Category: Journalist Report

SOL 15: Crew 311 draw its path in the Desert and on Paper

03:15 PM: Today, the Martian sky was covered with clouds. Quentin, Robin, and Meddi had planned an EVA the day before but had to wait for confirmation from Mission Support this morning, thirty minutes before their departure. Any weather event is a good reason to cancel an EVA on Mars, but the weather remained favorable, allowing our three companions to venture further than they ever had before. Their EVA took place in an unexplored region of MDRS crews from ISAE-SUPAERO: Sea of Shells. They took many drone photos to create a 3D map.

This week, roles are reversed. Erin and Célyan will first retrieve the beacons scattered in the area using a 2D map while Somaya and I can study their location using the 3D map generated via photogrammetry. Meanwhile, I concluded the first phase of the HUMANISE experiment. This involves testing different teleoperation methods with the goal of controlling rovers directly from the Moon or Mars during future manned missions. We all tested operations via PS5 controllers and now we will pilot our robot using a virtual reality headset!

05:31 PM: This afternoon, the entire crew discussed optimizing space and furniture arrangements in the HAB, our main habitat. I acted as the moderator and tried to transcribe the crew’s ideas onto paper. This activity was proposed by Michail Magkos, an architect engineer from KTH University of Sweden, with whom we are already collaborating on other experiments like Orbital Architecture.

The goal is to perfect the layout of the station so that it can be considered for future space bases. Even in a base like MDRS, there are still many areas for improvement and living at the heart of the station for two weeks allows us to perceive them more clearly.

SOL 16: Little by little, the bird makes its nest

10:05 AM: Robin and I are starting to lose hope. This morning again, we tried to solve one of AMAIA’s problems. We had a solution that seemed to resolve the last obstacle we were facing, but instead, our AI stopped working. We hope to get it up and running before the end of the mission so that we can test it with all the crew members, but we still have a long way to go.

Meanwhile, everyone is working calmly in the HAB. Erin is assessing our water consumption, Somaya is formatting our retrospectives, which is the list of everything we actually did during a day. It often happens that not everything goes as planned, an activity gets canceled, or it finishes earlier or later than the initially scheduled time. This allows Erin to create more adapted schedules for the upcoming days of the mission, and some researchers also ask to access our retrospectives to better understand our behaviors during certain periods of the day.

Behind me, I hear the boys of the crew remodeling the loft of the Upper Deck, a high space in our habitat accessible with a ladder but rather poorly arranged. Yesterday’s experience made us realize how much we could improve the station, sometimes with simple details like adding light sources. Célyan and Quentin have therefore installed a small lamp and placed mattresses and cushions in this small space that they frequent particularly. Robin is also slightly remodeling his room by making a shelf to store his personal belongings. The HAB is animated by enthusiastic discussions and the sound of the wind blowing around the MDRS, a creative breeze it seems.

03:52 PM: This morning, I went out of the HAB to do a cognitive test, and I took the opportunity to draw plans for other modules of the station: the GreenHab and the RAM. We will soon discuss possible improvements for these modules, but in the meantime, everyone is working on their experiments. In the early afternoon, Quentin, Célyan, Somaya, and I tried out siesta programs using a psio, a relaxation tool that we are testing. The idea is innovative: combining different kinds of meditations to relax more effectively, although the support could still be improved.

SOL 11: The sun shines over the MDRS

04:00 PM: We are coming close to the halfway point of our mission, which is two weeks—the typical duration for a rotation at the MDRS. MARS Club missions are twice as long as others, and this necessitates a greater need for provisions. We should receive them on Saturday, and we are all eager to see our pantries refilled because our supplies of vegetables and protein sources are starting to end. These constraints push us to get creative every day to invent recipes with the rest of our pantries, and AMAIA assists us very well in this kind of research, even without internet.

This afternoon, the printer is busy! It has a lot of parts for the SUPAEROMOON rover to print. The objective of this experiment is to envision the assembly of a rover as part of a futuristic Martian mission. To save storage space and avoid broken pieces during transit, we bring the raw materials for the rover along with electronic components and batteries that we cannot manufacture on site. We then print the entire structure and can assemble our brand-new rover! This project showcases the work of many students since it is a collaboration between two clubs at ISAE-SUPAERO: the SUPAEROMOON club and the MARS Club!

While Robin starts printing the rover parts and models desert aggregates to study their sand layers, Erin and Somaya have finished writing their abstracts. They will be providing scientific reports on various aspects of our analogue mission and hope to present some at the next IAC, the annual international conference on aerospace.

