Sol Summary – April 8th

Crew 314 Sol Summary Report 08-04-2025

Sol: 2

Summary Title: Discovering the area

Author’s name: Arnaud de Wergifosse (crew executive officer)

Mission Status: Ongoing

Sol Activity Summary: During the sol 2, we carried out two EVAs with different objectives:

Morning: We collected soil samples for our journalist’s, Batoul, experiment.

Afternoon: The goal was to find a suitable location to place our engineer’s, Antoine, equipment.

We also had our first medical emergency simulation, followed by a valuable learning debrief of our Health and Safety Officer and the impression of the crew.

In the lab, Bérengère put her fungi to the test by exposing them to microgravity and UV light, while Batoul received her bacteria and was able to perform her first inoculations.

Look Ahead Plan: One EVA is scheduled in the morning to conduct Antoine’s experiment. Throughout the day, we will continue working on our individual experiments, including a CRM simulation in the afternoon involving the whole team for Odile’s experiment. Béatrice and Arnaud will carry on their research while collecting data with their wearables.

Anomalies in work: A minor issue occurred in the Science Dome when the autoclave overheated, causing a power failure and triggering the gas alarms due to the release of a large amount of steam. We had to request assistance from Mission Support to resolve the situation. Refrigerator #1 in the Science Dome is broken, causing the Petri dishes to freeze. As a result, Batoul Tani has used Refrigerator #2 to store them.

Weather: Sunny and clear sky (between 60°- 80°F during the day)

Crew Physical Status: Our crew engineer is feeling much better, and for the rest we encountered minor incidents, such as cuts, for which we applied band-aids.

EVA:

EVA #3 : At 09:07, decompression of the airlock began, and by 09:12, the EVA officially commenced. Odile departed solo in Rover Spirit, while Batoul drove Rover Opportunity with Béatrice as passenger. The team followed Cow Dung Road, heading towards Cowboy Corner.

At 09:24, the crew made an unscheduled stop at Marble Ritual due to communication disruptions. The issue appeared temporarily resolved, and the team resumed travel shortly after. At 09:26, they reached Pooh’s Corner, continuing their route without further delay.

By 09:35, the team arrived at coordinates 519000 ; 425180. At this point, communication was again lost, and CapCom encountered difficulties re-establishing contact. With support from the broader Mission Support Team, the issue was diagnosed and resolved. Communications remained stable for the remainder of the EVA.

The crew reached the first sampling site—Cowboy Corner—at 09:50. After parking the rovers, the astronauts proceeded on foot. Sample collection commenced at 09:53, and the first set of samples was secured in the rover by 10:03. The team remained on site to conduct additional exploration.

At 10:20, the EVA crew departed Cowboy Corner and navigated to the intersection of Cow Dung Road and Galileo Road, arriving at 10:33. They conducted the second soil sample collection at this location. By 10:42, the collection was complete, and the crew resumed their journey toward Pooh’s Corner.

At 10:57, the team completed the third and final sample collection at Pooh’s Corner. They then began the return to the habitat.

The rovers arrived at the base at 11:04. The crew initiated the 5-minute repressurization process of the airlock, concluding the EVA.

EVA #4 : The crew left the station at 3:40 p.m. in search of a suitable location for the crew engineer, Antoine Dubois, to set up equipment for his experiment. After facing some difficulties with communication and navigation, the EVA team reached Cowboy Corner at 4:02 p.m. They departed at 4:22 p.m. without having found an appropriate site.

The team then proceeded to the intersection of Galileo Road and Cow Dung Road, arriving at 4:25 p.m. There, the crew engineer identified a location deemed suitable for deploying his equipment. Crew headed back to the station at 5:23pm and arrived at the station at 5:31pm after completing their main objective of the EVA, deploying engineer’s equipment. The crew initiated the 5-minute repressurization process of the airlock, concluding the EVA.

The third originally scheduled stop at Pooh’s Corner for drone deployment—intended for area reconnaissance—has been aborted due to time constraint protocols.

Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Journalist Report, Greenhab Report, Operations Report, Crew Photos, EVA Report, EVA Request

Support Requested: none

GreenHab Report – April 8th

Crew 314 GreenHab Report 08-04-2025
GreenHab Officer: Bérengère Bastogne
Environmental control (fan & heater):
Heater on (setup temperature = 72°F)
Fan on (to keep the temperature below 94°F)
Average temperatures (last 24h):83.4°F
Maximum temperature (last 24h): 95°F
Minimum temperature (last 24h): 71.8°F
Hours of supplemental light: 7-10 pm
Daily water usage for crops: 7 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 0.5 gallons
Water in Blue Tank (200 gallon capacity): 184.1 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 25 min
Changes to crops: I removed all the dead plants
Narrative: Use of 300 g of substrate (in the wheelbarrow) for an experiment. I watered all the plants with water. I removed all the dead plants, threw them in the garbage provided for that purpose and put all the soil from the dead plants’ pots in the wheelbarrow. I swept the floor of the Greenhab.
Harvest: (include which crop and mass in grams) None
Support/supplies needed: None

EVA Report – April 8th

Crew 314 EVA Report#1 08Apr025

EVA # 3

Author: Louis Baltus (Astronomer)

Purpose of EVA: The objective of this EVA is for Batoul Tani to collect soil samples from three distinct locations to support her experiment on the effects of Martian regolith on bacterial cultures cultivated in the Science Dome. The goal is to study how different soil types influence the protection of bacterial growth from ultraviolet (UV) radiation, assessing their potential to mitigate UV-induced stress on microbial life.

The first stop will be at Cowboy Corner, where the crew will collect the initial soil sample from the area, which appears to have relatively open terrain. The second stop will be at the intersection of Cow Dung Road and Galileo Road, where the team will collect a second soil sample from this different geological context. Finally, the EVA will conclude at Pooh’s Corner, where the third and final soil sample will be gathered.

The samples from these varied locations will provide a diverse set of regolith types, helping to better understand the role of soil composition in shielding microbial life from harmful radiation and offering insights into potential habitability on Mars.

The crew will stay within a 300-meter radius of the rovers and head northeast towards Tharsis Montes.

Start time: 09:00 AM

End time: 12:00 AM

Narrative: At 09:07, decompression of the airlock began, and by 09:12, the EVA officially commenced. Odile departed solo in Rover Spirit, while Batoul drove Rover Opportunity with Béatrice as passenger. The team followed Cow Dung Road, heading towards Cowboy Corner.

At 09:24, the crew made an unscheduled stop at Marble Ritual due to communication disruptions. The issue appeared temporarily resolved, and the team resumed travel shortly after. At 09:26, they reached Pooh’s Corner, continuing their route without further delay.

By 09:35, the team arrived at coordinates 519000 ; 425180. At this point, communication was again lost, and CapCom encountered difficulties re-establishing contact. With support from the broader Mission Support Team, the issue was diagnosed and resolved. Communications remained stable for the remainder of the EVA.

The crew reached the first sampling site—Cowboy Corner—at 09:50. After parking the rovers, the astronauts proceeded on foot. Sample collection commenced at 09:53, and the first set of samples was secured in the rover by 10:03. The team remained on site to conduct additional exploration.

At 10:20, the EVA crew departed Cowboy Corner and navigated to the intersection of Cow Dung Road and Galileo Road, arriving at 10:33. They conducted the second soil sample collection at this location. By 10:42, the collection was complete, and the crew resumed their journey toward Pooh’s Corner.

At 10:57, the team completed the third and final sample collection at Pooh’s Corner. They then began the return to the habitat.

The rovers arrived at the base at 11:04. The crew initiated the 5-minute repressurization process of the airlock, concluding the EVA.

Destination: Cowboy corner (4253000N, 518500W)

Coordinates (UTM WGS 84): 4253000N, 518500W

First stop : 4253000N, 518500W

Second stop : 4252250N, 519000W

Third stop : 4251250N, 519000W

Participants: Batoul Tani (Journalist), Odile Hilgers (HSO) and Béatrice Hollander (Commander)

Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: MoonWalk Road, Cow Dung Road 01110

Mode of travel: Driving and walking

Operations Report – April 7th

Crew 314 Operations Report 04-07-2025

SOL : 1

Name of person filing report : Béatrice Hollander (Crew Commander)

Non-nominal systems :

Notes on non-nominal systems :

ROVERS:

Spirit rover used: EVA #1

Hours: 272.6 hours (with 0.1 used)

Beginning charge : 100%

Ending charge : 95%

Currently charging : No.

Opportunity rover used : EVA #1

Hours : 212.4 hours (with 0.2 used)

Beginning charge : 100%

Ending charge : 93%

Currently charging : No

Curiosity rover used: EVA #2

Hours: 306.1 hours (0.2 used)

Beginning charge: 100

Ending charge: 95

Currently charging: No

Perseverance rover used: EVA #2

Hours: 317.2 hours (0.2 used)

Beginning charge: 100

Ending charge: 95

Currently charging :No

General notes on rovers : Nothing special on EVA #1 and EVA #2

Summary of Hab operations :

WATER USE: 64.04 gallons

Water (static tank): 485.96 gallons

Static tank pipe heater (on or off): off

Static tank heater (On or off): off

Toilet tank emptied: no

Summary of internet: Used for music playing, mails, research for experiments, learning languages.

