Author: jburk

Journalists report March 18, 2019

Author: Diane Rothberg

We awoke to a loaf fresh bread, courtesy our bread making machine that labored through the night. But that was nothing compared to Tom’s multi-grain pancakes which were accompanied by a fruit salad. We discovered we could conserve water as well as make a nutritious beverage by boiling the water from the reconstituted fruit salad and adding a couple of green tea bags.

Tiffany and Tom spent a good part of the morning hunched over laptops trying to sort out issues with with the astronomy photoshop software, while Julielynn set up a medical research study involving the use of a 3D printer as an aid to thoracentesis training. Kevin helped out by being her “human mannequin”.

A lunchtime bruschetta made with the leftover bread was a big hit, especially with the addition of Greenhab basil and cilantro. After lunch, Tom and Tiffany went to the solar observatory to troubleshoot some issues with the telescope imaging software.

Then we suited up for our afternoon EVA mission, the aim of which was to pinpoint optimum locations for our drone mapping project. Julielynn, Tom and myself headed south in rovers Curiosity and Spirit, in search of “Zubrin’s Point.”

It’s amazing how the simplest things become a challenge “here on Mars”. The space suits are so cumbersome that even entering the rover is a squeeze. Trying to keep an eye on your crew mate behind you requires a major shift in body weight. Com radios can drop off your belt, ear pieces can slip off causing a lack of communication, and taking photos with bulky gloves make manipulating an iPad extremely difficult.

We have a busy night ahead, as Julielynn is planning thoracentesis training for all of us!

Journalists Report March 22

Journalist: Diane Rothberg

We were able to accomplish two EVAs today.

This morning, we did some area mapping with the drone, and with the remaining time, performed an aerial inspection of the apex of the Hab, simulating a damage assessment should it ever be required. Tom and I, the drone rookies, got a chance to take the controls, under the guidance of Dean. After the EVA, we debriefed, and observed that, while our goals were accomplished, we should have been better organized and we should have been more specific in assigning duties to individual crew members.

So, before this afternoon’s EVA, we had a very thorough briefing. We outlined our goals, which were to compare the traditional drone controller with a new type of controller. This intuitive controller reduces the two sticks on a traditional controller down to one, and was designed by Scott Parazynski, a NASA astronaut, physician, and pilot who is the veteran of 5 space missions. We communicated with him directly this morning and he helped Dean set up the software for it. We outlined the flight maneuvers to be flown on a whiteboard which Dean, Tom, and Kevin took with them on their EVA.

We compiled some great photos of our 3D printing and drone research activities for the Civil Air Patrol cadets of the Niagara Falls Composite Squadron, since three of us (Julielynn, Tom and myself) are Senior Members and the squadron is enthusiastically tracking our progress!