Category: Sol Summary

Crew 187 Sol 14 Summary Report 26JAN2018

Sol 14

Summary Title: In the end

Author’s name: Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Mission Status: All nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Hello Earth,

How is everything going on there?

Stay on Mars, it’s a dream that every Martian has. It is funny and enjoyable to stay here but also tired. Today we woke up in different hours. By 09:30, every Martian was awake. We ate breakfast; then, Oscar, Danton, Tania and I were getting ready for the last adventure as Martians. At 10:35, we started our last exploration; this time we found the right way at once, we arrived at the unknown canyon at 11:45. Again… we are the first crew in there… That feeling is awesome!!! You can’t imagine that kind of sensation. We would like to give it a name. Despacito road and Porg canyon, because, we consider that the road is dangerous so you have to drive slowly (slowly in Spanish is Despacito). In addition, It’s important to mention that Porg is the official pet of the crew 187, he always stays with us in all the adventures; therefore, we would like to leave a mark of our official pet.

We strongly recommend you to go to Porg Canyon! And drive very slowly in Despacito road, it’s for your security! The view in Porg canyon is beautiful, it’s a geological rich area. Thanks Shannon for recommending us this place!

At 14:45, we were inside the Hab. One hour and a half later, well, exactly talking, at 16:10, the extraordinary EVA began, at 17:10, they came back to home.

Later, Danton fly the drone around the Hab to do the aerial 3D mapping. At 18:20, wow, the moment that none Martian wants to arrive, arrived!… From that time, we were out of sim! But we feel like we are still Martians, at least, we are going to feel it until we left the MDRS and come back to Earth.

Currently, every Martian is running doing reports and the Mission Summary. Later we are going to have our last dinner together as crew 187. Tomorrow we are going to receive the next crew… Crew 188, we hope that you enjoy staying on Mars as much as we did!

Ad Astra,

Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Commander Crew 187 – MDRS

Look Ahead Plan:

Receive the next crew… Crew 188, you have less than 24 hours on Earth!… Tomorrow you will be on Mars! This place is amazing, and you can learn a lot of things from the MDRS, every Martian, the landscape, and so on!

Furthermore, we are planning to enjoy our last day on Mars!

Anomalies in work:

None

Weather: Temperature: -5°C, Fair-weather, Winds speed: ESE 8 KPH, Humidity 35%, Barometer 30.29 in

Crew Physical Status: Healthy

Today’s EVA:

Location: Porg Canyon

Duration: From 10:35 until 14:45

Purpose: Testing of long-range EVA protocols and testing the Guache rover.

Today’s Extraordinary EVA:

Location: Quary Rd

Duration: From 16:10 until 17:10

Purpose: Usage of rovers for battery discharge.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, GeenHab Report, Operations Report, EVA Request, EVA Report, Astronomy Report, Journalist Report and Mission Summary.

Support Requested:

None

Crew 187 Sol 13 Summary Report 25JAN2018

Sol 13

Summary Title: Breaking the habits

Author’s name: Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Mission Status: All nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Hi Earth,

How is everything going on there?

Last night we went to see the starry sky of Mars; however, the cloudy sky did not allow us to observe the beautiful Martian sky. There are only a few days left on Mars, if it depends on us, we would stay on Mars for much longer. The fatigue is felt in the Martians; on Mars, the hours pass faster than Earth. We slept late talking, coordinating things, moving forward in our projects and so on. Today we woke up at different times, but at 9:30 we were all ready to take breakfasts. One hour later, the Martian explorers, Atila, Luis, Tania and David started their adventure. Our explorers arrived at Mountain Goat Trail when they realized that they were in the wrong way to Candor Chasma. Then, they came back almost to Galileo Road 104… OMG!… again! The Martian explorers, couldn’t find the right way, as yesterday, the third one is the defeated. Therefore, at 12:03, they arrived at the right point and walked for 100 minutes until they came back to the rovers.

