Commander Report
Nick Orenstein
Commander's Log, Mars Date 1320102.13
Today Crew 132 finished the last of its internal group presentations. In the spirit of TED talks, we each spoke in depth about our individual work on Earth prior to assignment at MDRS. I am humbled to include myself as part of this extraordinary crew.
Each officer provided a fascinating education on their undeniable expertise. Engineer Miyajima, a university professor, presented on bioregenerative space habitats and surface explorations of Earth's Moon. GreenHab Officer Parrish told us how permaculture repurposes waste as a resource and described his horticultural experiment from NASA Kennedy Space Center which is destined for testing on the International Space Station. Biologist YoungSmith has discovered tantalizing clues to the fundamental mechanisms of evolution by studying algae samples at NASA Ames Research Center. When she isn't working on similar research at Ames, XO/HSO Lingappa has discovered a potential cure for the rabies virus which will begin clinical trials at the Center for Disease Control on Earth shortly. Journalist Etter is known to us as the artist-in-residence; he exhibited images of his large, beautiful Martian-surface-inspired charcoal drawings. Geologist Bouchard founded the Missouri University of Science and Technology's rover design team and built a prototype lunar rover at NASA Johnson Space Center. I discussed my work with special nuclear material at Los Alamos National Laboratory and also my PhD research on ISRU water harvesting.
Hidden in all of this is our own individual quest to answer: "What does it take to become an astronaut?" It takes talent in many fields but expertise in one. It takes an undying thirst for knowledge. It takes a creative spirit and a desire to get your hands dirty. It takes wanderlust and a need for adventure. It takes passion, humor, and friendliness. It takes the ability to work unquestionably well as a member of a team.
And, of course, it takes a love of space. Space is the place. Space, by presenting big challenges and epic problems to solve, is the solution to humanity’s struggle to break the chains of cyclical history.
Crew 132 will continue to lead the way as space ambassadors. We'll talk about space. We'll spread the message. Cast the wizard's spell. So that one day soon, any Earthling can come join us on Mars.
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Commander Check-In Report
Nick Orenstein
Crew Physical Status:
Healthy. Mental states have started to slip from Full Martian to post-mission preparation.
Eva Depart Time: 10:08
Eva Return Time: 12:46
EVA Highlights : Collected remaining astrobiology tests and geology samples. Successfully performed science discovery backup support scenario (required assistance to identify Martian lichen and Space Doge footprints).
Engineering/Hab Maintenance:
n/a
Report Transmission Schedule:
Commander Check-In
Engineering Report
HSO Report
EVA Report
Science Report (Geology)
Daily Photos
Journalist Report
Commander Report
Supplemental Report -- GreenHab Report Template
Plans for Tomorrow:
No EVA. Last full day of work for Crew 132 mission rotation. Finish routine work and write summaries to present to Mission Support.
Inventory:
1) The HSO cabinet has no Ace Bandage wrap. This is a simple, versatile, and reusable tool which must be part of any first aid kit. Mission support should have Officer DG or an upcoming crew add one of these to the supply.
Support Requests:
1) Crew 132 requests that if the photos we submitted as Daily Photos are used in the future for purposes other than Daily Photo transmissions during our rotation that we will be given Photographer Credit whenever used. After the mission we will provide Mission Support with a spreadsheet attributing each photo with its corresponding photographer.
Miscellaneous:
n/a