Category: Journalist Report

Crew 269 Journalist Report
Date: 29 Nov 2022
Sol: 2
Author: Alli Taylor, Executive Officer

After a quick hot breakfast of oatmeal and rehydrated fruit, Crew 269 gathered on the first floor of the habitat to complete EVA training with MDRS Director Dr. Shannon Rupert and Assistant Director Sergii Iakymov. The crew was shown how to don and doff the spacesuits, make adjustments for comfort, and correctly position headsets and radio equipment. Dr. Rupert also provided an in-depth review of the EVA Planning Map for the local terrain surrounding MDRS, pointing out known paths for rover traverses, and exploration quadrants.
Later that day, with comms equipment securely in place and microphones positioned snugly inside their helmets, the first three crew members entered the airlock to begin a 5-minute depressurization period before opening the airlock to the Martian terrain. The crew tested their ability to ingress and egress the rovers, increased confidence in using the comms system (the radio settings and the push to talk button are blocked from view by the helmet), and briefly explored and captured photographs of the Marble Ritual area before making their way via rovers back to the habitat. With wind whipping sharply through the dune-like hills, the second three crew members later arrived at the Marble Ritual area. The crew deployed a remote control mini all-terrain vehicle, dubbed “Goose”, in the vicinity of Marble Ritual, to capture initial imagery for use in building a 3D model of the terrain as part of one of the primary research objectives. The crew adjusted the configuration of Goose for different measurements, worked together to activate the sensors at the correct timing, and collected data along a small portion of Cow Dung Road while controlling it from about 80-100 ft distance. The team drove Goose back to the crew rovers they had ridden to Marble Ritual, collecting data the entire way. After wrapping up the Sol’s EVAs, the crew came together for an Italian dinner with delicious homemade sourdough and prepared for their next Sol on Mars.

Author’s name: Dr. Kristine Ferrone, Commander

Sol 1 dawned bright and sunny on Mars. Crew 269 awoke one by one and enjoyed breakfasts of hot oatmeal with cinnamon apples and homemade bread with honey. The crew commander, Dr. Kristine Ferrone, owns a mobile coffee shop back on Earth and prepared freshly percolated espresso lattes for the crew with oat milk and agave syrup. After breakfast, the health and safety officer, Barbara Braun, measured each crew member’s temperature, pulse, and blood pressure and privately discussed each crew member’s mental and physical health as they adapt to their new environment. The crew is generally in good health and good spirits, adjusting well to life on Mars, partially due to a special communications protocol via the Discord app (programmed by Barbara’s teenage son, Elias) that allows them to chat with their friends, family, colleagues, and education/outreach contacts throughout the mission with a built-in Mars to Earth time delay. After morning activities, the crew then split into teams to prepare their experiments for operations throughout the mission. Kristine and the executive officer, Alli Taylor, explored the area around the Habitat with tools they brought from Earth for collecting samples of Martian regolith and taking measurements of the ambient radiation environment. The crew engineer, Ashley Kowalski, deployed a set of mirror coating samples to a particularly windy, dusty, and sunny location near the Habitat. These samples will be exposed to the harsh environment then collected and analyzed under a microscope on a later Sol with results sent back to the Primary Investigator on Earth, Dr. Chelsea Appleget. The technology officer, Trevor Jahn, performed initial setup and calibration of his Project Phantom virtual/augmented reality hardware for experiments on future Sols. Ashley, Barbara, and green hab officer, Matt Eby, trained on the use of the DSLR camera provided by The Aerospace Corporation and practiced taking photos around the Habitat. Barbara and Matt also set up and tested a compact fitness kit for the crew to use for exercise throughout the mission. Barbara is an experienced breadmaker back on Earth and, in the afternoon, she began the preparation of sourdough bread for the crew to enjoy with future meals. In the later afternoon, the crew learned all about living in the Habitat and operating its systems from the station director, Dr. Shannon Rupert. Topics such as how to operate the Martian toilet, shower, and kitchen were covered so that the crew can live comfortably in the station. Upon completion of their Habitat training, the crew met the assistant director, Sergii Iakymov, for training on the rovers. The crew had a great time learning how to operate and drive the rovers around the Martian surface and drove to the Marble Ritual area near the Habitat. Each crew member had an opportunity to drive the rover and learn how to navigate the Martian terrain. Upon completion of their training, the crew returned to the Habitat to write their reports and prepare the evening meal. Alli and Barbara prepared a meal of chili with crumbled beef and homemade tortillas.

