Journalist Report
Sol 4: Observations from the Observed
Throughout the week we’ve been monitored by a variety of sensors and surveys as part of the research study we’ve agreed to be the “pilot” crew for. Our role is to help the research team discover any oversights or logistical challenges in their experimental plan so that the first real test crew has a smoother experience – because our experience has been bumpy to say the least. We can’t say much about the surveys, but we can talk about the sensors. Our only constant sensor is a Garmin watch to record our heart rate and sleep quality – we only take them off to charge during dinner. There are few other sensors we only use during EVAs. The first is just a simple audio recorder which we clip to the collar of our flight suit so that the researchers can understand how we’re communicating when we plan and conduct our EVA. Next, we have a tracking device so that the researchers can see where we’re going and a secondary MDRS tracker required for crew safety. Lastly, we have eye tracking glasses that video what we see and identify exactly what our eyes are focusing on – this again allows the researchers to understand what information we’re taking in and using to build our decisions on EVA. Not only are we responsible for donning these sensors each day, but our crew scientist and engineer have sunk several hours into debugging them, especially the glasses. As of today, we have solved multiple problems with the glasses only to find more. The latest discovery is a settings change that requires an ethernet cable that does not exist on Mars. Who puts an ethernet cable on their packing list anyways?
GreenHab Report – March 20th
GreenHab Officer: Prachi Dutta
Environmental control (fan & heater): Yes
Average temperatures (last 24h): 84.6 F
Maximum temperature (last 24h): 131 F
Minimum temperature (last 24h): 40.8 F
Hours of supplemental light: 5pm-10pm
Daily water usage for crops: 7 Gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: None
Water in Blue Tank (200 gallon capacity): 170 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 1.30 pm
Changes to crops: None
Narrative: Watered, cleaned the crops, pulled out the weeds.
Harvest: None
Support/supplies needed: None
Operations Report – March 20th
SOL: 4
Name of person filing report: Jesús, Crew Engineer
Non-nominal systems: Wi-fi
Notes on non-nominal systems: Wi-fi failed to turn on during the regular window, believe the cause was due to the outages from earlier in the day.
ROVERS
Spirit rover : not used
Opportunity rover: not used
Curiosity rover: used
Beginning Hours: 302
Beginning charge: 100%
Ending Hours: 302.5
Ending charge: 88%
Currently charging: yes
Perseverance rover: used
Beginning Hours: 312
Beginning charge: 100%
Ending Hours: 312.3
Ending charge: 78%
Currently charging: yes
General notes on rovers: Worked as expected.
Summary of Hab operations: Exercise activities, cooking, EVA preparation, equipment troubleshooting
Water Use (please use both methods to estimate water usage)
Time of measurements: 5:00 pm
1) Per formula (see notes): 28.75 gal
2) Smart Home Dashboard (see notes): 42.27 gal
Water (static tank, remaining gallons): 375.92 gal (based on Smart Home)
Static tank pipe heater (on or off): on
Static tank heater (on or off) : off
Toilet tank emptied (no or yes): yes
Summary of internet: will be using from 9 pm to 11 pm for reports
Summary of suits and radios:
Suits :
1 -> 100%, used
2 -> 100%, used
3 -> 100%, not used
Suits : Nothing to report.
Radios : Nothing to report.
Summary of GreenHab operations: Plants were watered.
WATER USE: 7 gallons
Heater (On or Off): On
Supplemental light (hours of operation): 5 to 10 pm
Harvest (name, weight in grams): None
Summary of ScienceDome operations: None
Dual split (Heat or AC, On or Off): Off
Summary of RAM operations: (Tools used, work done): None
Summary of any observatory issues: None
Summary of health and safety issues: None
Crew Photos – March 19th
Sol Summary – March 19th
Crew 309 Sol Summary Report 19Mar2025
Sol: 3
Summary Title:
Author’s name: Co-Commander A
Mission Status: Nominal
Sol Activity Summary:
- Commander B and crew engineer started the day by performing and EVA. The crew medic continued work on our robot meant to transport medical supplies. The crew is continuing to experience issues with the sensors we’re supposed to wear during EVAs so the crew scientist and engineer began troubleshooting. In the afternoon the GreenHab officer and Medic completed an EVA.
Look Ahead Plan: We will be conducting two EVAs tomorrow in the morning and afternoon
Anomalies in work:
- The Tobbii eye-tracking glasses disconnected after 30 minutes on EVA 6. Engineer and Scientist are troubleshooting why this may be. Only theory is that the glasses occasionally stop recording when they are out of range of the computer’s Wi-Fi.
- Fuzzy part of the mic was having difficulty staying attached to the microphone. It fell off mid-EVA but EVA 6 was able to find the fuzzy component and bring it back to the Hab.
- For EVA 7, we are experimenting with hooking up the eye-tracking glasses with the external battery to the portable laptop to see if we can extend eye tracking recording for at least one participant.
- Update: the heating issue is resolved now that there are no longer excessive winds.
- Accidentally made 6x the amount of onions than intended. Read instructions in the future.
