Author: jburk

Crew 240 Journalist Report 05Feb2022

Author: Pierre Fabre

Sol 5: Interview with: HSO – How to take care of a crew?

Hi everyone! Welcome back in this new report for the second episode of « Interview with ». In today’s episode, we are going to talk with Julie Levita, our HSO about her and her role in the crew.

But first, let me talk to you a bit about our Sol 5 on Mars.

First, I think it is worth to notify that this morning we didn’t workout to, I quote our HSO: « let our bodies rest until the beginning of a new week of workouts ».

I think it was a good call and everyone truly appreciated to sleep a little later. In fact, this week was quite exhausting for everyone and we were all quite tired lately (at least I was).

Moreover, it was important to rest to be ready for today’s EVA, which was long and physically demanding. Maxime, François, Marion and Clément went for an exploration of Candor Chasma, a big canyon in the surroundings of the station. On Earth, someone would probably call that EVA a hike, a hard one maybe. But on Mars, with the spacesuit and all the constraints we have already talked about in previous reports, it was a real challenge. They have spent 3 hours and a half outside, exploring the maze inside the canyon. When they came back, they were exhausted and everyone went for a nap after lunch. Despite all of that, I would have wanted to go with them so bad. I’m sure you will understand if you take a look at the pictures they took there, the canyon looks so good! But there has to be someone at the Hab just in case something happens to them. I really hope I will have the opportunity to see this canyon with my own eyes next time.

This afternoon despite how tired they were, Francois and Maxime spent all their time in the RAM trying to make the 3D printer work. Remember last time I told you that we needed this 3D printer working to print a custom funnel to allow Julie to recycle water. While I was interviewing Julie at the lower deck of the Hab, they worked very hard and at the end their perseverance paid off. They succeeded. They managed to print their first test piece. Tomorrow, they will be able to print the piece for Julie, which will make her task of recycling water way easier.

In fact, Julie has no time to lose, she is very busy creating workouts and activities for the crew as a good HSO. Talking about that, let’s see what we talked about this afternoon:

“-Hi Julie! How are you today?

-Super good, thank you! I’m glad to do this interview with you!

-Me too! Can you introduce yourself briefly for those who don’t know you yet?

-Ok let’s do this. My name is Julie Levita, I’m an engineering student at ISAE-SUPAERO. During my gap year I have performed two internships in the Space Surveillance Awarness domain. I’ve been very fond of team sports for a long time and I’ve played handball at national level. Currently I’m the crew’s 240 HSO (Health and Safety Officer).

-Yes, regarding that, can you explain a bit what is the role of the HSO in a crew?

-For me the HSO role has three main components.

The first one deals with the physical health of the crew. I have to take care of injuries, symptoms and those kinds of things. At MDRS, the motto is “Safety first”. Most injuries occur because of lack of sleep, dehydration or low sugar. A good HSO has to make sure everyone takes care of themselves. Due to Covid I also have to monitor the crew members temperature and oxygen rate.

The second component is related to the mental health of the crew. We live in a station without contact with the outside world, with limited resources in water and food which can be hard for some people to deal with. It is important to implement good habits that make us feel better. Every day, I organize workouts, meditation sessions and team building games. A good HSO also has to listen to his crew mates and be there for them if they feel bad.

And last but not least, safety is the most important task for an HSO. Security is the priority at MDRS, even more important than the simulation. This task is shared with the crew’s engineer who makes sure very often that every alarm in the station is working properly, that we have enough water and enough energy. The procedures are here to avoid dangerous situations as much as possible. I, with the help of the commander, have to make sure that we follow them well. But sometimes unexpected situations occur and we have to decide whether or not break the simulation because the situation is no longer under control. Those are hard questions to answer and we have to agree as a crew on what to do before the situation even occurs.

-And why did you want to be the crew’s HSO?

-They are many reasons.

First, I have a first aid certification and this training taught me how to react quickly in case of an emergency.

At the time I was playing handball, I witnessed many injuries that are typical of what could occur during an EVA. With time, I have learned to evaluate the gravity of an injury and in some cases I learned how to cure it or make it hurt less.

I think the main reason is the human aspect of the job. I care for people and I like to listen to them and try to understand how they feel. Moreover, I feel close to every member of that crew so it is all the more important for me that everyone feels good.

-Ok last question. What is your favourite part of the job?

