2022-2023 Field Season (#22)

Journalist Report 15-11-2023 Crew 286 by Liz Cole

SOL: 3

Morning:

The bacterial growth experiment started in the science lab early in the morning.

Over the crew’s morning meeting, we reviewed yesterday’s activities, stated what we wished to accomplish today, and began planning the day’s activities.

Following breakfast we reviewed videos on the EVA communications protocol. The crew members who have knowledge of and working experience with radio communications protocols such as are used in military, fire, aviation and law enforcement gave a thorough review to the rest of the crew, including points on vocabulary and proper operational behavior for radio communications in the field.

Afternoon:

After lunch the crew divided into two teams and enacted different scenarios of issues that EVA crews might encounter in the field. Taking positions in the science dome and the observatory, crew members alternated positions as EVA team members, EVA leaders, CapCom, and Missions Support, and improvised scenarios over live radio that demonstrated appropriate radio communication protocols for nominal circumstances and problem scenarios. These exercises prioritized clear communication and brevity. Overall the crew enjoyed engaging in these exercises and concluded them with enhanced knowledge of proper communication protocols.

Evening:
Our crew scientist successfully took his first bacterial samples from the bag photobioreactors where the purple bacteria are being grown. More hydrogen gas was produced from the water electrolysis system the crew scientist set up, which will be used as an electron source for the growth of the bacteria. The photobioreactors are an exciting proof of concept of the possibility of mass-production of space food in altered gravity, as well as in terrestrial applications.

We then planned EVAs for the next day, and continued work on our projects to be attempted and completed during the rest of the mission. We also discussed how to receive video from the planned Starship launch later in the week.

Sol 05 Journalist Report 17-NOV-2023

Nov 17

Morning:

In the science dome, the Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1 purple bacteria continue to grow at a good pace as indicated by increases in turbidity. Their numbers have essentially doubled in the past 24 hours. The shipment of Rhodospirillum rubrum SH1 inocula that arrived on Sol 4 were prepared to be put into their own photobioreactor bags and fed freshly generated hydrogen.

In the RAM, plaster mold fabrication continued with clean-up of the first half cast yesterday.

Afternoon:

Yesterday’s coordination exercises required communicating between our visiting photographers who did not yet have radios, capcom, mission support and the astronauts. The communication process in the end worked out very well, and the desired tasks on the EVA were successfully completed on time. Yesterday proved to be good training for today’s afternoon EVA. EVA 5 began with us escorting the visiting photojournalists, Andrea and Caleb, on their first EVA to Marble Ritual. After completing radio training with Andrea and Caleb, Raj and Lizzie suited up and drove two rovers north on Cow Dung Road to Marble Ritual with Andrea and Caleb. The team conducted a photography session as the astronauts climbed the stunningly colored dunes in the landscape of Marble Ritual in the late afternoon light. The photography session and the climb went well without incident, aside from the temporary loss of two head coverings. The team located these items after briefly retracing their steps from the rover. The team returned to the habitat and captured additional photos in the vicinity of the Observatory, before returning to base on time.

Evening:

Over dinner we discuss logistics for the planned EVAs for the coming few days.

by Liz Cole

SOL: 1

Morning:

The crew is establishing itself as being passionate about environmentally sustainable long term settlement on a resource – limited environment such as Mars. We reduced mission waste by coming up with a composting solution for the MASH that gets rid of the food waste from our crew, and finding intelligent ways to reuse all cardboard, plastic and glass packaging materials related to our mission for other uses to support the crew’s projects during the mission.

Crew Artist designed a labeling system for the HAB Upper and Lower decks, so that our crew and future crews can easily locate supplies, tools and safety materials. We are already enjoying a more efficient process of making dinner thanks to this.

Sergii arrives and the crew completes our training. After we learn the communications systems for EVAs, and how suit up, our sim officially begins.

Afternoon:

The crew executed two successful EVAs to Marble Ritual. The first EVA was an exploration of capturing lidar scans, image and video while in our sim suits. The crew captured successful scans of rock formations with iphone 14 using the polycam pro. 360 degree video was done with an insta 360 1rs one-inch, regular video was shot on iphone 13 and iphone 14. Drone aerial photography and photography was successfully completed.

Crew XO observed the importance of taking a moment to sit and reconnoiter. What struck him most was the feelings he could remember from sci fi films of being alone on another planet and observing the terrain. He experienced the feeling of isolation, the sense that things are so different from his everyday life that he was indeed an alien on his own planet.

We noted challenges with headsets falling off, the suits making it harder to operate our equipment and adjust comms radios, and a lost tripod.

That loss of gear during the EVA 1 created a great opportunity for teamwork and coordination between the EVA 2 crew and mission support, as EVA 2 located the equipment through good communication between the two EVA crews. Members of both crews appreciated the excellent coordination and teamwork efforts that emerged in efforts to rescue the lost tripod, as well as the added focus of an accomplishable goal for the EVA. Crew Artist noted the challenges he experienced of trying to explain where to locate a lost object in an unfamiliar terrain, without having the specific words to describe the exact type of geologic features that could be used as landmarks.

Evening:

Our crew Scientist established himself in the ScienceDome for his experiment involving CO2 fixation by purple bacteria for space food production. The bacteria arrived at MDRS tonight, appropriately just before dinner.

Reflecting on the day’s activities before dinner, the crew discussed how we can create new systems to be more efficient. Assessing what went well and what could have gone better with todays EVAs, we note that checklists posted by airlocks, the sim suit rooms, the comms area and on the rovers would be helpful for the crew to more effectively complete their missions.

We then planned EVAs for the next day, and continued work on our projects to be attempted and completed during the rest of the mission.