Sol 0 Crew Journal:

Crew 269 arrived at the Mars Desert Research Station around 1 pm Saturday, November 27th, to clear blue skies, dry dust blowing in the air, and the cool winter air nipping at their noses. The crew made quick work moving luggage and experiments into the habitat in a well-executed relay. Packages, duffle bags of various shapes, colors and sizes, and boxes full of experiments and equipment made their way up the charred black and brown front steps of the white painted habitat, through the double insulated white painted airlock doors, past the bronze Mars Society plaque, and up the steep metal steps to the second floor.
The rumbling of the furnace could be heard throughout the first floor in protest to the encroaching November air, as the crew came and went to finish unpacking. The smell of bread and assorted lunch meats flooded the second floor, as the crew took stock of their handywork and enjoyed lunch. The rustling of jackets and the thud of boots could be heard in the late afternoon, as our adventures prepared to explore the other facilities branching off the main habitat.
The smell of hot cider, the sound of typing keyboards, and the whisper of cooks in the kitchen occupied the evening, as Crew 269 settled in.

Trevor Jahn

Sol: 12
Title: Our martian adventure is over

Author: Izabela Shopova, Crew Journalist

Our last sol greets us with a sun as bright and a window view as breathtakingly beautiful as ever. We are so lucky – Mars has been charming and endearing every day of our mission. The crew is busy, focused, working hard to catch up with our various projects and wrap up a successful mission. Last reports complete, photos uploaded and voted for, personal belongings collected and organized. After a quick lunch, we get busy with cleaning, ticking tasks off our end-of-mission checklist, making sure we leave the Hub and its facilities in perfectly good condition to make the next crew feel welcomed and at home.

And then we break the sim. Our martian adventure is over.

It was amazing, busy, productive, full of excitement, lessons learned, shared moments and inspiring experiences. It gave us a different perspective on life on Earth, taught us to count our blessings and appreciate what we often take for granted – the simple privilege of being with our loved ones, of enjoying the comforts and safety of our home environments and the accessibility of uninterrupted daily interactions with the rest of the world. We are richer with experience, knowledge and appreciation, ready for new beginnings and even greater adventures.

Now we can walk outside, take a breath without the space suits, take photos on the porch of the Hab and watch the brilliant night desert sky for as long as the freezing winter air allows us.

Over the horizon Mars is glowing red, bright and inviting.

Yes, yes, we are coming!

Sol: 11
Title: Adjourning

Author: Izabela Shopova, Crew Journalist

Life on Mars is so fast-paced, we didn’t notice how the days have passed and we are already planning our end of sim.

Sol 11 begins with another long EVA – the Commander and XO are out on an EVA together – for the first and last time. Back in the Hab we provide HabCom support, water plants, sort photos, write in our emotion study journals, clean the kitchen and make plans for our last day here.

Commander and XO return on time, tired from the long walk to the Special region, with additional rock samples and stories about the incredible views they found there. Our scheduled crew training in the afternoon is on the topic of Group development phases. After the Forming, storming, norming and performing stages, inevitably comes the adjourning phase when the crew members feel tired, the momentum of the group slows down, some individuals feel sad, others – relieved and there is a change in the air. We talk in length about the adjourning of our team, acknowledge and celebrate our achievements in this mission, talk about our future plans. To finish the sessions we all take a test on our type of business chemistry and discuss our individual traits and how to use our strengths in business interactions.

As we opted to have Thanksgiving earlier, today is all about snacking on the leftovers from yesterday’s feast, sharing thoughts on what we are grateful for and thinking of the loved ones we miss.

Thank you Mission support and Happy Thanksgiving.

Sol: 10
Title: M is for Mars, M is for Magic

Author: Izabela Shopova, Crew Journalist

We start the Sol an hour later than usual – everyone is tired after the busy day yesterday and we need to catch up on our sleep. Jennie whips up chocolate pancakes and an amazing quinoa, blueberries and coconut meal (from the space nutrition app we are testing) for breakfast.

Our daily operations meeting is short – we have two major tasks planned for sol 10 – a 4-hour-long EVA to the Special region in the morning and preparations for Thanksgiving dinner in the afternoon.

We are confident and calm as our crewmates are getting ready for the EVA, test the life support systems, enter the airlock and 8 minutes later leave the station with two of the rovers. Halfway through their EVA the weather suddenly changes, and the wind picks up – it appears that the weather forecast has changed dramatically since last night. The tunnels’ tarpaulin and the external doors start flapping and trembling, reminding us every minute of the potential danger that is brewing out there in the stark landscape. We wait anxiously for the radio to come alive again. And exhale with relief. when we finally hear the loud and clear voice of our crew biologists: “HabCom, com check”. The EVA goes well, without a hitch. The EVA crew is tired but happy and satisfied with their last EVA for the season, rich with experience and incredible photos.

