going out of the Hab, the Geology EVA crew departed at about 1045 local time. The EVA group consisted of Elijah Espinoza, Pitchayapa Jingjit, Esteban Espinoza, and Becky Parker. The geology experiments conducted today consisted of assessing many different regolith characteristics in the area around the Hab. Understanding what this material is made out of helps to determine what resources could be available. Also, crew members learned about the use of a Brunton compass to measure as strike and dip, both useful geological parameters which provide valuable information about what angle a particular geological formation has been uplifted.
While EVA team were collecting samples and taking geological measurement outside the Hab, remaining crew stayed in the Hab serving as communication support. During that time they also prepared lunch which was enjoyed by the crew members and guest. Menu included delicious teriyaki chicken, rice, corn, and red pepper.
During the afternoon, Pitchayapa started working on her microbiology experiments. The point of her experiments is to swab the Hab for the presence of Gram negative and enteric bacteria and Gram positive staph bacteria. Both have health implications.
Engineer completed their daily checking routine without major anomalies.
During dinner time the crew discussed the plan for tomorrow. While some crew members showed some signs of fatigue during the day, Crew 177 members are looking forward to keep doing their best in order to successfully complete this mission. The challenges make us stronger! Tomorrow, pending approval, will consist of a morning chemistry EVA with Elijah, Esteban, Caleb, and Becky. Rest of the afternoon will be spend working on individual projects and microbiology experiments conducted by Pitchayapa.
My name is Pitchayapa Jingjit (Pitch-cha-ya-pa Jing-jit). I am part of the crew 177 from McLennan Community College, Waco, Texas. I am a biologist and a photographer for this mission.
Aside from performing my microbiology EVA, I will also be collecting soil samples and bring those samples back to McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. I will be performing soil dilution processes in order to extract bacteria, grow them in Petri dishes, and find their zone of inhibition. This will indicate the presence of bacteria producing antibiotics. The goal of my research is to find bacteria that produce unique and effective antibiotics.
Today, I began my microbiology EVA inside the HAB. I swabbed the HAB for the presence of Gram negative enteric bacteria and Gram positive staph bacteria. Enteric bacteria are related to diarrheal diseases. Staph bacteria are related to skin infections and pneumonia. Both bacteria cause diseases and illnesses.
I will be expecting to find both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria growing on the tryptic soil agar (TSA) after incubating the samples. I will wait at least 24 to 48 hours for bacteria to grow in order to identify types of bacteria.
After I see that bacteria grow adequately on Petri dishes, I will start the gram staining process to identify the presence of both enteric and staph bacteria.
Please feel free to ask any questions, I will be happy to answer them for you.
Victoria LaBarre, XO and Chemist for Crew 177, on March 27.2017
Today four crew members went out on EVA to Candor Chasm and collected five rock samples to conduct chemistry experiments on, later this week in the lab. The most significant geological feature noted on this EVA was the large strata of Gypsum at the bottom of Candor.
While four members were out on EVA, the rest of the crew spent their time delegating tasks. Caleb swept the floor and cleaned the kitchen to provide more useable counter space. Estaban set up his manual bike generator in preparation for testing and hung up the McLennan Community College flag.
After receiving a radio message from the four crew members out on EVA that they were on their way back to the Hab, the rest of the crew began cooking lunch together. Hot bread, beef stew and a strawberry-jam crumble were served still-steaming as soon at the four crew members were helped out of their space suits.
After lunch, the five rock samples were taken to the lab and prepared for testing later this week by breaking them down into 2 gram samples. Estaban then had Pitchayapa test out his generator by having her petal on the bike to produce enough voltage to recharge a battery, which was measured with a multimeter. Elijah and I then took some time to reassemble our robot and solder together wires. I later gave other members of the crew who were interested a tutorial on how to properly use a soldering iron.
Joseph our cook, decided to delegate cooking duties in a rotation in to promote fairness when assigning who cleans the dishes and kitchen afterwards. Today, Pitchayapa and Caleb cooked a potato casserole and chicken fried rice. This was a new experience for Caleb, who has trouble reading in English (his second language) and cooking American food, instead of Chinese. Overall, Caleb mentioned that he genuinely enjoyed cooking American style food and that he was very proud that everyone enjoyed his cooking.
During cooking, a storm started with 20 mile and hour winds. The roof cap blew off and Elijah, our engineer, was kept busy pulling it back down into place, securing it and then going outside to adjust the satellite when we all noticed that the lights on the wi-fi had gone out.
After dinner, the crew sat down to brainstorm solutions for fixing the toilet and how to remove waste in the meantime after some crew members discovered that it was near to overflowing and would not go down. A report on the situation has been sent to CapCom, but due to the internet cutting in and out, we are still waiting for directions.
Note: pictures are by our photographer and microbiologist, Pitchayapa Jingjit.
Crew members: Elijah Espinoza, Joseph Quass, Pitchayapa Jingjit, Otsmar Villarroel
Location: 12 N 518277 4249548 12 N 520446 4251115 (Candor Chasma)
Time: departure at 9:00 am. Estimated return at 11:30 am
Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes approximately Vehicles: 2 ATV’s and 1 Rover
Purposes:
Chemistry EVA. Teach students about using the Geiger counter to identify background radiation. Also have students collect a water sample for analysis back at the hab.
Goal: Complete the Chemistry EVA.
