Final Mission Summary

Mars Desert Research Station Crew 151 - Final Report

The following is the final report of Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) Crew 151. A complete review of this year's activities at MDRS will be presented at the 18th Annual International Mars Society Convention, to be held August 13-16, 2015 at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Online registration is now available.

Innovative Emerging Space Leaders – Crew 151

Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), March 14-28, 2015

www.facebook.com/Crew151AnalogAstronauts

Innovative Emerging Space Leaders MDRS Crew151 is a group of international, interdisciplinary and intercultural team of Analog Astronauts scientists, engineers, space physicians and artists, using 21st Century technologies for enabling space exploration. Our mission is to create and test capabilities related to enable future human missions to Mars. Our crew is pioneering an innovative leadership style - the “Rotating Commandership Concept, RCC”. It meant that every 3-4 days we changed the roles of the Commander and Executive Officer, XO. Crew 151comprised of four leaders: Commanders Mohammad Iranmanesh, Susan Jewell MD, Jyothi Nookula and Mehdi Scoubeau.

Following list of projects completed or will continue further optimization:

Rotating Commandership Concept, RCC: Leadership during Isolation and confinement in Extreme Environments. A White Paper

Crew 151 conducted a new approach to leadership commandership. This rotating commandership is a great opportunity to look at other crew member style of leadership. It was a very successful experience for the team. We worked about 1h every day on the paper. The first draft is written and we will plan to publish the final paper in a peer-reviewed journal.

EMUI (Eyewear User Interface for Marsonauts):

Commanders Mehdi and Mohammad completed the creative project with the participation of crew 151 members. The experiment consisted in testing the added value of virtual reality glasses in the context of space exploration and extravehicular activities. Even if it has already been tested by other crews at MDRS and by NASA at NEEMO, we had a lot of ambitious ideas to try and implement. The AR Glasses, lent to us by a French company called Optinvent, supports the Android platform so that we combined existing apps to provide the Marsonauts with the features he needs during an EVA but also inside the Hab. Regarding the added value of wearing the glasses inside is quite meager if not nonexistent. Scrolling and reading on the glasses are very tiring and the Marsonaut rapidly complains of headaches and eyes strain. However, they were successfully used to display videos explaining techniques of surgery in the context of Susan’s tele-surgery training for non-medical crew study. Taking notes, photos, asking for the time, the battery level and more can be done using the voice recognition and it worked well inside the Hab while using the Wifi connection. The test of voice recognition outside the Hab during the engineering check was unfortunately a failure due to loss of connection or to noise caused by the backpack ventilation. One feature that worked well is the pre-configured tasks or profiles such as taking one picture every two minutes during the EVA, displaying a procedure at a specific time. Strangely, we did not manage to record audios or videos using the same task app. Lastly, we had the idea during the simulation to display on the glasses what was seen by a small camera tied up to a Marsonaut’s glove. That way, no need to turn around with the heavy helmet and backpack to see what is behind. The Marsonaut only has to point the glove in the right direction to see what is happening. It could particularly useful during EVA using ATVs. The opinion is mitigated but some think it could be improved and could still be of great help during EVA if the voice recognition was to be improved. A larger, non-semitransparent screen could also be more useful.

Optinvent website: http://optinvent.com/

Artistic Time Capsule Experiment (with French artist and PhD Researcher Ludwig Pasenau):