Tonight, Erin and Célyan will analyze 3D maps of Candor Chasma Canyon, and tomorrow morning they will all set out to explore these “Martian” lands. After that, the entire crew will have walked in this stunning rock fissure.

06 :40 PM: It’s finally time. Recently, the solar observatory was yielding very poor results, making it difficult to observe any prominences on the sun’s surface. Quentin had to fully reparameterize the telescope, and the results have become impressive. The sun is at its peak activity, and our astronomer observed a huge solar flare. After hours of image processing using more than five different software programs, he is trying to prepare a surprise for us…

SOL 12: Silence, It’s Micro-greening!
02:48 PM: The early afternoon is quite calm at the Mars Desert Research Station. This morning, Erin and Célyan went out to find beacons in Candor Chasma, closely monitored by Robin. They had taken notes using a very precise 3D map, created from images taken by the Parrot drone! The results are very conclusive. They located all the beacons in 47 minutes, even though one of them was misplaced on the map. They took advantage of the remaining time to explore the canyon a bit and even found a viewpoint over the station that allowed for audible radio communications with Meddi, who was then HABCOM. But such an excursion is tiring. Once back at the station, the entire team enjoyed a small granola bar followed by a hearty meal to revitalize.

At the time of writing these words, the crew is on break and silence accompanies the sleep of our 3 explorers.

It’s also in silence that, for two weeks now, new little inhabitants have been trying to make their way into the base: the micro-greens. It’s hard to imagine a botanical project lasting only one month, but these small plants make such an experience possible! A micro-green will reach sufficient size after one to two weeks of germination and growth. This is perfect because we are on SOL 12! Tonight, Meddi, our botanist, plans to have us answer a questionnaire, and we should taste these little condiments for the first time this weekend. They come at just the right moment, which means exactly when we don’t really know what else to put in our plates, since our provisions for the second half of the mission arrive on Saturday.

06:40 PM: Erin recently assessed our water consumption. Each of us consumes approximately 5.16 liters per day, which is very little considering the toilets, dishwashing, drinking water, and even that used to rehydrate our freeze-dried foods! We take care to measure everything that comes out of our taps from the first day of the mission, which means we pour everything into measuring cups or containers whose volume has already been measured. It’s a particular habit but one that is now an integral part of our routine.

Here is the link to our mid-mission video!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O3wr6GsWbBlu5m8r8c2my2PzMoRghpfT/view?usp=drive_link

SOL 13: Life on Mars

04:35 PM: Saturday finally arrives at the station, but contrary to what one might think, it’s a very intense day for the entire crew. Throughout the week, many of us have been working on a project that was particularly close to our hearts: the mid-mission video. On Monday, I started by editing and adjusting the music so that it wouldn’t be too long but would remain intense, with different phases and drops. Starting the very next day, everyone began filming all the modules of the station and sorting through the videos already produced during the first week. Somaya started working on the editing, assisted by Célyan and Robin. Quentin decided to create a video of the Sun. He worked for hours, and the result is in the video… It was difficult to hide such a project through the reports given how invested we were, but the days are so full at the station that there’s always something to talk about regarding our adventures!

This morning, Meddi, Quentin, and Erin went on another EVA to sketch observations of the sand strata of the desert reliefs in the North Ridge area. This was Erin’s second EVA in as many days! It’s an intense experience since wearing an EVA suit has a similar effect to carrying a large backpack under the hot desert sun. This EVA also allowed us to retrieve a highly anticipated package: the "refill"! This consists of our supply boxes for the end of the mission. It’s very nice to have the choice to eat what we want, as we felt at lunch today, but it’s also important to manage our supplies well to have coherent and balanced meals until the last day.

Tonight, we reach the halfway point of our "Martian" stay, just as we begin the month of March. But this doesn’t mean that the rest will be easy; who knows what these next two weeks hold? The experiments are finally starting to yield results, some have barely begun, and each one is an adventure we can’t wait to start!

SOL 8: Do you copy?…

14:20: The second week of Mission 311 starts off beautifully: the first week allowed us to set up all the experiments that will take place throughout the mission. Now it’s time for us to schedule those on which we couldn’t focus earlier. Starting this morning, Quentin, Meddi, and Robin went on an EVA to Candor Chasma to begin photogrammetry. They identified different locations where they placed beacons, and using a drone, they took hundreds of photos of the entire area, from which they will create a 3D map. We will use this during the next phase of the experiment. This was also Didier’s first EVA, our mascot!

