MARS DESERT RESEARCH STATION

Journalist report, 02/18/17 – Sol 6: Aborted EVA.

Today’s EVA was supposed to be short. We had to check the seismometer, to make sure that it didn’t move yesterday because of the wind, and then to collect its data. We were not able to use the balloon, because of the wind and the possibility of rain, so that we planned to explore a new area, and to take ‘official’ pictures, with flags and banners. I was going out along with Louis, as EVA leader, Xavier and Mouadh.

For the first time, we used two ATVs, along with a rover. After having reached the seismometer, we quickly saw it hadn’t moved. The panels we put over it must have done a great job yesterday. We picked up the USB key containing our seismic data, and left. This is when the first problem showed up: Xavier’s headband went down to his eye, making him almost blind. Of course, it seems trivial, but back then, we had no solution to help him, and having a headband is nearly essential, to keep our earplug in place. He tried to rub on the sides of his helmet, with no result. It was not too dangerous already, so that we kept going, I just had to take the wheel on the rover.

The weather was more and more cloudy, but there was no rain at the time. We kept going on the main road, to reach the canyon we were supposed to visit. After ten minutes, we stopped, cows were near the point where we had to go. We had to take a decision. Louis took it, briefly, we will head back, and find another place. Once again, the problem wasn’t that simple. Walk next to a few cows acting as if they were not there, with our suits and a half blind man could put us in a tough spot if cows decided to join us… We had nothing essential to do here, that is what we stepped back. Rain was coming slowly, and fog accumulating on our glass because of humidity. We tried to climb a hill on our way back to track potential future EVA locations, but fog was so handicapping for everyone that we just decided to go back to the base.

It was kind of a disappointment, because we remained no more than one hour outside, but it taught us something important. We have to react quickly in those situations, and stick to the leader’s order, in order not to put us in a difficult spot. At the same time, in the hab, the first sprout of lettuce showed up in our indoor vegetable garden Vegidair, two days after having been seeded, while Simon, Arthur and Xavier tried to fix up our broken radios.

Tomorrow, for the first time a junior crew member, Simon will lead us an EVA, in which we will test our radio system, hoping it happen better.

Louis MANGIN, crew journalist MDRS 175

Journalist report, 02/18/17 – Sol 7: Rainbow over fog.

For today’s EVA, we had to go by foot: the ground was wet so that most roads were not practicable. We had two goals: test the radios and the sextant. The weather was cloudy, and rain was close. We had planned a short EVA, and I left with Simon, Victoria, and Arthur.

To begin with, we went as far from the hab as possible before losing the radio signal. Once here, a first pair stopped, and a second kept going. The first pair was holding a homemade radio relay (see pictures), done with walkie-talkies, in order to test the advantage of splitting, to reach the hab easily. At the same time, Arthur was using the sextant to locate us precisely, to help us get more accurate values. Both experiments were disturbed by the weather. Radio communications were very bad, and particularly unstable, and the sextant decalibrated, probably because of temperature changes. Arthur did not manage to calibrate it again with his gloves, so that we had only the first values. He will have to customise it to make it possible. To end with, fog was an issue once again, so that after one hour of tests, with very difficult communications, we decided to go back to the base, having done everything we were able to with both experiments.

In addition to casual work and reports, Xavier and I decided to track more precisely the use of water, counting showers, flushes, greenhab use, and drinking water. Simon gave us a personal feedback on our morning sport program he manages, Victoria will be able to get spinach from the greenhab tomorrow, and Arthur got the results from his test on our drinkable water, using the Aquapad experiment. The more impressive result we had was between boiled water and regular or filtered one. Boiling water kills almost every germ and the experiment shows it clearly.

As a conclusion, the Sun showed us a beautiful rainbow during sunset, ending our first week officially in sim.

Louis MANGIN, crew journalist MDRS 175

Crew 175 Journalist report Sol 5

Journalist report, 02/17/17 – Sol 5: Seismometer, storm and fresh bread.

Today was my first day following an EVA from the hab. Moreover, I was its habcom. After breakfast, I was in charge of checking everyone’s radio, backpack, timing the pressurisation, and giving tasks to the crew members outside during the check-ups at the beginning of the EVA. Then I was following their actions by radio when they were in range.

Today’s EVA included Arthur, as leader, Mouâdh, Victoria, and Simon, who had taken the camera, so that today’s pictures of the outside would not be mine today. Their first objective was to install the seismometer where we planned to two days ago. It went well and was finished quickly. The balloon remained in the hab, because of the wind blowing too hard. That is why, after half of the EVA, the team started to explore the surroundings, went up to hab ridge road, then back, training on how to use the map in situation.

At the same time, in the hab, I was busy working on interviews for French medias, Xavier was working on the energy supply of the station, and Louis was busy with the EMUI. The afternoon started quietly, with almost everybody taking a nap, but after a couple of hours, wind started to blow very strongly. The whole station became very noisy, parts moving everywhere, we had the strange feeling that we could take off at any minute… Our brand-new wall was moving dangerously, but went through it. Xavier and Louis had to go out on an “emergency EVA” to check if nothing was damaged, and to pick up stuff that flew away.

For dinner, Simon had baked fresh bread for us. He now masters the art of using the bread machine well. It might seem simple but it is the only way for us to get fresh food. And for French people, being able to eat fresh bread even if it isn’t baguette is priceless…

Louis MANGIN, crew journalist MDRS 175