Meanwhile, in the Hab, Danton, Oscar and I got ready for the gala dinner. Of course, the chef in charge of the kitchen was our Martian chef Oscar. Danton and I were in charge of the cleaning. When the Martian explorers arrived at the Hab, we ate lunch together. Later, David helped me taking pictures for my project. At 15:55, Tania, Luis and I were in the airlock ready for the Extraordinary EVA, we arrived until the intersection between White Moon and Factory Butte View before we came back to our Martian Home.

Currently, we are doing the reports for Capcom and getting ready for our gala dinner. Today our special guest is Dr. Ruppert, we hope she enjoys her visit in our home.

In 2 hours, we are planning to use the Celestron Telescope to see the Martian Sky. Unfortunately, yesterday we couldn’t see anything at night, the sky was cloudy.

Ad Astra,

Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Commander Crew 187 – MDRS

Look Ahead Plan:

Working in our Martian projects.

Anomalies in work:

None

Weather: Temperature: 2°C, Fairweather, Winds speed: NNE 22.5 MPH, Humidity 47%, Barometer 29.81 in

Crew Physical Status: Healthy

Today’s EVA:

Location: Candor Chasma

Duration: From 10:35 until 14:10

Purpose: Testing of long-range EVA protocols and testing of temperature regulation vest.

Today’s Extraordinary EVA:

Location: Intersection between White Moon and Factory Butte View

Duration: From 15:55 until 17:00

Purpose: Usage of rovers for battery discharge.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, GeenHab Report, Operations Report, EVA Request, EVA Report and Journalist Report.

Support Requested:

None

Crew 187 Sol 12 Summary Report 24JAN2018

Sol 12

Summary Title: Counting Stars

Author’s name: Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Mission Status: All nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Hello Earth!

How is everything going on?

We have a few days left on Mars. It’s amazing how fast the days pass when you’re comfortable in one place. We ate breakfast together while we speaking about the life and a lot of things. Later, we did the psychological tests of Danton’s project. Just before noon, our Martian explorers were ready to start their adventure. At 11:45, Atila, Oscar, David and Danton started their depressurization. Nine minutes later, they left the habitat and disappear in the horizon. At 12:30, the Martian explorers arrived at Quary Rd. Oscar’s rover was tested and Danton’s drone flew to make a 3D mapping of the area. Five minutes before 14 hrs, the Hab received the explorers and we ate a vegetarian lunch together, cooked by the Martian Chef, Oscar. At least for one day, we knew the feeling of eating as our favorite as our favorite Martian vegetarian, David.

In the afternoon, The Martians took a nap while Oscar was reading Artemis from Andy Weir and I was working on my project (programming and recognizing objects).

Before CapCom, the crew went to the observatory and use the Celestron telescope. The view of the moon and the Orion Nebula from Mars is wonderful. Currently, everybody is doing a report for CapCom, After the sign-off, we are going to come back to the Observatory to continue watching the starts from Mars, therefore, tomorrow wait for an Astronomy Report!

Ad Astra,

Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Commander Crew 187 – MDRS

Look Ahead Plan:

Tomorrow, The Martian explorers are going to Candor Chasma Canyon. The lucky Martians are Atila, Tania, Luis and David. Meanwhile, Tania, Luis and I are going to Cowboy’s corner in the Extraordinary EVA.

Anomalies in work:

None

Weather: Temperature: 5°C, Fairweather, Winds speed: calm, Humidity 41%, Barometer 30.35 in

Crew Physical Status: Healthy

Today’s EVA:

Location: Quary Rd

Duration: From 11:45 until 13:55

Purpose: Usage of rovers for battery discharge, aerial mapping of terrain, testing of mid-range EVA protocols, testing Oscar’s rover.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, GeenHab Report, Operations Report, EVA Request, EVA Report and Journalist Report.

Support Requested:

None

Sol Activity Summary:

Crew 187 Sol 11 Summary Report 23JAN2018

Sol 11

Summary Title: Space Odyssey

Author’s name: Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Mission Status: All nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Hello Earth!

Every day more in Mars feels more tired than the day before, but come on!… It’s tired to explore a new planet, to have a clean home here, to advance in our projects, and so on!

