Mars Desert Research Station

Sol Summary – March 17th

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 6

Person filling out Report: Michał Kazaniecki, Engineer

Summary Title: It’s a good day to explore Mars

Mission Status: we can focus more on our field work instead of current hab maintenance

Sol Activity Summary: geo research during EVA, installing new pump, other work in hab with robot

Look Ahead Plan: EVA, mid-term summary session

Anomalies in work: our first day with every hab system working nearly properly

Weather: sunny, no strong wind

Crew Physical Status: one of crew members has mild cold sympthoms

Reports to be file:

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

GreenHab Report – March 16th

Karolina Zawieska

16 March 2017 – Sol 5

Dear Mission Support,

Today it was a very interesting day for me as I have tried to bring some life to Green Hab. I have planted seeds, namely radish, swiss, onion and two types of flowers, as well as 5 potatoes and 1 avocado seed, all of them in separate pots (I felt like a protagonist of the film “Martian”). I am aware I will hardly see any progress during my stay in MDRS, however, I truly hope the crews that will come next, will see some grown plants and will carefully take care about them. I have left notes with the name of the plant on each pot.

I have decided to fill a watering can water on a daily basis rather than keep it fully filled inside the Green Hab. This is because it gets very hot inside and I don’t want the water to get too warm. The tap outside the Green Hab does not work, so I will need to bring water from the hab, just as I did today. The fan does not give any problems. I haven’t found any thermometer to measure the temperature inside the Green Hab but I keep the track of the temperature outside the Hab (30 C degrees today at noon).

I have brought a cactus from the field and I am planning to plant it tomorrow. I am aware it does not belong to crops, but I think the presence of even a tiny piece of green inside the Green Hab will give it a more positive look and will have a positive psychological effect on me and future Green Hab officers.

Best wishes,

Karolina Zawieska

Green Hab Officer, Crew 176

Sol Summary – March 16th

MDRS Daily Summary Report for SOL 5

Person filling out Report: Michał Kazaniecki, Engineer

Summary Title: Team is finally complete

Mission Status: successful EVA, progress with current work

Sol Activity Summary: training for 5th crew member, EVA, maintenance, green hab work

Look Ahead Plan: further work with robot, EVA,

Anomalies in work: mysterious water leakage outside the hab getting even bigger, need to manually refill static tank without a pomp

Weather: sunny, winds in the evening

Crew Physical Status: everything is correct

Reports to be file:

-Operations report
-Commander report
-Green Hab Officer’s report
-EVA request

Science Report – March 15th

Crew 176 Science Report 15 March 2017

Natalia Zalewska
Science Report
15 March 2017 – Sol 4

Dear Mission Support,

I am in the hab. ! I continue study of the geology map. I have done rock
separation from Cretaceous Dacota Formation and Jurassic Morrison
Formation. Base on my study I concluded that fluvial sandstone originate
from Morrison Formation and concretions in the light sandstone from
Dacota.

Best regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176
and Crew Geologist

Commander Report – March 15th

Crew 176 Commander’s Report 15 March 2017
Natalia Zalewska
Commander Report
15 March 2017 – Sol 4

Dear Mission Support,

This morning we woke up around 9:10 am due to long hours day before. Two
remaining crew members (Jedrzej Gorski XO and me) did morning sport
exercises which are part of holter testing. The training started at 9:30
am and lasted for 35 min.

After the training we had a quick breakfast and the two of us, including
myself, came back to organisation duties related to EXO 17 project
promotion and organisation.

In the meantime, the our Crew Engineer & Green Hab Officer reported that
they are on their way back from Salt Lake City with our fifth team member
(Krzysztof Jedrzejak) along with our cargo. They should arrive around
midnight. Request for EVA #2 which will serve as a training for Krzysztof
has been submitted today.

The strategy we have invented for flushing the toilet continues to work
based on XO experience.

Best regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176

GreenHab Report – March 14th

When we arrived to MDRS, the door to the Green Hab was locked and all plants were dead. The door got unlocked the same day and Shannon Rupert did substantive works to put things in order, remove dry plants and prepare pots for new crops.

