Author: jburk

Here is the report of the journalist who was in the EVA today !

Crew 222 Journalist Report 18Feb2020

Author: Marie Bochard, Crew Journalist

Sol 2

Title: Head in the stars!

Today in EVA, we were tasked with setting up the experiment MegaARES, a giant aluminium sphere that measures the magnetic field of the planet. When we practiced putting it up before leaving, it did not take too long, but here it took us two whole hours! It’s hard to imagine how difficult it is moving in a spacesuit. Every small task becomes difficult. Just getting in the rover seat was tough, and trying to get back up after sitting down was even harder. This is in part due to the large backpack we have to carry around, since it is quite heavy and impairs our movements, and since this was our first EVA we kept bumping into each other lightly. Thankfully we quickly got the hang of it, and the suit no longer bothered us.

Upon our return, we could smell the delicious smell of a savory cake waiting for us. Martian food, when cooked to perfection, can rival with Earth cuisine! Especially when seasoned with GreenHab-grown greens that our GreenHab officer harvested yesterday.

Here, far from civilization, far from any man-made light, the night sky is beautiful. Today, Eishi showed us the pictures of a galaxy that he took last night. As the Astronomer, he has access to three telescopes here in the MDRS.

The first one is for finding objects in the night sky, such as galaxies and stars. It is fully automated and it can follow the objects that the Astronomer wishes to study during the night. It then activates the second telescope that takes astrophotography, and in the morning, the Astronomer has access to all the images taken by the telescope.

The third one is a manual solar telescope that is used to follow the Sun’s activity during the day. With it, we can see clearly the dark spots and solar eruptions. This will be crucial on Mars, because without a magnetic field all the radiation from the Sun directly hits the surface of the planet, and this can be fatal to Marsonauts who will live there. The Sun isn’t a still ball of plasma, it has phases where its activity increases or decreases, and following these cycles is important to ensure we can predict future activity and prevent any danger. Solar flares can be dangerous for the Earth too, as it interferes with electronic instruments! Even if it is millions of kilometers away, it has the power to make and destroy.

Crew 222 Journalist Report 17Feb2020
Author: Marie Bochard, Crew Journalist
Sol 1
Title: Problem-solving

Here on Mars, every small problem can take incredible proportions. Consider this: what if one life-support system fails? The entire mission is at stake, so everyone has to chip in and help repair the problem. Thankfully, this rarely happens, but minor problems still occur.

This morning was our first EVA, and there were two important experiments to get ready. The LOAC is used to measure air particles, which will be necessary to analyze the atmosphere on Mars, and the weather station can help predict dust storms that will be frequent on the red planet. Both experiments were assembled before leaving the Hab, because when we are on EVA we wear big gloves that really impair on our ability to manipulate tools. Once the setup was done, the four crew members leaving for EVA got ready in their spacesuits. These backpacks are designed specifically to enable humans to walk on Martian soil even though the environment is hostile: there is no oxygen on the surface of Mars, so us humans cannot breathe. This is an example of a life-support system that can need repair, since we cannot leave the station without it!

After a (very) spicy lunch, it was time for everyone to focus on their experiments. Valentin, the engineer, was tasked with finding a way to power a data collector for the weather station. This proved to be more difficult than we thought: after trying to solder batteries together to provide enough power to the data collector, which took us a few hours, we settled on using a powerbank. Problem-solving isn’t always about trying to make an idea work, it’s also about finding new ideas, and today was a proof for that.

Enough problems for now, today was also filled with crew moments. Meals are always a great way of communicating between us, since we all eat together. There moments are crucial for crew cohesion, because we are going to be living together for two weeks, so being honest and understanding everyone’s concern is fundamental. Cohesion is about sharing our favorite moments from every day, but also about making sure everyone feels at home and is their best self.

As the day winds down, we are all happy to smell the delicious blueberry tart that Bleuenn baked this afternoon. This has been an incredible first sim day, and we are looking forward to tomorrow!