At 09:50, an earthling visited our home in Mars, bringing 300 gallons of diesel, which added to the 200 we already had, now, we have 500 gallons of diesel. Enough for the rest of our stay on Mars … Thanks Earth! At 10:00, Tania, Danton, Oscar and I started getting ready for today’s excursion. The adventure started at 10:35, we went driving in the main road until Special Region, where we realized that we were not in the place that we were supposed to be. Therefore, we came back… OMG! The entrance to Lith canyon is not very clear, so we were driving until the White Moon when we realized that we realized that we were not in the place that we were supposed to be… again! As it’s said in our homes in Earth, the third is the defeated one. So, this time we could find the right way to Lith Canyon, a way in the middle of desert. We were driving around 20 minutes after left the main road. When finally, around 12:15 we arrived to the final destiny the Commander, The HSO, EVA Officer and the journalist started the expedition to immerse inside Lith Canyon. At 14:45 finished the expedition and after that, at 15:05 the we stopped to take some data and recollect specimen of salt in the middle of way. At 15:25, we finally arrived at the hab without problems however with a delay of 30 minutes. When the first expedition arrived the second expedition with the Greenhab, XO and the Crew Engineer left the hab at 12:40 with the objective to test the curiosity, opportunity and Spirit rovers. The second crew arrived 16:50 to the hab without problems.

Moreover, it’s important to mention that David and Luis built and installed an alarm to prevent that the water tank exceeds its level. They used an ultrasound sensor, a nano arduino, a transistor and an horn of a damaged radio.

Finally, the crew decided to relax at the night to be ready for the next adventure.

Ad Astra,

Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Commander Crew 187 – MDRS

Look Ahead Plan:

Tomorrow there will be a short excursion. Our Martian explorers are going to Special Region.

Anomalies in work:

It’s in the Sol Summary.

Weather: Temperature: 0°C, Fair weather, Winds speed: calm, Humidity 51%, Barometer 30.40 in

Crew Physical Status: Healthy

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, GeenHab Report, Operations Report, EVA Request, EVA Report, and Journalist Report.

Support Requested:

None

Crew 187 Sol 10 Summary Report 22JAN2018

Sol 10

Summary Title: Bring it on home to me

Author’s name: Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Mission Status: All nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Houston… we have a problem!

Today we decided to wake up in order to rest for the EVA of today. Every Martian woke up in different hours. The majority of them were taking a breakfast at 08:15, but there is always someone who falls asleep and gets up late, at 9:30, and woke up only by the noise that made two earthlings who visited our home on Mars to fix the water heater and water filter. Due to this, 130 gallons of water were used today… Earth, we need more water to survive on Mars!

In the morning, Oscar was working in the programing phase of his project, and in the afternoon his rover was tested inside the tunnels. It’s magic how the rover can move through rocks, sands and can climb the tunnel’s walls. David and I were working in our projects in the Greenhab. Moreover, Atila is trying to fix the Science Dom’s door. At 10:35, every Martian were in the upper deck to help each other to prepare for the EVA of today. At 12:00, David, Atila, Luis and Danton were in the airlock ready for their adventure. However, at 12:47 Hab copied a radio signal from the Martian explorers. Due to the fact that Opportunity charger was getting down fast; in 18 minutes the battery got down more than 10% arriving until 64%. And prioritizing the safety of the crew’s members, it was decided to come back to the Hab. The decision taking was that the explorers got inside the Hab, ate a lunch, warmed up, and started again the EVA. Oscar cooked very quickly eggs with cheese for the Martian explorers of the day. For the second excursion, Deimos and two 350 ATV were being used. In the afternoon, Tania, Oscar and I cleaned the Kitchen and did a food inventory. We found some interesting food that we can eat in the following days. At 16:45 Hab didn’t know anything about the Martian explorers and we started to worry about it. At 16:56, Hab copied the first radio signal and we realized that every Martian was ok but something happened. At 14:50, the Martian explorers arrived to Copernicus Hwy. The Martians described the view as the best landscape that they have ever seen in their lives. At 13:50, the Martian explorers were ready to come back to home. At 16:45 Deimos stoped and the Martian worked together using jumping cables to tow Deimos, that’s why they arrived to Hab at 18:20. At 17:45, Shannon found the Martian explorers and helped them to solve the problem.

