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Sol Summary – April 25th

Crew 297 Sol Summary Report 25-04-2024

Sol: 11

Summary Title: Earth Rising on the Red Horizon

Author’s name: Pawel Sawicki

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

This morning, the first of two EVAs was conducted. Drs. Storch and Sawicki ventured out far north to the Gateway to Lith this morning to locate an area suitable for Case to drive around. Although they did not find anything in the vicinity of Gateway to Lith for this purpose, they admired the views of this area. On the way back, an adequate area was indeed discovered and utilized for the human-research interaction study. Case performed well in its given task, requiring minimal human intervention. The robot was then driven manually to test its steep hill-traversing abilities. The equipment was gathered up and the crew returned home to the Hab.

The second, late afternoon EVA, involved the two Crew Engineers Storch and Laude.This EVA team journeyed to Somerville Overlook to acquire telephoto photos of the sedimentary rock layers in the walls of the escarpments. As the weather started to head south, the team headed back towards MDRS, but made a planned stop at Chandor Chasma for additional photos of stratigraphy and rocks. Terrain was also examined for NPS recovery and was found extremely difficult for such an operation.

For dinner the crew was treated to a flavorful vegetable stir fry prepared by Chef (and GHO) Marquez who used a substantial amount of harvested greens from the GreenHab.

Look Ahead Plan:

Tomorrow is unfortunately our last sol at MDRS. We will start the day with a geological expedition EVA. When we return we will have our hands full with end-of-mission tasks: finishing reports, dismantling the GreenHab for the season, taking inventory, packing for our trip back to Earth and cleaning.

Anomalies in work:

Suit 11 (fan power substantially decreased mid-EVA): Battery was replaced but the air flow is still less than nominal. Inop’d for the current mission.
Weather:
Morning (data from 0900): calm winds (2 mph), chilly (59F), and scattered cloud coverage
Noon: calm winds (7 mph), warm (70F), and scattered cloud coverage
Afternoon (1800): moderate winds (16 mph), chilly (69F), and scattered cloud coverage
Crew Physical Status: Overall crew health is nominal.

EVA: There were two EVAs today. The first EVA had a successful testing effort of Case on the way back from the scenic Special Region and Gateway to Lith. The second EVA went to Somerville Overlook and Candor Chasma, collecting telephotos of the geological features in those areas for review by the crew geologist.

Reports to be filed:

Sol Summary
Journalist Report
GreenHab Report
Operations Report
EVA report (2 EVAs)
EVA request (1 EVA)
Support Requested: None requested.

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EVA Report – April 25th

Crew 297 EVA 17 Report 25-4-2024

EVA #17

Author: Dave Laude

Purpose of EVA: Examine the region for geological exploration and to examine Candor Chasma’s unique terrain and obstacles to NPS locating and recovery.

Start Time: 3:00 PM

End Time: 5:35 PM

Narrative: The EVA team road rover Opportunity to Somerville Overlook to acquire telephoto photos of the sedimentary rock layers in the walls of the escarpments. The view was stunning, like that of a nascent Grand Canyon, complete with the Canyon’s range of Earth tone colors. As the weather turned cloudier and windier the team headed back towards MDRS, but made a planned stop at Chandor Chasma for additional photos of stratigraphy and rocks. These were then uploaded to our Crew’s website for later analysis by Crew Geologist Sarah. Terrain was examined for NPS recovery and was found extremely difficult for such an operation.

Destination: Candor Chasma and Somerville Overlook

Coordinates:

4251150 520400 (West Entrance of Candor Chasma)

4253000 522000 (Somerville Overlook)

EVA Participants: Dave Laude (EVA Leader/Journalist/Engineer), Matt Lynch (Engineer)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road, Galileo Road

Mode of travel: Driving Opportunity + Walking

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Journalist Report – April 25th

Crew 297 – Janus 1 Journalist – David Laude

"Mars is much closer to the characteristics of Earth. It has a fall, winter, summer, and spring. North Pole, South Pole, mountains, lots of ice. No one is going to live on Venus; no one is going to live on Jupiter." – Buzz Aldrin

With one more Sol remaining after today there are heightened thoughts towards completion of individual goals among us. Some goals, while having made progress, remain incomplete and at least two crew members have hopes to come back to Mars for further research work on this red planet.

