Mars Desert Research Station

Journalist Report – March 20th

Dear Mission Support,

I am sending you my journalist report. It concerns the last five days at MDRS. The journalist activities we undertook over the last few days include the following:

Video-photo sessions during different EVA. The goal was to document both geological sites as well as the crew members and their work. We also wanted to document the prototype versions of black space suits we have brought with us.
Preparation of audio files for the Programme 1 Polish Radio Station.
Preparation of the Social Media content.

As far as daily activities are concerned, we attach all the required photographs along to individual reports dedicated to Operations, Green Hab and EVA.

Best regards,

Krzysztof Jędrzejak

Journalist, MDRS Crew 176

GreenHab Report – March 20th

Dear Mission Support,

My daily activities related to the Green Hab include mainly watering seeds and waiting for the results. Today the day was different: I have found a tiny plant pointing out of one of the pots. It belongs to Zinna flowers. Of course, I was very happy to see it and I feel ever more motivated to take care about other seeds and potatoes.

The temperature was lower than usual, so I did not turn on the fan today. I very much hope to see more plants grow before the mission is over.

Best wishes,

Karolina Zawieska

Green Hab Officer, Crew 176

Commander Report – March 20th

Dear Mission Support,

Week no. 2 started a bit differently than usual for us. We started the day
from repairing the tunnel that got damaged by strong wind yesterday.
Afterwards we had a breakfast and we undertook our daily psychological
tests and sport activities.

During the day, we proceeded with the maintenance activities as we
enlarged the ditch in front of the habitat to release the leak. It took us
quite some time. Then we had lunch together and took some rest. We did not
plan any EVA for today because we could not send the EVA request a day
before due to the failed Internet connection.

In the afternoon, some of us proceeded with psychological tests and
documentation of our mission. The Green Hab Officer was very excited to
learn that one of the seeds has turned into a plant. She brought the pot
to the hab, so that all of could share her excitement. Also, we were happy
to see that the Internet connection was back. Unfortunately it did not
last for long and we were left with no Internet again in the evening and
without the possibility to send our report.

The overall mood of the crew is good although we are still worried about
the issues with the Internet which makes it difficult for us to
communicate with Mission Support and the rest of our team in Poland.

Regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176

Science Report – March 19th

Stereoscopy

After few days of tests and calibration, finally I have configured stereoscopy system on Gaja rover.

The idea of stereoscopy is based on how human sight works. Given two shifted pictures, human mind creates an illusion of depth and 3D.
This solution is implemented in our system.

First part of it consist of 2 cameras placed about 7 cm from each other, on a moving mounting on a rover. This distance is approximately the same as between human eyeballs. The second one are special Virtual Reality Goggles with LCD screen displaying the video. Video for each eye comes from different camera so they are shifted a bit.

Our tests proved that wearing goggles you can feel like observing the world from robot’s point of view. The depth of image is not as visible as natural sight, but someone can clearly tell if some object is closer of further than another.

This system can be useful in many fields. For example, when you operate a robot, you can now better recognize the surroundings and plan every move, if you know where exactly in space everything is placed.

Science Report – March 18th (Engineering)

Name of person filing report: Michał Kazaniecki

Water level detector

One of the systems, that you have to check in the Hab all the time is water tank at loft. It is a reservoir of all water flowing to taps, shower and toilet. Everyone need to control the level of water and refill from external tank before it reaches the limit.

Although the tank is partially transparent, in bad lighting it is hard to tell if it is full.

Today, when I saw that the level is below the limit, I decided to solve that problem by creating an electronic water level detector.

The detector consist of two metal electrodes sunk inside the tank and connected to an electronic board (Arduino). When the electrodes are covered with water, electric current flows between them and the voltage is measured by Arduino. If the water is below the limit, the current doesn’t flow through the wires. It is a signal to refill the tank and it is displayed by flashing LED. Everything is powered by one 9-volt battery.

Tests performed on a water in a mug confirmed that the system works properly. We installed it in a tank and we are waiting for the further results of the tests.

Science Report – March 18th

Yesterday we went to the Murphy’s Canyon. I noticed interesting crystallization of gypsum in the form of ridges sticking from the
surface.

