Mars Desert Research Station

Sol Summary – March 22nd

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 11 (22Mar2017)

Person filling out Report: Michał Kazaniecki

Summary Title: Internet issues and beyond

Mission Status: Still work in progress

Sol Activity Summary: EVA, Internet “fixing”, rover testing, installing the experimental shower

Look Ahead Plan: EVA with rover, tests of rover Ares

Anomalies in work: Unstable Internet connection (again)

Weather: Cloudy and windy, heavy rain and strong wind at night

Crew Physical Status: one minor toe injury, everyone else feels good

Reports to be filled:

-Operations Report
-Commander Report
-EVA Report
-EVA Request (via SMS)
-Science Report

EVA Report – March 23rd

EVA #8

Crew members: Michal Kazaniecki (EVA leader), Natalia Zalewska, Karolina Zawieska (EVA buddies)

Location: Around the MDRS Hub

Vehicles : NA
Time : Departure at 10:00 and back at 13:00 hrs

Duration : 3 hours

Purposes:
• Testing Ares Rover

• Recording promotion materials

Summary:
Due to rainy and windy weather our testing scenario for Ares Rover was limited. However our test were successful and gather materials are on satisfactory level. Set of selected pictures (our favourites) are attached to this report.

Commander’s Report – March 23rd

Crew 176 Commander’s Report 23 March 2017
Natalia Zalewska
Commander Report
23 March 2017 – Sol 12

Dear Mission Support,

While we are heading to the end of our mission, we continue to maintain
our daily routine. Thus, we woke up today in the morning, had a breakfast
together as well as some of us completed psychological tests. We made sure
holter monitors work but due to the increasing fatigue of the entire team,
we skipped the sport activities.

Despite poor weather conditions, we undertook EVA as planned. This time
the crew members stayed in the close proximity of the habitat without the
need to use ATVs. The main focus was on the use of the rover Ares 2,
including in the role of the support tool when collecting geological
samples.

The Crew Engineer spent a significant amount of time working on the rover
and a corresponding trailer, and the Green Hab Officer was happy to
discover new plants in the pots. Also, just as every day, the entire crew
worked on preparing audio-visual data for both education and outreach
activities.

Starting from tomorrow, we will work on packing our staff, cleaning the
habitat and we will get mentally ready to leave. Our mood and teamwork is
still very good.

Best regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176

Science Report – March 23rd

Crew 176 Science Report 23 March 2017
Natalia Zalewska
Science Report
23 March 2017 – Sol 12

Dear Mission Support,

I have done comparison of sedymentations between different sandstones as
well as in relation to blueberries found on Mars by Opportunity rover in
the Endurance crater. Inside sandstones developed at the turn of Jurassic
and Cretaceous I have found near the habitat (Fig.1), there are
concretions in a side up to 1 cm, while in the layers originated from
Cretaceous in Member of Mancos Shale (Ferron Sandstone)(Fig.2) these
concretions have size of a few milimeters only. However, for example in
the Miocene layers dating from 6 million years ago in Romania in Costesti,
in Museum Trovanţilor(Fig.3) the concretions have diameters up to 5 m. The
characteristic feature is that such concretions are produced in very
fine-grained sandstones. In all these cases, scientists refer to river
deltas in which these concretions have formed. They are the result of
cementation, or the process of transformation of loose rock sediments into
a compact rock. This is the result of the fill by the cementation of the
free space between the sediment grains. Because the grains of a sand are
the result of rolling by water currents they have a spherical form,
combining them with merging solutions, for example due to calcium
carbonate or sulphate and clay minerals in the case of Mars, and then take
the form of a ball. It is said that on Mars were flowing rivers, which
could have also deposited large amounts of sediment. It is unknown exactly
whether these rivers carried sand similar to terrestrial or just altered
volcanic material. In any case, it is assumed that the concretions on Mars
were generated under the conditions of water which flow carrying the
solutions primarily of sulfates and clay minerals in addition the iron
oxides deposited on them (Fig.4)like in the case of spherules from Navajo
Sandstone from Jurassic formations .

Regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander and Crew geologist, MDRS Crew 176

Sol Summary – March 23rd

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 12

Person filling out Report: Michał Kazaniecki

Summary Title: Rain and rover testing

Mission Status: Final stage

Sol Activity Summary: EVA, rover related tasks

Look Ahead Plan: slowly getting ready to leave

Anomalies in work: rain and mud

Weather: rain, cold

Crew Physical Status: everyone feels good

Reports to be filled:

-Operations Report
-Commander Report
-EVA Report
-EVA Request
-Science Report

EVA Report – March 22nd

EVA #7

Crew members: Jedrzej Gorski (EVA leader), Karolina Zawieska, Krzysztof Jędrzejak (EVA buddies)

Location: Maxwell Montes

Vehicles : Rover Deimos and ATV #2 and #3
Time : Departure at 9:30 and back at 12:30 hrs

Duration : 3 hours

Purposes:
• Testing of black space suit and recording of promotion materials
• Desert exploration of area which is unknown for us

Summary:

On our way to Maxwell Montes we had occasion to record video documentation related to our black suit testing procedure. We also collected significant amount of good pictures and important feedback for our black suit designers. Due to condition of roads which leads to our destination we had very good occasion to increase our quad driving skills. Set of selected pictures (our favourites) are attached to this report.

EVA Report – March 22nd

EVA #5

Crew members: Jedrzej Gorski (EVA leader), Natalia Zalewska, Krzysztof Jędrzejak (EVA buddies)

Location: Lower Blue Hills

Vehicles : Rover Deimos and ATV #2 and #3
Time : Departure at 9:30 pm and back at 12:30 pm

Duration : 3 hours

Purposes:
• Testing of black space suit
• Exploration of unknown areas of a desert including bottom of skyline Rim

Summary:

On our way to edge of Lower Blue Hills we had occasion to explore white and Yellow Moon, as well as bottom of Skyline Rim near the end of Sagan Street. Our team collect significant amount of good pictures for our project documentation. We also gain important feedback for our black suit designers. Set of selected pictures (our favourites) are attached to this report.

Commander Report – March 21st

Crew 176 Commander’s Report 21 March 2017
Natalia Zalewska
Commander Report
21 March 2017 – Sol 10

Dear Mission Support,

Our daily routine remained unchanged today. We woke up in the morning and
had a breakfast together, oats with dried fruits, as usual. Afterwards
some of us completed psychological tests and then the selected members of
the crew got ready for EVA and left. EVAs continue to be the most
interesting tasks we undertake at MDRS in terms of research, technology
and documentation-related activities and constitute one of the main
subjects of our discussions. Personally, I find EVAs a rare opportunity
for undertaking very interesting geological research.

We had lunch together and took some rest. In the afternoon we proceeded
with working on the audio-visual content for the mass media, including
taking photographs and video recordings in the MDRS hab. We were glad to
have the Internet connection back (at least for a while) and online
communication with Mission Support re-established. Also, the Green Hab
Officer was happy to learn there are two more plants visible in the pots,
all of the belonging to the Zinnia flowers family.

We expect to have the Internet issues fully solved by tomorrow. We will
proceed with EVA and documentation activities, as well as my analysis of
geological samples. We will also continue to test the robot. We are aware
that the weather conditions will deteriorate but we hope it won’t
affect our EVAs.

Bets regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176

Sol Summary – March 21st

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 10

Person filling out Report: Karolina Zawieska, Green Hab Officer/Human-Robot Interaction Officer

Summary Title: White Canyon Exploration and outreach activities

Mission Status: Work in progress

Sol Activity Summary: EVA, documentation activities, cleaning

Look Ahead Plan: Continue EVA and documentation activities, solve the Internet problem

Anomalies in work: Unstable Internet connection

Weather: Cloudy in the morning, windy but sunny in the afternoon

Crew Physical Status: One of the crew members suffering from mild knee pain, everyone else feels good

Reports to be filled:

-Operations Report
-Commander Report
-EVA Report
-EVA Request

Science Report – March 20th

Dear Mission Support,

Yesterday we went to the West towards the rocks of the Middle Ages Cretaceous. I noticed that the large sandstone and mudstone walls of Ferron Sandstone Member were characterised by high erosion. Also, huge
boulders lay on the road. I assume they earlier broke off and rolled down as a result of erosion. The landscape resembled the images provided by the HiRISE camera of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from the Candor Chasma area. The images in question showed that the layers in the Chasma Canyon are not completely horizontal and are not homogeneous (Fig.1), (http://www.uahirise.org/nl/ESP_017174_1730). In case of the Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone, it consists of a series of deltaic systems stacked one above another and not a single prograded delta (T. A. Ryer, 1981), (Fig.2). Therefore, one of the possibilities is that the layers of the
Chandor Chasma may be deposited by flowing rivers, through the Valles Marineris canyon.

Regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander and Crew geologist, MDRS Crew 176