The morning EVA team, Pawel and Matt S. first tested Case in the usual way, by defining an objective and some obstacles. Case was able to complete its mission and return to the starting point, but only after several recalculations, each which required manual intervention before it would resume autonomous operations. Next was a simple terrain capability test in full manual mode, attempting to climb a 30 degree slope. Case made it about 3/4 of the way up the hill and then lost traction on the loose regolith, after which the test was ended.

The afternoon EVA team, Dave and Matt L., road rover Opportunity to Somerville Overlook to acquire telephoto photos of the sedimentary rock layers in the walls of the escarpments. The view was stunning, like that of a nascent Grand Canyon, complete with the Canyon’s range of Earth tone colors. As the weather turned cloudier and windier the team headed back towards MDRS, but made a planned stop at Chandor Chasma for additional photos of stratigraphy and rocks. These were then uploaded to our Crew’s website for later analysis by Crew Geologist Sarah.

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GreenHab Report – April 25th

Crew 297 GreenHab Report 25-04-2024

GreenHab Officer: Sean Marquez

Environmental control:
– Heater on (set to 55F)
– Fan on (set to turn on at 94F; turn off at 82F)

Average temperatures: 83F

Hours of supplemental light: N/A

Daily water usage for crops: 4 gal

Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0 gal

Water in Blue Tank: 161 gal

Time(s) of watering for crops: 14:20

Changes to crops: N/A

Narrative: The GreenHab atmospheric temperatures managed to stay below 100F completely on the automated fan system without the need for supplemental airflow from the tunnel system today, likely due to the cooler outdoor temperatures due to overcast. Today’s harvest was a record for Crew 297! And it provided an excellent basis for both lunch and dinner.

Harvest:
– 208g of cherry tomatoes
– 243g of red cabbage
– 43g of kale
– 6g of lettuce
– 45g of carrots
– 183g of cucumber
– 30g of green onion
– 11g of radish

Support/supplies needed: N/A

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EVA Report – April 25th

Crew 297 EVA 16 Report 25-4-2024

EVA #16

Author: Pawel Sawicki

Purpose of EVA: This EVA concludes the human-interaction study from CU Boulder, where two cremates will use the User Interface to monitor and interact with Case, as it traverses and records imagery of the points of interest (areas on the way and surrounding the destination).

Start Time: 8:50 AM

End Time: 11:21 AM

Narrative: Drs. Storch and Sawicki ventured out far north to the Gateway to Lith this morning to locate an area suitable for Case to drive around. Although they did not find anything in the vicinity of Gateway to Lith for this purpose, they admired the views of this area. On the way back, an adequate area was indeed discovered and utilized for the human-research interaction study. Case performed well in its given task, requiring minimal human intervention. The robot was then driven manually to test its steep hill-traversing abilities. The equipment was gathered up and the crew returned home to the Hab.

Destination: Gateway to Lith

Coordinates: 12S 518283 4255681

Participants: Pawel Sawicki (Commander) and Matthew Storch (XO)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road

Mode of travel: Opportunity

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Sol Summary – April 24th

Crew 297 Sol Summary Report 24-04-2024

Sol: 10

Summary Title: The Martian Chronicles

Author’s name: Pawel Sawicki

Mission Status: Nominal

Sol Activity Summary:

This morning a portion of the crew woke up early to evade the impending hot weather and venture out on an EVA to Somerville Overlook. With the morning breeze assisting, the crew took the brisk walk from Opportunity to the overlook and admired the views. But of course, research was the main priority, and as such the crew went to work. Many samples and measurements were collected from the area, and on the way back Case was finally able to return to areas outside of the MDRS station.

Meanwhile, the later EVA crew, within the warming weather, was able to finally find the hidden NPS and return it safely to the Hab. The crew of two then set foot to Skyline Rim and investigated NPS digging sites along the way, testing the Martian surfaces for a qualitative assessment of ease of digging. This particular EVA broke a record for longest walking distance during Mission 297 – a Brobdingnagian 10 km!

