Author: jburk

SOL 9: Meddi, Tell Me a Story!
4:30 PM: The crew had a productive morning. Robin took his turn practicing the teleoperation of rovers using a PlayStation controller for the HUMANISE experiment. Soon, everyone on the crew will have enjoyed controlling the little robot this way. Célyan and I began testing the work done by ISAE-SUPAERO students who developed AMAIA, the CNES astronaut assistance AI. Meanwhile, Meddi did his daily visit of the micro-greens scattered throughout the station, between the Science Dome, GreenHab, and HAB, to water them. We then realized just how dry our environment is. With an average humidity in the HAB of around 20%, all living organisms in the station must contend with unusual dryness. The crew members are not exempt from this constraint; lip balm and moisturizing cream are our best friends. But the micro-greens suffer as well, and we’ve already noticed that those growing in agar-agar, a very humid substance Meddi prepared at the start of the mission, are thriving much better than those in the soil, which dries out very quickly.

6:20 PM: Today, Robin and Meddi also finished modeling 3D maps using photogrammetry software. Tonight, an experiment really begins. To compare our performances, two teams will compete in searching for beacons at Candor Chasma, a close canyon to the base. One team will use a 2D map, while the other will use the freshly modeled 3D map. Tonight, Somaya and I took notes on a 2D-created map; Meddi had prepared a small scenario to set the context for our expedition! We’ll set out tomorrow morning in search of them.

Crew 311 Journalist Report 20Feb2025
SOL 4: The wind blows in the sails of Crew 311
Author: Isolde Louzier-Ricalens

11:00 AM: The morning routine gets longer, and with it, the number of sensors we wear daily increases dramatically. This morning, for the first time, we put on all the sensors needed for the Orbital Architecture experiment. Its goal is to study the effect of architecture on our behaviors and performances. Until the end of the mission, we will wear a watch, a position and heart rate sensor.

This morning, Meddi and Quentin prepared their first EVA for stratigraphic geological studies in the “Martian” desert. In the long run, they hope to contribute to training an AI that will detect and map different rock layers in the desert using a drone—a revolutionary innovation that would make geologists’ life better! Meddi and Somaya also made videos for public outreach in the GreenHab to keep students from the “Seeds of Mars” project informed, as well as Moroccan students that Somaya visited. This year, we have conducted outreach projects in no less than a dozen schools! Among them are young people in Occitanie, Morocco, and the United States who benefited from our interventions. It is a great pride for us because it is through such interventions that some of our classmates were inspired to join ISAE-Supaero, and we hope to have ignited that spark in the youth we met.

On her part, Erin is doing much better! After working on debugging AMAIA with me during the morning, Robin and her are concurrently working on 3D printing storage for our numerous electronic devices.

4:48 PM: This afternoon, the wind is blowing so strongly that we fear damage to our tunnels between modules. The gusts seem to worsen the condition of the tarps at a hole that formed during previous missions.

The day ultimately lends itself well to working in the HAB, our main module. Crew members take advantage of this to install the last lamps for the LättaLL experiment. Designed to improve our well-being through light, these light sources change intensity according to the time of day, and we will study their impact on our crew compared to previous crews.