The day was a really crazy day… but come on! We are on Mars! We are Martians! And the important thing is that we knew how to solve it!

Ad Astra,

Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Commander Crew 187 – MDRS

Look Ahead Plan:

We hope to have another adventure for tomorrow… We are going to Lith Canyon! The lucky Martians are Oscar, Tania, Cynthia and Danton.

Anomalies in work:

It’s the Sol Summary.

Crew Physical Status: Healthy

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, GeenHab Report, Operations Report, EVA Request, Science Report, Astronomy Report and Journalist Report.

Support Requested:

Please send us more jumping cables and a refill of water.

Crew 187 Sol 9 Summary Report 21JAN2018

Sol 9

Summary Title: Zombie

Author’s name: Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Mission Status: All nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Is there someone in Earth?

This day we decided not to do the exercises and start the day late, so at 8:15 we ate breakfast and every Martian started to work in their project, our alarm was delayed an hour. The tiredness begins to be noticed because the naps are more common between meals. At 11:00 our Martian chef, Danton, started to cooked a delicious food: Chicken with cheese, pasta and vegetables. We ate together before the expedition began. At 11:30, Tania, David, Luis and Oscar started the donning time. They took Opportunity and Spirit for this adventure… It’s supposed that they were going to work in El Dorado Canyon, but it was a confusion with the location so they visited a near canyon. However, they took some samples of the halophiles needed. The path that they follow was bent. The canyon that the Martians explorers visited combines a wide variety of landscapes, from rocks up to 5 meters high, which route land for an approximate of 500 meters between ascents and descents and with different types of soil and frozen water remains.

By 15:00, our chef Danton started to cooked a second lunch for our Martian explorers, a delicious soup and scrambled eggs with chili. They arrived at 15:20 to our home. And 25 minutes later we started to eat together… again!

In the afternoon, we got a refill of 125 gallons from the water (trailer). Now we have water for the rest of our lives in Mars, or at least, we hope so.

David is replanting 12 quinua’s plants on the lysimeter for his project. Meanwhile, I get an advanced programing my augmented reality mobile application. And, as always, Tania is documenting everything for her project.

For dinner, Atila is trying to cook a surprise Martian dinner…. Everybody is waiting to taste it!

Ad Astra,

Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Commander Crew 187 – MDRS

Look Ahead Plan:

Another EVA is going to take place. The lucky ones are Luis, Atila, David and Danton. They are going to Copernicus Hwy.

Anomalies in work:

None

Weather: Temperature: -1°C, Fair weather, Winds speed: NNE 8 KPH, Humidity 43%, Barometer 30.22 in

Crew Physical Status: Healthy

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, GeenHab Report, Operations Report, EVA Request, EVA Report and HSO Report.

Support Requested:

Please sent us distillated water.

Crew 187 Sol 8 Summary Report 20JAN2018

Sol 8

Summary Title: The Scientist

Author’s name: Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Mission Status: All nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Hello Earth!

How is everything going on there?

Yesterday we slept late after our intention of watching The Martian. Pay attention to the word “Intention”, every Martian slept on the sofas before the movie was over. So today we woke up a little late, and started our daily exercises at 8:15 led by me, and because the days are not perfect, in the middle of the exercise routine a crew member suddenly fell to the floor. For 10 seconds we did not know if her tears were nerves, pain or just laughter. Everything is fine! Then we ate breakfast and every Martian started to work in their projects. Besides, Luis and I checked the status of the Astronomy laptop. At 9:10 a resupply food arrived from Earth… Thanks for it!!! We celebrated it with a delicious lunch cooked by Danton, a traditional Mexican fried beans with scrambled eggs with chili was the magic lunch of this Martian day! Culture, customs, experiences, and so on were the topics that we debate during our lunch.