Their return triggers the beginning of the long-anticipated food preparations for our Thanksgiving dinner.
And they are epic!

3 hours later the Hub is filled with mouthwatering flavors, cozy warmth, and Thanksgiving homemade magic, while our American crewmates are playing hosts and setting up an amazingly beautiful table with Thanksgiving napkins, paper plates, tablecloth, orange cutlery (all of which were delivered and stored secretly in the Commander’s room before the beginning of the sim) and a multitude of irresistible traditional dishes. Each one more tempting and better looking than the last.

Mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole with … wait for it! … marshmallows!, cranberry sauce (disguised like slices of beetroot), sweet corn, turkey, actual cranberries, green beans casserole with cream of mushroom soup and crunchy onion rings on top, Did I mention marshmallows?

If anyone thought that this was all of the food on our table, they know nothing about Thanksgiving. There is always desert! Even on Mars.

And, no, it’s not the marshmallows (they were just a side dish for the turkey, kind of veggies). Just before the opening of the comms window, a sumptuous, crunchy, juicy, full of flavor, decadence and temptation apple pie emerged from the oven.

On Thanksgiving Mars is magic.

Sol: 9
Title: Trouble on Mars

Author: Izabela Shopova, Crew Journalist

Sol 9 begins with an early EVA. Just before 9AM we are all downstairs helping the SHO and Crew Scientist to suit up. They are going on a walking exploratory EVA, but we have to troubleshoot some radio problems first. Jas appears to have a personal magnetic field – all radio sets stop working once she puts them on. By the time everything is tested and we are confident that comms work well, it’s almost 9:30AM. The day is clear and the EVA is going well until a distress call comes – Elizabeth reports that Jas has twisted her ankle on the steep slope and can’t walk back. Emergency response is initiated immediately – our crew engineer and crew biologist suit up, take two of the rovers, a first aid kit, a warm blanket, and some improvised materials to serve as a splinter if necessary. Commander and crew journalist stayed back in Hab for comms support. Luckily the injury occurred not too far from Hab where the EVA crew was within comms range. Everyone managed to get back in the airlock on time, just a couple of minutes later than the planned end of the EVA. When the patient is finally safe in the Hab, the truth is revealed – it was only a rescue exercise. We all exhale deeply with relief and cheer up. Jas walks around triumphantly and the crew gets into a lively debriefing session over lunch. Phew! This one went well.
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Afternoon EVA was not as dramatic. The 3 crewmates tested successfully the mechanical arm Pleiades Atlas, discovered a desert oasis, a silently screaming rock, took amazing photos, and returned back to the Hab a few minutes earlier than planned The rest of the afternoon was quiet and productive – we all sat at our laptops and did as much work as possible while the sunset was setting the Martian rocks on fire and our crew engineer fixed the leaking sink again.

After the early dinner, we had a presentation on the benefits and the process of making yogurt. The main planning topic tonight was Thanksgiving – what will we cook, how will we celebrate, and how to fit the laborious preparations into our busy schedules.

Life on Mars is never boring.

Sol: 8
Title: Just Another Martian Monday
Author: Izabela Shopova, Crew Journalist
The weekend is over and our second week on Mars begins fast-paced and busy. We get up at 7, skip breakfast (we all feel that the social isolation and the challenges of our new environment have made us crave, cook and eat too much food) and start our morning operations meeting – what have we achieved so far, what are our goals for the rest of the mission and what are we doing today. The meeting is followed by another informative and inspiring to tears training session with Commander Jennie – this time on the topic of crisis response. We all spend some time filling in our various emotions study forms, yogurt evaluation questions, journals and calendars, before jumping straight into a VR First Aid training session – our challenge today is to practice immobilizing and securing a broken finger with whatever materials we have at hand in the Hab. It is only 10 AM and we are so deep into our working routine – watering plants, testing astronauts’ diet app, collecting feedback, adding info to our daily reports, planning dinner meals, doing dishes, studying and uploading photos.

The one hour of scheduled break before lunch comes as a relief. It is just what we all need to wind down after a busy morning. The lucky 3 crewmates who have taken over the responsibilities for our Paros can cuddle the adorable balls of fur. The rest of us who no longer have access to the cute robots are trying to keep busy and pretend we don’t envy them.

The afternoon was all about the planned 2-and-a-half-hour EVA. 3 of our crew members went on an EVA to the Sea of Shells with ‘Cury’ and ‘Oppy’. Back at the Hab we had two long hours after they went out of comms range, waiting anxiously to hear the familiar call signal again. Meanwhile, the crew engineer Judy worked on preparing the mechanical arm Pleiades anchor for a carry capacity test tomorrow.