This outing was the longest in terms of time and distance: Candor Chasma is a deep fissure carved into the desert. It’s a very interesting place to study, but this distance weakens communication signals, so Somaya, who was HabCom, lost all communication with our EVA crew members. When trying to establish communication with the EVA crew, we first ask if they can hear us: “Do you copy?” This question often went unanswered this morning…

Meanwhile, the HAB was rather quiet. Erin and Somaya worked on an abstract, a sort of summary, to write their scientific articles about the mission. Célyan took care of the GreenHab for the first time! He also worked extensively on managing the data collected for the Orbital Architecture experiment. We have already collected over 8 GB of physiological data, positions, and cognitive tests for the experiment, and it takes a lot of rigor to manage all these data. For my part, I started working on a small project that we’ll keep as a surprise…

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.

SOL 10: 10 Sols, 10 Experiments

5:22 PM: It’s another day at the MDRS, our tenth. Sometimes it takes a moment to realize where you are and what you’re doing. To realize that we are on an analog mission in the middle of the magnificent desert of Utah, USA, even though half of us have never ventured much farther than the bordering countries of France. To realize that we are completing the end of a year of preparation, a year of hard work alongside our studies, a year of seeking experiences, sponsors, outreach, projects, and selections. To realize that we are seven excited individuals willing to lock ourselves in a tin can with six teammates we didn’t choose, and no shower for a month. To realize that another Martian day has begun, and during this day, which seems ordinary on the surface, we conduct experiments like Orbital Architecture, Twins2, AMAIA, HUMANISE, LOAC, megaARES, Photogrammetry, Micropouss’, TimePecept, LättaLL, UCF, SUPAEROMOON, CoreData… a dozen experiments for the tenth sol.

This morning, Somaya and I searched for beacons in the Candor Chasma canyon using our map drawn the day before, alongside Meddi who analyzed our performance as part of the photogrammetry experiment. On our way back, we admired the landscape, which was magnificent, reminding us of the extraordinary environment we’ve been immersed in for the past ten days. The crew is very dynamic right now; Robin started the first 3D prints of the SUPAEROMOON (a club from ISAE-SUPAERO) rover this morning, which we will assemble in the coming days. He and I tested AMAIA, our assistant AI, thoroughly this afternoon.

Erin continues to manage our schedules expertly and modeled a small box to store all the necessary materials for retrieving data from atmospheric instruments during EVAs. Indeed, we must handle a USB key and a tiny micro-SD card with bulky ski gloves that we wear during these outings. This operation requires precision, so much so that we perform part of it using tweezers, and meticulous storage is essential.

Today again, we will observe the sun set over the Martian horizon from our portholes. All of us? No, because I believe Quentin has found a way to make superb observations of solar storms, which promise to make the coming days rich in high-quality observations.

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.

Crew 311 Journalist report 21Feb2025
SOL 5: Enjoying the Sweetness of Silence
Author: Isolde Louzier-Ricalens

2:10 PM: Today was the calm after the storm. The wind has subsided, and the morning was relatively quiet in the HAB. Célyan, Quentin, and Robin were making card signs in the RAM, which will be placed near the atmospheric instruments to keep “aliens” from getting too close and interfering with the measurements. Meanwhile, Meddi and Somaya launched the HUMANISE experiment in the Science Dome. Eventually, it was just Erin and I left in the HAB, and the calm was refreshing. When Somaya returned, Erin and her started writing a scientific article about our analogue mission. In the meantime, I sketched drawings of the station for an experiment in collaboration with an engineer architect from KTH University in Sweden. Then, as we finished installing the lamps for the LättaLL experiment, Célyan and Somaya measured the light intensity in different parts of the Upper Deck.

For lunch, we enjoyed the freshness of the parsley harvested at the GreenHab! Enjoying a bit of green on your plate isn’t unpleasant when no trees are visible for miles around.

The clouds also left us, and Quentin was able to make new observations of the sun at its zenith.

4:00 PM In the early afternoon, we started a recording session for the Evolsan lab. As I write my report, Meddi is teaching Somaya and Célyan how to use our drone loaned by Parrot to take our first aerial videos. On her side, Erin is assessing the water we have used this week. On Mars, water is a rare and precious resource, but let’s not forget that it is also on Earth. Keeping a very close eye on our water consumption allows us to realize how much we take this resource for granted, which is not the case everywhere on the blue planet. I challenge you to wash dishes for 7 with just 4 liters of water!