Look Ahead Plan:

Tomorrow will be the last day involving multiple EVAs. The morning EVA will venture out to the Gateway of Lith and take Case out for its last stroll into Martian regolith. Case is expected to now be fully functional and should reliably take imagery of the area (with some expected intervention via crew manual driving). The second EVA will venture out to Somerville Overlook to scope areas for NPS digging. Back at the MDRS station, the crew will prepare the decommissioning process of the GreenHab for the season.

Anomalies in work:

Suit 11 (fan power substantially decreased mid-EVA): Battery was replaced but the air flow is still less than nominal. Inop’d for the current mission.
Weather:
Morning (data from 0900): calm winds (3 mph), chilly (59F), and sunny with clear skies
Noon: moderate winds (12 mph), warm (76F), and sunny with clear skies
Afternoon (1800): moderate winds (14 mph), hot (81F), and sunny with clear skies
Crew Physical Status: Overall crew health is nominal.

EVA: There were two EVAs today. The first EVA, involving Sarah and Pawel, successfully reached the Somerville Overlook and took gamma-ray spectrometer measurements along with samples. On the way back, near Compass Rock, the crew performed the human-interaction study with Case, though had to cut short due to time constraints. The second EVA was able to (finally) successfully locate the NPS and bring it back to the Hab safely. The crew also ventured to Skyline Rim and located many potential NPS digging locations on the way.

Reports to be filed:

Sol Summary
Journalist Report
GreenHab Report
Operations Report
EVA report (2 EVAs)
EVA request (2 EVAs)
EVALink Feedback Report
Support Requested: None requested.

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EVA Report – April 24th

Crew 297 EVA 14 Report 24-4-2024

EVA #14

Author: Sarah Lamm

Purpose of EVA:To observe the orange region from orbit.

Start Time: 8:02 AM

End Time: 10:47 AM

Narrative: We arrived about 0.6 miles away from Somerville Overlook as Opportunity’s battery had dropped to 55%. From there we walked to Somerville Overlook to observe the orange region. It seems to have more silica present than previous locations. Seems to be chert that had been partially dyed orange. We also observed bedded layers of shale, silt, and what appeared to be chert. After we left Somerville Overlook, we went back to the intersection of Galileo Road and Watney Road to use the Case robot.

Destination: Somerville Overlook

Coordinates: 12S 521996 4253063

Participants:Pawel Sawicki (Commander) and Sarah Lamm (Geologist)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map:Cow Dung Road, Galileo Road

Mode of travel: Opportunity

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Journalist Report – April 24th

Crew 297 – Janus 1 Journalist – David Laude

"The surface of Mars is a place of bare rock sculpted by wind, with canyons and valleys much deeper than the Grand Canyon on Earth." – Steven Squyres

Today’s Sol 10 brings with it a sense of urgency as Sol 12 will be our last for this team of researchers and explorers.

Curiosity carried the morning EVA team, Matt and Matt, to the exact coordinates for the NPS and it was recovered quickly, although it was hidden in an extremely challenging spot by the previous team. Around noon, they returned to the Hab and began their on-foot journey to Skyline Rim. By 12:40 they had reached the top of the ridge line behind MDRS, and continued with the long march across the Amazonis Planitia. They reached the Skyline Rim and proceeded with ground testing to determine the feasibility of burying the NPS in that region. After testing was completed, they headed back to the Hab.

Sarah and Pawel traveled to Somerville Overlook to observe the orange region.

The last of the crew members biographies to present is that of the Journalist/Engineer:
"David Laude was present for the memorable and impressive launches of Apollo 11, the first Space Shuttle and subsequent Shuttle night launches. He also met several lunar astronauts and like many others, dreamed about space exploration. David began a lifelong passion for electronics and space technology in elementary school. With a B.S. and a M. Eng. in Electrical Engineering, he designed integrated circuits for Harris Semiconductor (now Intersil), Ford Aerospace (now unknown), Ford Motor Company and Linear Technology Corporation (now Analog devices). David is currently retired from the work force and is a lifelong learner who enjoys working with talented people. He also has formal training in Anthropology and Archaeology. He is a member of The Planetary Society and a founding member of The Mars Society. His hobbies include radio controlled airplanes, electronics, musical instrument synthesizers, music composition and antique radio restoration. Utah, with its stark beauty and remote areas, is one of his favorite states. He previously served as a crew member at MDRS on Crews 80, 181, 228 and 265 in the roles of commander, executive officer and engineer."