I have finished today what Shannon started: I have collected trash and removed the resting dry plants as well as I put things in order and brushed the floor. I have also analysed the seeds that are available for planting. Most of the pots contain soil and none of them contains plants (there are still dry roots left though in some of the pots). Approximately a half of them is ready to be used for new plants.

Each morning I turn the fan on and I turn it off in the evening. I also partially open and close a sort of the window built into the door. The fan works well. The days are very sunny, so it gets very hot inside (the temperature outside was 26 C degrees; I still need to find a thermometer to measure the temperature inside).

The next step is to start seeds as well as bring some plants from the field and try to grow them inside the Green Hab. I also need to examine how to regulate the temperature, lightening and moisture of the soil in a way it fits the seeds.

Best wishes,
Karolina Zawieska
Green Hab Officer, Crew 176

Science Report – March 14th

EVA #1 approaching to conglomerate Dacota Formation, 1,5 km from habitat
and the study of geology map to identify place of collected samples. These
Cretaceous Dacota Sandstone and Conglomerates originated due to very
strong flow of water. This formation is comparable with images from
Curiosity rover from surface of Martian Gale Crater. The rock consists
with 1-2 cm pebbles.

With kind regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176

Commander Report – March 14th

Dear Mission Support,

This morning we woke up even earlier than before, i.e. at 7:15 am. This
was because we needed to wear holter monitors and make them work. We also
did morning sport exercises that are part of holter testing. The training
started at 8:50 am and lasted for 35 min. We are planning to repeat the
training every day.

After the training we had a quick breakfast and the two of us, including
myself, got ready for the EVA. The EVA was scheduled for 10:00 am,
however, due to the communication issues, we left the hab at 10:20 am (for
detailed information see the EVA Report). Due to the heat we experienced
due to the EVA, both of us felt tired and took a nap after coming back to
the hab.

In the meantime, the Crew Engineer worked on a small mobile robot for
approximately 2 hours and the Green Hab Officer spent around 1 hour
working in the Green Hab. We had a late lunch at 4 pm. The strategy we
have invented for flushing the toilet continues to work.

In the afternoon, the two of the crew members, namely Crew Engineer &
Green Hab Officer took a rental car and went to Salt Lake City to pick the
last member of the crew up and collect the delayed package (the latter
includes such things as the rover Ares 2, tools and equipment). They will
be back tomorrow (15th of March).

Best regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176

Science Report – March 13th

Hi! I send my Science Geological Report

Preliminary observation, using ATV, of mesas weathering processes along
the way to the canion. Since my last stay 12 years ago, strong erosion is
noticeable. Erosion is caused by fluvial processes.
In addition, preliminary observations of sandstone J \ K layers were made.
Observation regarded their cementation by iron oxide.

Regards
Natalia
Crew Commander

(Fig 1) Concretions
cemented by iron oxides are visible on the left side of the picture.

Commander Report – March 13th

Crew 176 Commander’s Report 13 March 2017
Natalia Zalewska
Commander Report
13 March 2017 – Sol 2

Dear Mission Support,

This morning we woke up a bit earlier, that is around 8:00 am. We had a
quick breakfast together and we started ATVs training at 9:30 under the
supervision of Shannon. After explaining us all the rules regarding how to
use the AVTs and rovers as well as where to go, we were given some free
time to explore the surroundings and better familiarise ourselves with the
vehicles. We truly enjoyed it and viewed it a useful team-building
exercise.

We came back around 12:30 and had lunch together. All of us find it
interesting to try different powder-based foods. During the day, we were
also extremely happy to find a way to flush the toilet efficiently (if the
solution proves to work in a long run, we will pass it to the crew who
will come after us).

After lunch, I proceeded with collecting some geological samples. We also
successfully worked with Shannon Rupert on fixing the tunnel. Moreover
Shannon give our Green House Officer additional instructions on planting.
Then we took photographs of the entire crew with the Polish and Martian
flags to announce the opening of the full isolation that will start
tonight.

This evening, we are planning to retrain ourselves on how to use medical
devices we brought for testing. The testing will start tomorrow, along
with the EVA activities.

In conclusion, it was another busy and very interesting day for us at MDRS.

Best regards,

Natalia Zalewska
Commander, MDRS Crew 176