Category: Journalist Report

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!

Crew 222 Journalist Report 16Feb2020
Author: Marie Bochard, Crew Journalist
Sol 0
Title: Welcome home!

As we woke up on the red planet this morning, it felt like we were finally home. The sun was up before us and shone brightly on the hills. The Hab was hectic as everyone woke up, and the previous crew was getting ready to leave. After saying our goodbyes, we settled into our rooms. It’s hard to believe we are finally here, after a whole year of preparation! It seems so unreal.

To start off the day, the Director gave us a briefing on the station, and then we prepared our first meal. On the menu: rice with dehydrated green peas and sweet potatoes!

A delicious introduction to Martian cuisine.

But before our mission can truly start, there are still some things to be done.

Today is ‘training day’.

Everything has to be ready to start the sim tonight. This means doing the food inventory, ensuring the suits all work, and most importantly (or at least most fun), this means learning how to drive the rovers and ATVs! We went for a drive on both to get the hang of the vehicles. When we will drive on EVA, it will be harder to maneuver with the suits so everyone got to try. Even our seasoned commander took the wheel!

As the day started to wind down, we started working on our reports.

Clicks of keyboards were the only sounds we heard for an hour. The astronomer sent his photos, the commander wrote his Sol Summary, the engineer went on his last non-sim check of all life-support and transportation systems… and I wrote down these very words.

Tonight, the simulation starts. Tonight, our mission begins. Tonight, we dine on Mars!

Crew 221 Journalist Report 14Feb2020

Author: Hemani Kalucha, Crew Journalist

Sol 12

Title: Last Day in Sim!

This morning, Maria and Rawan went on the crew’s last EVA to the moons. They tested the robot, built the antenna, and even took two samples, so an efficient last day on Mars! Commander Grulich unfortunately had a fall and hurt her neck, but then got a lovely massage from Jess and is better now. All day, the crew either cleaned or wrapped up science experiments. This included measuring salinity and pH in the samples, harvesting the blue corn, and cleaning the lesser liked parts of the sink. One last time, we sat together with eggs and amazing costa rican coffee for breakfast. One last time we had soup and intense conversation for lunch. Each meal has been a mix of longing for freshfood and bittersweet memories of hanging out with the crew. We saved a delicious coconut curry for dinner, and are about to jump into that now. Last but not least, we have a special valentine’s day gift exchange after dinner tonight. Signing off for the last time, Crew 221.

Crew 221 Journalist Report 13Feb2020

Author: Hemani Kalucha, Crew Journalist

Sol 11

Title: Almost at the End

This morning, we got the program of the rover to function! In the afternoon, the all-girl (Maria, Hemani, Jess) EVA team headed out to test the rover at Candor Chasma. We got some adorable pictures of the rover picking up samples under overhang rocks. After celebrating our last EVA, the crew plans to spend one of our last evenings together with games and good conversation.

Crew 221 Journalist Report 12Feb2020

Author: Hemani Kalucha, Crew Journalist

Sol 10

Title: Hilarious Heads Up

This morning, the all girl (Maria, Hemani, Jess) EVA team headed out to complete radio assembly. The team successfully built the radio tower without help from HabCom in two different locations. After the mission objective was complete, the team made some pit stops on the way back to film their dance video, set to the music of “We Are Not Alone” from the move, the Breakfast Club. This will be used for outreach. The music fit perfectly, because we are trying to survive as life on Mars, and we are in a remarkably similar situation to the characters of the breakfast club – six strangers getting to know each other in a confined space.

After a yummy lunch, the girls got back into programming the robot, and with the help of Crew Engineer Luis, solved the software issue! This was such encouraging news, and we are hoping to test it out in the field tomorrow! Then GHO Jess and Hemani planted new crops in the Greenhab – Chamomile, Spearmint, and Lettuce. Before dinner, the crew played a little Heads Up, which lead to some hilarious charades. We are about to sit down to a dinner of delicious German cuisine and cultural night by our very own Commander!