The sunset found us debriefing over cups of hot chocolate, the EVA crew still buzzing with the energy and excitement of their experience in the field. More reports and assessments writing, photo uploading, Paro cuddling, studying, planning, ‘combat showers’ and food preparation filled in our time till dinner.

Pizza, oven-baked chips and a fresh salad – we are eating better than some kings!

And we have new pillows! Everyone on Mars is happy tonight.

Thank you Mission support.

Sol: 7
Title: Martian Sunday
Author: Izabela Shopova, Crew Journalist
We made it through our first week on Mars. And celebrated Sunday with a very relaxed plan for the day. Well, relaxed by the crazy standards of Mars. Our crew engineer Judi repaired the leaking sink in the kitchen with the help of the XO, Caitie, the crew biologist watered the plants and planted new seeds in the GreenHab, we all did house chores and wrote in our journals.

In the afternoon we did another EVA – this time without our faithful companions – the rovers. Instead of riding them on the road, we took off on foot and explored the area around the Hab, looking for hydrous minerals in the dried river beds and on top of the ridge. We found so many seashells, a whole martian sea of sea shells, crunching under our feet, piling up on the side of the hill. The sunset light made the canyons below look like a multi-layered cinnamon and strawberry cake.

Back in the safety of the Hab we were uploading photos after the EVA , when crew biologist Caitie went to the GreenHub to water the plants, but when we called her on the radio she didn’t respond. Jennie and I went to check on her and found our crew biologist lying on the ground. We immediately initiated an emergency response by calling Hab on the radio and assessing the unconscious crew member. Long story – short: Catie was assessed and brought to safety inside the Hab when the rest of the crew finally revealed that it was all just an emergency response simulation that they had planned in secrecy. They all played their roles with gusto and conviction, so it was a great relief to find out that Caitie was well. HSO provided us with glowing feedback for our appropriate response and we had a quick overview of the first aid protocol before dinner.

Sunday also marked the end of my time with Paro. At dinner we took our last photo together. From this evening Jennie will be spending time with him and I won’t be allowed to cuddle him anymore. Next week will be a tough one.

Sol 6

Author: Izabela Shopova

Title: Saturday on Mars

Saturday. Our first weekend on Mars. After the eventful EVA yesterday the crew has planned an early morning EVA for today to take advantage of the sunrise light. We all got up at 7, had a quick coffee and climbed down the stairs to assist the 3 crew members who were going out on an EVA. The sun was shining bright and clear through the porthole, but we could feel the morning chill in the air. Radio comms and life support systems were checked and the crew stepped into the airlock.

The EVA went according to plan, with no surprises and emergencies today. The rovers performed very well and our crew biologist Caitie was excited about the five different types of lichens she found on the rocks. The good thing about an early EVA is that when it is over and the debriefing is done, it’s not even lunchtime yet. We allowed ourselves the luxury of planning a break to relax and to catch up on all the other projects we are working on. Every day here feels as if every minute of our time is filled with writing journals, responses to surveys, daily health checks, reports and plans. And for the lucky 3 of us who have a Paro assigned (an adorable artificial intelligence therapeutic robotic baby seal) – we also manage to squeeze a few minutes of cuddling with our Paros.

In the afternoon we exercised, took some quiet time to read, write in our diaries and study. Jennie’s inspirational presentation about the importance of being authentic as women in our professional and personal life sparked an interesting discussion in the hour before the VR First Aid Training session. This time we improvised by immobilising a broken ankle. And this afternoon it was finally my turn to have a quick, rather cold ‘combat shower’ as Commander Jennie calls it. We have all had a shower by now and are looking forward to our next scheduled date with hygiene.

The weekend appears to make us crave homemade food. I have noticed that the limitations of our food supplies have forced us to get really creative in the kitchen. We are taking turns to cook and surprise our crewmates with yet another amazing meal, turning our rigorously scheduled meal times into opportunities for having fun, bonding, and bringing in a bit of home comfort in our busy martian routine. So far in the first week of the mission, we had pasta and pancakes, vegetable soups and stir fry, homemade yogurt and freshly baked bread, moon pies and fruit yogurt, mac&cheese and omelets, fresh salad with microgreens harvested from the GreenHab and even a Cincinnati Chilli – a secret family recipe. Elizabeth and I have conspired for days, planning our shepherd’s pie for tonight’s dinner, so we got busy and whipped up a big dish of messy, cheesy, homemade deliciousness.

And we have big plans for Thanksgiving!

Thank you Mission Support.