Commander report
01/22/2015
Romain Charles
Our days often gravitate around the EVA. It's an important step in
gathering data & validating our 2 important experiments: EVA Planning Tool
and Terrain mapping. Our crew rotation is coming to an end and today was
the last time that we could work on them. Tomorrow's EVA will be oriented
toward outreach.
EVA - Wissam (EVA Lead), Rebeca, Romain
We have now a good routine for the preparation of the EVAs and the team
left the Hab at 10:00. It was a beautiful day and all the targeted
terrains were successfully mapped. Unfortunately, on a high risk terrain,
the quadcopter had a contingency and will not be able to fly again before
the end of our stay on Mars.
All the crew members were safely back at the Hab at 14:00.
The main highlights were:
• Engineering activities
• Successful terrain mapping
• Quadcopter contingency
Water situation
This morning it was impossible to pump the water from the static tank to
the loft tank. Having freezing temperature outside, we remembered
Shannon's advice and followed it. We waited for the temperature to be
warmer at noon and tried again to pump the water. This operation was then
successful. This issue is quite easy to solve and we'll make sure to pass
the information on to the next crew. However, I would recommend to have a
closer look at this issue as soon as possible. The tubes can easily be
damaged by freezing water.
Cleaning supplies
At the beginning of our rotation, before starting the simulation, our crew
bought many cleaning supplies (napkins, wet wipes, hand soap, hand
sanitizer, mop, etc…). It's still unclear to us if cleaning supplies
should be provided, like the food, by the Mars Society or if each crew
should be responsible for their own cleaning supplies. We request feedback
from Mission Support on this issue ASAP as this information will also be
important for the Crew 148 arriving in 2 days. It would allow them to stop
and purchase supplies before driving to Hanksville.
Upcoming EVA
We are sending a request for approval of an EVA on Jan 23rd, 2015. Andrew
(EVA Lead), Danielle, Renee, Scott & Romain are planning an EVA to use the
Phoenix rover and do some outreach activities around the Hab.
One last EVA, one last day … already! Our team is working well together
and in our latest discussion, we wondered how long we could have
continued simulating a Martian research station. It's hard to answer but
one thing is for sure: more than 12 days!