Weather: Sunny, 53F / 29F
Crew Physical Status: Nominal
EVA: 2 EVAs completed
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary, Journalist Report, GreenHab, Operations Report
Support Requested: None
GreenHab Report – March 19th
GreenHab Officer: Prachi Dutta
Environmental control (fan & heater): Yes
Average temperatures (last 24h): 93.4 F
Maximum temperature (last 24h): 131 F
Minimum temperature (last 24h): 40.8 F
Hours of supplemental light: 5pm-10pm
Daily water usage for crops: 6 Gallons
Daily water usage for research and/or other purposes: None
Water in Blue Tank (200 gallon capacity): 177 gallons
Time(s) of watering for crops: 11.30 am
Changes to crops: None
Narrative: Watered and cleaned the crops
Harvest: None
Support/supplies needed: None
Journalist Report – March 19th
Martian Eats
With all the EVA’s this crew has been completing, the amount of calories we’re consuming is monstrous. To satisfy our appetite we’ve been cooking lots of different foods. The Mars Home Cooking recipe book created by crews 110B, 128A and 128B has provided tasty inspiration for dinner. On Sols 1 and 2 we followed their chicken fried rice and Martian Marinara recipes, making appropriate modifications so that both the meat eaters and vegetarians in our crew could enjoy. While we were able to bring some fresh food with us to Mars, the bulk of our meals utilize the large selection of freeze-dried fruits, vegetables, and protein in our crew pantry. While these items cook quite well – the biggest challenge has been accounting for the time it will take to re-hydrate our dinner before cooking it. Outside of dinner one of our co-commanders has been baking to boost crew morale. Her cookies on Sol 1 and Funfetti cupcakes today were a major highlight for the crew.
Crew Photos – March 21st
Operations Report – February 19th
Crew 311 Operations Report 19/02/2025
SOL: 3
Name of person filing report: Robin GORIUS
Non-nominal systems: Robotic observatory, toilet alarm
Notes on non-nominal systems: Maintenance of the observatory planned for June
ROVERS
Spirit rover used: No
Opportunity rover used: No
Curiosity rover used: Yes
Hours: 296.7
Beginning charge: 100%
Ending charge: 94%
Currently charging: yes
Perseverance rover used: No
General notes on rovers: Working as expected
Summary of Hab operations: Sport, EVA support, Experiment unpacking and preparation, 3D printing
Water Use (please use both methods to estimate water usage)
Time of measurements (collect data for the same time window): 6:10 pm
1) Per formula (see notes): 15.43gl
2) Smart Home Dashboard (see notes):14.67gl
Water (static tank, remaining gallons): 454gl
Static tank pipe heater (on or off): on
Static tank heater (on or off) : on
Toilet tank emptied (no or yes): yes
Summary of internet: used from 7 pm to 9 pm for reports
Summary of suits and radios:
Suits :
1 -> Suits ok, not used
2 -> Battery changed after a failed test to run for 4 hours. (battery drops down to 8v after a few minutes)
3 -> 100% , used
4 -> 99%, not used
5 -> 100%, not used
6 -> 100%, not used
7 -> 100%, not used
8 -> 100%, used
9 -> 100%, not used
10 -> 100%, used
Radios : All good
Summary of GreenHab operations: plants were watered and soil was extracted for microgreens experiments.
WATER USE: 5 gallons
Heater (On or Off): Off
Supplemental light (hours of operation): 5 to 10 pm
Harvest (name, weight in grams): 7g of mint
Summary of ScienceDome operations: None
Dual split (Heat or AC, On or Off): On Heat
Summary of RAM operations: (Tools used, work done): Used as EVA airlock
Summary of any observatory issues: None
Summary of health and safety issues: None
Questions, concerns and requests to Mission Support: None
EVA Report – February 19th
Crew 311 EVA Report 19-02-2025
EVA # 03
Author: Quentin Berlemont, Crew Astronomer
Purpose of EVA: Installation of atmospheric instruments given by ESA and CNRS: MegaArès/Field Mill (Electromagnetic field measures), LOAC (Aerosol counter), Weather Station
Start time: 09:39 AM
End time: 11:54 AM
Narrative: EVA Crew entered the RAM Airlock at 09:39 AM and left the station at 09:44. Robin and Isolde took the Curiosity rover while Quentin walked while pulling the cart; both the rover and the cart were holding the equipment. After a few meters at 09:50 a piece of equipment detached from its mast and Robin went back to the RAM to gather zip ties to reattach it. They arrived to Marble Rituals at 10:00 AM. They went to 38.4080106/-110.788139 (coordinates recovered on the GPS device carried during EVAs) by walking, using the cart to bring the equipment. They left the site at 11:35 AM by rover for Robin and Isolde, by walking for Quentin, and parked the rover, then took pictures of the interior of the reflector at 11:45 AM as requested by mission support. They entered the RAM Airlock at 11:54 AM and EVA ended at 12:00AM.
Destination: Marble Rituals
Coordinates (use UTM WGS 84): 518250 E, 4250750 N
Participants: Quentin Berlemont (EVA leader and Crew Astronomer), Robin Gorius (Crew Engineer), Isolde Louzier-Ricalens (Crew Journalist)
Road(s) and routes per MDRS Map: Cow Dung Road 0110
Mode of travel: Rover Curiosity and walking
Curiosity:
Start battery: 100%
End battery: 94%
Start hours: 296.7
End hours: 297.0
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