Summary of suits and radios:

Radios 1,2 and 5 were used on EVA #1

Light Suits 5, 6 and 9 were used on EVA #1

Radios 3,4,6 and 8 were used on EVA #2

Light Suits 2,4,5, and 6 were used on EVA #2

Summary of GreenHab operations: I watered all the plants (except dead plants) with the Miracle-Gro solution (1 cup for 2 gallons).

WATER USE: 4.8 gallons

Heater: Off

Supplemental light: N/A

Harvest: 3 g of mint and 5 g basilic

Summary of ScienceDome operations:

Dual split:

During the morning: preparation of all the materials (Spectral lamp, RPM (gravity), temperature sensor) for the stress experiment on arbuscular mycorhizal fungi.

During the afternoon: isolation of spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

During the evening: end of isolation of spores and start of the experiment (stress application)

Milieu, petri dish preparations

Summary of RAM operations: (Tools used, work done)

A total of 24 zip ties were used to secure the tarps to the metal structure between each module. The ends of the zip ties were cut using a wire cutter. Additionally, duct tape was used to patch a large hole in the tarp near the Science Dome.

The crew engineer, Antoine, used a drill to attach the dust collector brackets to the stakes during the EVA (tools used: drill, mete r& 6 zip ties).

Summary of any observatory issues: Nothing as no observations done yet

Summary of health and safety issues : Our engineer was still a bit blurry this morning, but he was still able to participate in the daily tasks. We will take an eye on his health issue for the days to come, and keep you updated. The other members were feeling fine.
First Aid Kits : All medical supplies have been filled.

Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support :

Request to Mission Support :

EXPERIMENT : The team has applied for support to collect a parcel containing important samples for our journalist’s experiment.

HSO :

As mentioned in the email’s response (HSO pre-mission checklist) : We have two issues with the walkie-talkies from SciDome: the one working on channel 10 is dead and doesn’t work on any other charging base. Unfortunately, the charging base for the SciDome is also no longer working.

As mentioned in the email’s response (HSO pre-mission checklist) : there’s no new alcaline battery left in the drawer (precicely : Alcaline Battery 9V 522-6LF22 -6AM6). We have received a response from Mission Support that batteries will be coming in the beginning of next week.

GreenHab Report – April 10th

Crew 314 GreenHab Report 10-04-2025
GreenHab Officer: Bérengère Bastogne
Environmental control (fan & heater):
Heater on (setup temperature = 72°F)
Fan on (to keep the temperature below 94°F)
Average temperatures (last 24h): 85.7 °F
Maximum temperature (last 24h): 98.8 °F
Minimum temperature (last 24h): 72.7 °F
Hours of supplemental light: 7-10 pm
Daily water usage for crops: 8 gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: 1 gallon
Water in Blue Tank (200 gallons capacity): 164.6 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 15 min
Changes to crops: Use of 300 plantain seedlings for an experiment
Narrative: I watered all the plants with water.
The door of the GreenHab was left open for 3 hours 35 minutes (2.10 pm to 5.45 pm) to reduce the temperature inside (maximum of 98.8 °F)
Harvest: (include which crop and mass in grams) 4 g of parsley and 6 g of basilic
Support/supplies needed: None

Journalist Report – April 3rd

Journalism Report
MDRS Crew 313
April 3, 2025
By Riley Nuttycombe

Crew 313 woke up back on earth today and it was snowing! We had planned a field trip to collect more rock samples but it was too muddy to make doing so safe. We stayed in the hab most of the day. We did some cleaning in preparation for our departure tomorrow. Emily Lehnardt and David Joy departed early in the day. By dinner time it had dried out enough for the remaining crew and Ben from mission support to drive to Hanksville for burgers for dinner.

Journalist Report – March 31st

Journalist Report Sol 0

31 March 2025

By Emily Lehnart

We are preparing for our exploration of Mars tomorrow. As we met for our inaugural breakfast as MDRS crew 313, we synergistically discussed goals and objectives for our upcoming EVAs tomorrow and Wednesday. MDSRS crew 313 eagerly anticipated the Mars spacesuit training, the Mars rover training and discussed what EVAs look like. Additionally, we created Mars rock kits. Commander Jen Carver shared her infinite wisdom regarding the geological history of Mars. The MDRS crew was in awe. Finally, we took a short walk to the education building to compare Earth rocks and Mars rocks and determine which Earth rocks were analogous on Mars. This will help us tomorrow as we embark on our first EVA to collect Mars rocks. Go MDRS 313 Crew!