Summary: Unfortunately, due to technical difficulty with the Geiger counter the identification backgroupd radiation part of the mission was not completed successfully. A second group will be send later this week to complete the task. Next we went to the Candor Chasma to collect water samples. Water was not located in this area although several moist areas were identified under rocks. Gypsum was evaluated and the students discussed that you can make water from gypsum if needed. Some samples were brought back for future composition evaluation. An important amount of green vegetation and colorful were observed down in the canyon. We observed birds, and found evidence of nesting by some unknown creatures.
Commander Report Crew 177: Otsmar Villarroel, Commander Sol 2 Earth date: 3/27/2017 Today the crew awoke around 7:00 am and enjoyed the morning playlist courtesy of Caleb. Lead Engineer, Elijah Espinoza, took care of filling the water tanks for our future water consumption in the HAB. We are very glad that water issue was solved.
After breakfast, the morning EVA left the hab at 9:11 am for Candor Chasma to complete the first Chemistry EVA. Commander Otsmar, Engineer Elijah, Chemist Joseph, Biologist Pitchayapa, and I spent most of the morning in the canyon trying to find water. On Earth, this molecule, made up of three atoms, is many times associated with life. While expeditioners could not find the presence of this vital molecule in its more stable state, under normal conditions, it was evident that water was part of that beautiful scene some time ago. The existence of beautiful geological structures, presumably sculpted by the power of water, were observed along with the presence of gypsum, CaSO4*2H2O, which support our ideas. Some unidentified animals’ (we hope) footprints were observed as well as some plants, trees, flowers, and cacti. We also discovered an interesting cave that showed signs of nesting by some unknown creature. Crew returned safely at approximately 11:31 am. Right after arriving, Elijah checked the ATVs gas level and then proceeds to fill them.
After taking lunch together, the crew spent the afternoon doing individual research and reviewing our media training in preparation for the NPR reporter that will be spending part of the day with us tomorrow. We all are very excited about that visit and ready to share our experiences here at MDRS as well as talk about our mission and projects.
Engineer, Elijah, went out to complete his daily routine, making sure everything is working as expected.
After dinner, crew discussed about tomorrow’s plan. Otsmar Villarroel 177 Crew Commander
Science Report Crew 177 Filled by Esteban Ramirez, Elijah Espinoza, Victoria LaBarre, Joseph Quaas.
Today, crew 177 spent the day working on a Chemistry EVA as well as working on their independent projects. Unfortunately one of the goal of the chemistry EVA could be completed due technical difficulty with the Geiger counter. Crew member will work on trying to solve the problem as a secong group will be send later this week to complete the task. Next, crew went to the Candor Chasma to collect water samples. Water was not located in this area although several moist areas were identified under rocks. Gypsum was evaluated and the students discussed that you can make water from gypsum if needed. Some samples were brought back for future composition evaluation. An important amount of green vegetation and colorful were observed down in the canyon. We observed birds, and found evidence of nesting by some unknown creatures.
Esteban Espinoza, spent part of the afternoon working on his project. The generator bike was unpacked and partially assembled during SOL 1. During SOL 2, the final components to the bike were attached and we began test trials. Crew member, Pitchayapa Jingjit began the first test trial. There were a few complications with the readings from her heartrate sensor initially, but these were later solved. The bike generator was also initially unable to generate power due to weak initially battery levels, but this issue was solved using a larger battery to charge the generator’s batteries. In Pitchayapa’s second trials, we could obtain constant heartrate measurements, and there was a significant increase in the battery’s voltage. We plan to begin official trials in the coming days wherever possible. Caleb Li spent part of his afternoon working on a LED digital clock in the air lock, since there is not a clock in the air lock so far; he came up the idea that make a digital clock by using FPGAs and the Basys 2 board. This clock could optimize the crew member’s experience when they wait in the air lock and go out do the simulation. He is currently working on the alarm function on the Basys 2 board, he found some issues related with the alarm codes and he is working on solve them. He is planning to continue troubleshooting for the alarm function tomorrow. Hope it will work out.
Joseph Quass, in addition to led the chemistry’s EVA during the morning, he spent his afternoon working on a virtual reality training simulator. This specific simulation is based on MDRS, so the sim would train incoming crews of the basic layout of the HAB, as well as important surrounding locations. Today, he worked on editing textures in order to fix some clipping issues that were occurring prior to my arrival at MDRS. The rest of his time at MDRS will be devoted to making the simulation as accurate as possible to the real deal in order to immerse users. The goal of the simulation is to train participants in the layout and through certain situations, such as rescue emergencies, that can occur on-site. Tomorrow, he will continue with bug-fixes and terrain creation.
Elijah and Victoria are doing joint research about robotic. First the robot was unpacked and parts were checked for damage. They proceeded to assemble the robot, starting with the frame, circuitry, wheels and then finally the motors and gearboxes. Once fully assembled, Victoria taught Elijah how to use a soldering iron so that we could connect motor wires to motor controller wires, which went into the brain. This ended up becoming larger tutorial for other members of the crew who were in tested in learning how to solder wire. After connecting the wires, they switched on the robot. They noted that although the robot turned on, the wireless communication between the remote control and the brain seemed to have trouble connecting. They plan to try solving this problem by cutting up two USB cables that they brought to solder together a USB to USB cable that will connect the brain and the remote control.