David is working in his project in the Greenhab, meanwhile Oscar found his place in the lower deck. Every Martian is finding his/her favorite place in our home.

Before the darkness arrived, Crew 187 decided to go near the observatory through the tunnels to see the clouds of the Martian sky. No matter how long we are here, the Martian surface doesn’t stop to amazed us.

Ad Astra,

Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Commander Crew 187 – MDRS

Look Ahead Plan:

We are waiting for tomorrow… We are going to El Dorado Canyon again! The lucky Martians are Oscar, Tania, Luis and David.

Anomalies in work:

None

Weather: Temperature: 5°C, Mostly Cloudy, Winds speed: NNE 33.8 KPH, Humidity 56%, Barometer 29.74 in

Crew Physical Status: Healthy

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, GeenHab Report, Operations Report, EVA Request, Science Report, Astronomy Report and Journalist Report.

Support Requested:

In the Science dom, a Salinity tester was found. We are wondering if we can us it.

The salinity tester that we found is a Kelway soluble salts tester, model SST.

Crew 187 Sol 7 Summary Report 19JAN2018

Sol 7

Summary Title: Clocks
Author’s name: Cynthia Fuertes Panizo
Mission Status: All nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Earth, how is everything going on there?

Today we decided to start a little late and sleep one more hour because yesterday everybody looked tired after the activities involved to have a home on Mars and do an excursion, so at 08:00 everybody was in the lower deck to do exercises led by Tania, she made us do real exercises! Then we ate cereals for breakfast.

During the day, I met every Martian in order to know how their projects going on. Their projects have different kinds of topics like augmented reality applications, space suit simulators, communication, psychology tests, agriculture, astronomic pictures, and so on.

Today, Danton and I had our EVA to create a 3D Map of the MDRS. It’s splendid the pictures and videos that you can get using a drone.

Until now, this day was the most terrestrial day that we ever have since we arrived at Mars, when we realized that we were almost out of diesel, we activated our protocols of emergence turning off everything that is possible to turn it off (the power of the Greenhab of course not!); allowing to charge the batteries using the solar panel as soon as possible. We were planning to use the energy that we got at night, moreover, we were willing to sleep in the Greenhab because is warm and we wanted to transmit our heat to the plants. We are on Mars; we have to take care of every plant that we have. Fortunately, Shannon arrived at 15:20 and saved our Martian lives with 15 gals of diesel. Every Martian worked together to accomplish the vital activity to refill the tank with diesel and we got it! There are a lot of probabilities to have a stormy day tomorrow and now we are ready for it!

Days before the crew listened a woman yelling, today talking with Shannon about it and the mountain lion’s footprints that we saw in El Dorado Canyon; we can say that we are not alone in the MDRS, around us there are cougars (they yell like a woman).

What a crazy day! … Now every Martian is writing their reports for Capcom, then we are going to eat a dinner together and start to plan our next EVA for Sunday because, for the weather, tomorrow will be inside the Hab.

We want to visit El Dorado canyon again!

Ad Astra,
Cynthia F. P.
Commander Crew 187

Look Ahead Plan:

Tomorrow, every Martian will work on their science project.
Anomalies in work:

The diesel tank was almost over. We refill it with 15 gals more that Shannon brought us.

Weather: Temperature: 5°C, Fair weather, Winds speed: NNE 19 KPH, Humidity 41%, Barometer 29.86 in

Crew Physical Status: Healthy

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, GreenHab Report, Operations Report, EVA Report, and Journalist Report.

Support Requested:

None

Crew 187 Sol 6 Summary Report 18JAN2018

Sol 6

Summary Title: The eye of tiger

Author’s name: Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Mission Status: All nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Is there someone in Earth?