-As I told you before, my main job is to prepare the activities for the day. I love workouts, it is a good way of starting the day feeling energized. Moreover, it is important to do sport when you have to live in small spaces like in the station. I also like when we do relaxation all together at the upper deck. I definitely feel the positive impact on how I feel and my crew mates make the experience even cooler by taking it very seriously. But what I like the most are the games we play together at night. Those are really pleasant moments and I like to think that the crew is becoming more of a team each time. And to be perfectly honest, the positive feedbacks from my crewmates make me very happy.

-Those feedbacks are well deserved Julie; you do an excellent job as HSO. I love all the activities you make us do and I want to thank you personally for the energy you put in making us feel better each day. “

This concluded this cool interview with Julie. I hope you enjoyed it! The interviews from the other crew members are coming soon so stay tuned!

Crew 240 Journalist Report 04Feb2022

Author: Pierre Fabre

Sol 4: Home tour – The Martian house

It’s been three days since we arrived in the station and I’ve been mentioning some cool names like Science Dome and RAM in my reports. I bet everyone is dying to know what those buildings look like, no? If not, we are going to pretend anyway. Today you are very lucky because we are going to take you with us for a Home Tour of the M.D.R.S. Please fasten your seatbelts and follow us in the corridors of our Martian house.

Ok first thing first. What does M.D.R.S. means? M.D.R.S. stands for Mars Desert Research Station. It is basically the facility in which we will live during those 3 weeks.

Now that the basics have been set, let’s start our tour by the heart of this station, the Hab. There are two decks in the Hab.

I’ve been talking to you about the lower deck because it’s there that we workout every morning with Julie, our HSO (Health and Safety Officer). It’s also there that we have our two airlocks. As a reminder, a airlock is a room that connects the inside (the Hab) with the outside (Mars). So you have to stay in there while the pressure in the room is passing from the inside pressure (same pressure as on Earth), to the outside pressure (the pressure on Mars is approximately a thousand times lower than on Earth). On this deck, we also suit up and do all the procedures before going on an EVA.

The upper deck is basically where we live and spend most of our time (sleep, cook, eat, relax, …). In this part of the Hab we have 6 individual rooms (they are pretty small but we sleep quite well in them). There is also a kitchen, which is perfect to cook some dried food based dishes (I still have in mind that I have to talk to you about the Martian food, don’t worry). On the table we eat, work, and play games together like a real family!

I think that’s enough for the Hab, you get the idea.

Ok now, I told you that there were two airlocks at the lower deck. The front airlock is for going on EVA. The rear airlock is the connection between the Hab and the corridors. The corridors allow you to go from the Hab to the other buildings without suiting up which is very convenient.

But let’s stop talking about corridors, and let’s talk about the second building of the station. I told you before that the Hab was the heart of the station, but in fact the real heart of the MDRS is the GreenHab. It is the unique source of non-dried food on Mars. In there, we grow vegetables, fruits, plants, … On Mars, growing plants have nothing to do with a hobby, it is vital. For example the next crew will have the pleasure to eat the soja that Julie planted today.

This would have been the second home of our Botanist Raphael if he could have come. As he is sadly not there, Marion takes good care of the plants.

If you liked the GreenHab, you’re going to love the Science Dome. First, because of its shape (it is a dome), and then because of the view you have from the window (at the end of the day it becomes truly beautiful). And last but not least, the room is equipped with a lot of scientific instruments to do chemistry and physics which is very useful for the experiments of Julie and Marion. Talking about which, Marion found today with her experiment Aquapad that the water we’ve been drinking is safe to drink!

Now it is time for me to explain what is hiding behind the mysterious name of RAM. The Repair and Assembly Module is the favourite building of Francois, our Engineer. It is there that we repair, construct, and assemble everything. Fun fact: the building is built out of an ancient fuel tank from a helicopter (how cool is that?).

The tour of our home is getting close to its end. But we have a last building to visit. The Musk Observatory hides the jewel of our Astronomer. In there is a telescope that allows Maxime to monitor the Sun. It is really important because in case of a high solar activity we must not go out of the station due to the radiations that could be dangerous even with a spacesuit. Talking about that, Maxime made his first observation of the Sun today and there was apparently nothing to worry about. That was great news!

This ends the incredible tour of our Martian house, I truly hope you enjoyed it! I also hope you enjoyed the aerial pictures of the station we took with the drone during today’s EVA!