212-JournalistsReport

Journalist Report

02/12/2014

Tereza Pultarova

Dust storm is coming

With only two days left, Crew 135 has started wrapping up the

experiments. Our on-orbit crew member

Vratislav received optical data acquired during the structural loading

test and ran a computer

simulation using the NASA-developed NASTRAN computer simulation program.

The non-disruptive optical measurement, involving a single panel of

the MDRS outer shell, was

performed during an earlier EVA by Martin, Elif, and Filip and was

part of a research scenario

considering the station being hit by a giant dust storm.

Using the data, Vratislav assessed the deformation of the station's

structure using a MERCURY

software system developed by his company Sobriety. Subsequently, he

created a computer model of the

MDRS in the NASTRAN code, showing the residual strength of the station.

The image shows shifts and deformations on the station's surface, with

different colours

distinguishing between the measured values.

Every crew travelling to Mars in the future has to be prepared for the

possibility of a Great

Martian Dust Storm. This phenomenon, caused by turbulence in the

Martian atmosphere, develops about

every ten years. Single storm cells blend together, forming a powerful

cyclone that encircles the

entire planet, with the raised dust hiding the Sun for weeks or months.

Though the atmosphere density on Mars is extremely low, with the

highest values about the same as 35

km above the Earth's surface, during a dust storm, the strong wind

raises large amounts of tiny dust

particles from the arid Martian surface, increasing the pressure on

the structure.

The winds buffeting the station during a passage of the edge of such a

cyclone could reach the speed

of up to 350 km/h.

As the station is already weakened by years of exposure to extreme

weather conditions and radiation,

the ground-based teams have to propose improvised solutions for the

crew to reinforce the base -

because of the dust in the air, the station's solar panels wouldn't

produce any energy and

communication channels with the grounds will likely be cut off.

Apart from Vratislav's experiment, Crew 135 has successfully concluded

head-up display testing,

demonstrating live video streaming from a Google Glass device worn by

an astronaut during and EVA

into an Android tablet located inside the habitat. The tablet

controlled by the HabCom.

"We experienced video lag as a natural part of the blue tooth system

that is designed rather for

shorter distances and visible range but we used it also for distances

of up to 20 metres, maybe even

30 metres, and through walls of a metal habitat," Ondrej described the

progress of the latest

experiment.

"We experienced three streaming drop-outs during the twenty minute EVA

but no restart was needed,

the system picked up the signal automatically again and everything was

fed forward from the glasses,

even the history that was not transmitted live, we received it with a delay."