Crew 221 Journalist Report 11Feb2020

Author: Hemani Kalucha, Crew Journalist

Sol 9

Title: Corn on Mars (with a little bit of help)

This morning, we tested radio operations outside the hab. Crew Engineer Louis had already successfully built an engineer and got it working inside the hab over the last few days. The test then involved seeing if it could be reassembled with ease on an EVA in a short period of time. It was exciting to see that the radio could be reassembled in under an hour on EVA in two bulky astronaut suits. The second EVA was supposed to test if a team could reassembled the radio with no prior knowledge of radios (this team was Commander Grulich, Hemani, and Jess), however, due to a typo error in the request, the EVA had to be cancelled. We hope to recover this EVA tomorrow. Meanwhile, the rover was successfully built, but the team ran into several issues while trying to program it, and will try again to get the rover running tomorrow. On a happier note, the team spent the day filming various activities, which they will use in outreach videos, and also took some awesome astronaut profile pictures. Also for dinner tonight, we have the luxury of eating tons of leafy greens, all harvested from our very own greenhouse! The sunny, warm days on Mars are keeping our spirits up as we edge closer to the end of the mission!

Crew 221 Journalist Report 10Feb2020

Author: Hemani Kalucha, Crew Journalist

Sol 8

Title: Operations EVA Testing

This morning, we started a new Science project. Crew GHO, J Todd, is going to observe the efficiency of EVA teams and assess it according to parameters in the literature. One set of EVAs done today tested the efficiency of sample collection. The next two sets will test radio assembly and rover operations. The EVA teams had difficulty finding the route today, which made the long walk even longer. The view from the top of the ridge was incredible though, which made it all worth it. In the evening, Crew Journalist Hemani introduced the crew to some classic Canadian snacks – jalapeño poppers (which were received well) and pop tarts (which Crew GHO J Todd criticized). Crew Commander managed to create fusion Indian food by spicing the rajma with her sprouted mung beans. She also made a classic north Indian dish for dinner – rajma with rice. The crew worked around the clock on robotics, astronomy, antenna work, and microbiology, so hopefully, Indian-Canadian cultural night will revive everyone.

Crew 221 Journalist Report 09Feb2020

Author: Hemani Kalucha, Crew Journalist

Sol 4

Title: A little bit of rest

Yesterday evening, we had another amazing cultural night. We learned so much about Costa Rica and found it is such an impressive country. It voluntarily gave up its army in 1948, it has a literacy rate of 97%, and it currently runs on 98% renewable energy. We’ve now decided to have a reunion in Costa Rica next year, especially because of the incredibly yummy food Crew Engineer Luis prepared last night. We also got the chance to try a rare Costa Rican delicacy, the core of a palm tree! This morning, Crew Journalist Hemani made cheesy scrambled eggs for the crew. The crew was served a second luxurious round of coffee and also finally ate the cookies Crew 219 gifted to us as a treat. It was a morning of deliciousness. After an afternoon of great conversation, the crew got busy with planning our EVA experiments and preparing new microbiology samples. In particular, Crew GHO Jessica is trying to plan EVAs for rover operations testing and emergency response testing. She is also trying to use previously published parameters to test EVA success on our EVA operations to compare the results. Tonight, we are all very excited to do the combined Zumba and Salsa sports session prepared by the Commander and Engineer.

Crew 221 Journalist Report 06Feb2020

Author: Hemani Kalucha, Crew Journalist

Sol 4

Title: A day of science!

This morning, we were awoken by our wonderful commander making pancakes and serving the last of the fresh fruit – bananas. Energized by this meal, the crew divided into teams of three. Luis and Jess planted the black corn seeds in the greenhab using martian soil, collected from the EVA done yesterday. Maria and Rawan spent the whole day growing bacteria in the samples also collected from the EVA done yesterday. One of the samples saw signs of bacteria, which caused lots of excitement and a feeling of success amongst the crew. Hemani and Ghanim started to build the robot. After a fun team lunch of good conversation and two-minute Ramen, the teams switched around, and the all girl engineering team (Hemani, Maria, Jess) put together the robotic arm! It started to get cold in the RAM, so the Crew Engineer didn’t have time to get his moisture sensor fully working, but all in all, much progress was made on all fronts. The mini missions made the hours go by a little faster, since the lack of internet and space, usually makes the day feel long and slow. Tonight will be another fun filled evening with sports, meditation, and another crewmember’s cultural exploration.