All crew woke up early to do relaxing exercises led by Luis. Then, one by one took the psychological test for Danton’s project while Danton was the Martian chef of the day! he cooked us a delicious combination of Salmon with a salad made of potatoes, cheese and Broccoli. We ate together before our first long EVA take place. The donning’s time started at 13:16, and after 5 minutes of depressurization, the real adventure began! The group already knew each other, it was their second EVA together, this astounding group were formed by Oscar, Danton, Atila and I. We went to unnamed canyon using two rovers (Curiosity and Deimos). A lot of Martian and Terrestrial things happened. Since the moment we arrived, we could feel the magic of the place. We were walking finding deer’s footprints, after 20 minutes we couldn’t believe what we see, we found fresh mountain lion’s footprints, something that reminded us that we are terrestrial. Everyone’s safety is the number one priority, that’s why we stood up in that moment and decided to fly the drone to see if there will be any chance of danger. Fortunately, the drone doesn’t get anything that goes against our safety. In the way back to the rovers, we couldn’t stop to appreciate the saline deposits. As a crew 187, we named this wonderful place as El Dorado Canyon, because El Dorado was an ancient legend about a city full of gold that challenged every explorer who dared to look for it. For us to call it that reflects the curiosity that awoke in us as new explorers of Mars and the desire to leave in there a Latin American mark.

In the moment we arrive to the Hab, Oscar had to get into the airlock because the battery of his space suit was drained and it can represent a potential problem. Danton, Atila and I kept working outside, for 15 minutes more, in the RAM and taking some pictures and videos using a drone.

After this amazing experience, we were so happy to see that the rest of the crew cooked for us, we ate a second lunch together and then everybody started to work in their reports and projects.

This day was a long productive day…Mars, here we are!

Look Ahead Plan:

Danton and I will do a short EVA to make a map of the MDRS.

Anomalies in work:

None.

Weather: Temperature: 3°C, Fair weather, Winds speed: calm, Humidity 38%, Barometer 30.20 in

Crew Physical Status: Healthy

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, GeenHab Report, Operations Report, EVA Request, EVA Report, and Journalist Report.

Support Requested:

· We found an uncrewed rover in the RAM and we want to know if we can use it because it will be useful for the project of several members of our crew.

​

Crew 187 Sol 5 Summary Report 17JAN2018

Sol 5

Summary Title: In my place

Author’s name: Cynthia Fuertes Panizo

Mission Status: All nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

Houston… Are you there?

Today was a special day! A dear Martian turns 24, our Journalist, Tania, had the best luck that every Martian wants: have her birthday in Mars. After the celebration, everybody started to work in their own Project, the topics of them cover different kind of issues from psychological, space suit simulator, augmented reality applications, device to measure evaporation and so on.

Today, Danton and I, cleaned the Hab, and after that tired task, we ate a delicious Martian hamburger cooked by Oscar, and dinner looks promising: Pizza in Mars!!!

In the Afternoon, we took the pictures for the biography report… It’s amazing how every Martian don’t forget where they came from, and has always their own flag next to them.

Furthermore, this day was one of changes in the greenhab, for security reasons and Atila’s project the storm tanker, the desktop and some woods were moved.

Today, Luis and David worked together in the alarm and water level sensor for the water tank above the rooms, however, the recycled buzzer, reclaimed from a broken radio, was damaged. In the following days, they will look for a solution for it. We are sure that they can do it!

We have an excellent news! We made a power supply connector for a PC monitor found next to the water tank … Now we can see movies in Mars!!!

Look Ahead Plan:

Tomorrow will be an exciting day!… The first long EVA will be made, the lucky ones are Oscar, Danton, Atila and I (Uuoohoo!!!)

Anomalies in work:

None.

Weather: Temperature: 1°C, Fair weather, Winds speed: calm, Humidity 44%, Barometer 30.39 in

Crew Physical Status: Healthy

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, GeenHab Report, Operations Report, EVA Request, Astronomy Report and Journalist Report.

Support Requested:

· We want to ask for more ziplock bags.

· We found in the lower deck some geological samples, we don’t know where they came from, and if we can throw away.

· There is a red cart in the greenhab, we want to know if the spare parts for it have already arrive.