The images taken by different Martian rovers (e.g. Curiosity) show that such crystallization occurs on Mars, which proves the activity of water. In a different place there I also noticed pits caused by characteristic dissolution of sandstone by aqueous solutions.

Such dissolution is a good comparison of chemical weathering by which we can recognize the existence of sandstones and identify them on Mars.

Best regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176
and Crew Geologist

Commander Report – March 18th

Unlike yesterday, we woke up quite early today, i.e. around 7:00 am. We did not have the sport training planned for today but the three of us undertook EVA in the morning and brought a small robot in the field. Right after coming back from EVA, two persons dig a trench in front of the habitat to release the leak (the puddle becomes bigger and bigger every day).

Since the entire crew has been increasingly tired, we decided to take more time than usual to relax. We spent time together on watching the photographs we have taken so far as well as we discussed potential future developments for our team in terms of analog missions.

In the afternoon, Crew Engineers worked on the habitat maintenance in relation to the pomp and the backdoor, while the Green Hab Officer cleaned the space suits. Afterwards, we developed a schedule for tomorrow that focuses mainly on preparing and sending the content for the mass media.

The crew successfully relaxed today and is ready for intense work tomorrow.

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176

EVA Report – March 18th

EVA #3

Crew members (3) : Jedrzej Gorski (EVA leader), Karolina Zawieska, Michal Kazaniecki (EVA buddies)

Location: Lith Canyon

Vehicles : Rover Deimos and ATV #2 and #3
Time : Departure at 8:50 pm and back at 11:30 pm

Duration : 2 hours 50 min

Purposes:

Testing of black space suit with prototype of a gas mask supported with Gaia Rover
Preliminary studies related to human-robot collaboration

Summary:
During our third EVA we had occasion to explore Lith Canyon in a purpose of testing how our Gaia Rover interact with selected crew members. Interaction was well documented by our crew. We have also tested gas mask prototype received from our partner and refuel ATV’s. We set of collected pictures are attached to Scientific Report.

Sol Summary – March 18th

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 7

Person filling out Report: Michał Kazaniecki, Engineer

Summary Title: Explore and relax

Mission Status: recharged, thinking about everything except problems

Sol Activity Summary: human-robot interactions on EVA, relax, maintenance

Look Ahead Plan: EVA, media and outreach activities

Anomalies in work: due to accidental software update, we’ve lost almost 30% of our daily internet data allowance.

Weather: sunny, small clouds

Crew Physical Status: everyone is alive

Reports to be file:
-Operations report
-Commander report
-EVA Report
-EVA Request
-Science report (geology)
-Science report (engineering)
-Science report (Human-Robot Interaction)

Commander Report – March 17th

Crew 176 Commander’s Report 17 March 2017
Natalia Zalewska
Commander Report
17 March 2017 – Sol 6

Dear Mission Support,

Today we woke up a bit later than usual, that is around 9:00 am. All crew
starts feeling a bit tired but the mood is still good. We undertook our
morning sport training, as usual, and some of us completed psychological
tests. From the very morning, we continued to use holter monitors.
Afterwards, we had a breakfast together and discussed the agenda for
today.

During the day we cleaned the kitchen and we proceeded with our daily
tasks assigned to each member. In particular, Crew Engineer continued
testing the small robot Gaia for the purposes of the tomorrow’s EVA
and Green Hab Officer did some works in the Green Hab. I prepared tools
for data collection and a preliminary framework for the analysis of the
samples.

In the afternoon the three of us participated in EVA. Each time when we
get ready for EVA we face serious issues with communication setups that
are hard to explain and they cause delays. In the course of EVA, we went
to the Murphy’s canyon and were very excited to find petrified wood,
as expected (I remembered that spot from the previous mission I was part
of). I also found interesting pieces of gypsum and silica and the places I
had visited 12 years ago while being on the mission at MDRS. I was curious
to verify the degree of erosion that occurred over the last decade in
those spots.

We had no problems with the habitat facilities today. Collaboration within
the five-member team is good, just as it was when we were in four.

Best regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176