1104-CommandersReport

Commander Report

11/04/2014

Digby Tarvin

There are many complex pieces of equipment that must all be in working order for

a human exploration of Mars to succeed.

Our fourth day at MDRS started with some serious soul searching regarding our

ability to meet our target of going into sim by the end of the day. I had

highlighted some worrying deficiencies in our equipment inventory in yesterday's

report, and held out little hope of anything being able to be done immediately,

and it was beginning to look as though I had a choice of delaying the sim by at

least a day, or else facing several days confined in the hab.

However, soon after first light, I was contacted by the highest authorities as

mission supprt and given personal assurances that we would have everything we

needed to allow adherence to our original schedule.

As a result, on completion of our morning briefing and subsequent the essential

green hab duties, I had the crew assemble in the hab living area at 9:10 for a

run through of basic EVA skills such as operation of the various models of GPS

available, operation of the radio sets, and some basic rules for efficient

operation of a radio net.

At 10am I had the crew assemble in the EVA preparation area and we went through

the procedure of putting on all of our available EVA equipment, including orange

outer garment, boots, gaiters, gloves, and life support packs. Crash helmets

were used in lieu of the space helmets which are still on their way from Earth.

I then divided the crew into two teams who headed off in different directions to

a chosen feature within sight of the hab. The two groups practiced communicating

with each other en route, and on reaching their chosen target, saved their

location. Each group had two GPS's and a radio per person. The groups then used

their GPS to navigate back to the hab using the existing waypoint, exchanged GPS

units, and then navigated to the other groups waypoint.

We returned to the hab for a well deserved lunch at 12:30, with the intention of

conducting a final ATV practice in suits during the afternoon. However on

checking on checking my communications after the meal, I found a directive

authorizing the immediate dispatch of two crew members to the Grand Junction

supply depot to obtain our urgently needed supplies. On this news, it was

decided that the ATV practice would be postponed and performed in sim.

The re-supply team departed at 14:30, and those of us remaining behind commenced

the task of preparing for the entering of sim on their return. A final clean and

sort of the hab laboratory areas was performed, the hab IT infrastructure

including printer and scanner was tested and necessary drivers installed. A

fourth life support unit (number 2) was repaired to a working condition by

taking a switch from the unit 3 which was in the worst state. Preparations for

experiments also continued during this time.

At 17:30 we had a visit from a Canadian Space Agency team who were in the area

for a rover deployment project. Three members of their team were former MDRS

residents, and they were keen to compare notes on MDRS experiences. They were

just in time, as had they come after today, we would have had to be content with

waving through the window.

The travel time between here and the Earth resupply depot is about three hours

each way, so I am not expecting their return before the close of the Mission

Support reporting window. Consequently, there will be no HSO or Greenhab

Officers report this evening. All crew members are well and the Greenhab data

will be included in tomorrows reports.

On the return of our missing crew members, Crew 142 will be entering sim, and

are looking forward to our first day on Mars tomorrow.