Commanders Mehdi and Mohammad, with collaboration from crew members Susan and Jyothi, completed the project. The purpose of this experiment was to use creative activities to break out of routine during the mission. Basically, the question is: How can art help better live isolation and confinement in extreme environment? During seven days (from March 19th to March 25th) we watched a video at night, showing us the universe for the next day. That next day, we would talk and come up with ideas of artistic videos and photos to take during the EVA or inside the Hab. The universes were Slowness, Blue, Archipelagos, Phantoms, Speed, Garden and Atmosphere. We also exchanged some messages “from outer space” with the French artist, Ludwig. It allowed us to think about something else than our tasks and scientific experiments. It was often kind of fun to gather around a piece of paper and write down anything that crossed our minds even if remotely related to the universe of the day. Sometimes it felt like one more task to do during the day rather than a spontaneous creativity activity. The key is to set the time in the schedule when the workload is light or a specific “down time” social period. This will reduce the feeling of another “workload’ task and mitigate the anxiety and frustration. Art is a free flow energy and when it is forced the effect is unnatural and inauthentic analogous to something like an enlarging cancer cell versus a beautiful fully-functioning neuronal cell. The energy force is different so therefore, the physical expression is also different. If you want to know more, the results of this experiment will be used in a PhD thesis: “Artistic Devices for Long Duration Space Flights and Missions in Extreme Environments”

Ludwig's website: http://www.espace-ludwig.net/

Yoga & Mindfulness Meditation as Countermeasures for Maintaining Health & Wellbeing for Astronauts

Commander Susan Jewell continued with optimization of the study and initiated the quantitative project with Crew 145 after a successful qualitative pre-pilot study done with Crew134 last year. This is an on-going quantitative study with previous, current and future crews at MDRS. The testing and integration of the VR googles, incorporating EEG head devices during the yoga and meditation sessions. The use of complementary medical approaches has been found to strengthen preventive countermeasures and contribute to their effectiveness in many environments. This study employed innovative technologies, such as Virtual Reality (Google’s I am Cardboard 3D VR) to deliver the exercises. The study will continue to measure the impact of these countermeasures via noninvasive body-computer-interface EEG head devices, standardized self-report measures of stress, coping and well-being as well as bio-behavioral measures of stress.

Website: www.marswithoutborders.org

LOCARD (Localization and Radio Relay Drone)

Commanders Mehdi and Mohammad completed the testing of the LOCARD project. LOCARD is a three-year-long project studying the feasibility (both operational and technical) of a quad-copter UAV in Mars extreme conditions. This first year the study focused on the operational feasibility and aimed to produce proof of concept for two different uses of a quad-copter UAV on Mars: Localization and Communication relay.

a) LOCARD as localization tool: The UAV was used in a scenario where an astronaut needed to have quickly an idea of where he is, should it be a confirmation or even a complete relative localization with regard to a known landmark. The UAV was raised in the sky and the live video transmission and the ability of LOCARD to rotate 360° stationary allowed the astronaut to find the HAB that could not be seen from a human height because of the relief. The localization ability of the UAV was also tested during a medical EVA where the rescue team managed to find an injured astronaut (mannequin) that had fallen from a cliff.

b) LOCARD as communication relay: Communication with the base during an EVA is quite critical for obvious safety reasons. Those communications can be degraded because of the topography. Thus the UAV was used as a signal relay by installing a repeater. For convenience, we added a lightweight wifi nano repeater. By raising the UAV slightly above the relief, it was possible to regain wifi connection with a Wifi Access Point set in front of the Hab (WIFI LAN without internet connection). The experience was successful and with the repeater the wifi range was increased of 60%. The range could have been increased even more if the battery of the UAV could provide more power to the wifi antenna without hurting the flight abilities of the UAV.

On the operational side, two aspects were important. First, because the UAV was controlled by a touchscreen, it was necessary to design a way of adding a capacitive stylus to the spacesuit gloves. The stylus was attached to a rope that was linked to the spacesuit. The system allowed the Marsonauts to easily remove the capacitive pen and pass it over to another crew member if it was necessary. Secondly, wind conditions were extremely important as they had huge impact on the stability and ease of control of the UAV. We observed a great difference between the flight behaviors of the UAV depending on the wind intensity. Compared to a day with very low wind intensity (5mph on Thursday March 26th 2015), the behavior and stability of the UAV were greatly degraded on a windier day.

Next year, crew 165 will go forward with the next step of the LOCARD project by designing a new UAV that will be tweaked to simulate the conditions on Mars (adding dead weight). The impact of Martian weather on UAV’s will be also studied and solutions for rejection of high disturbance due to Martian gusts will be tried.

Tele-surgery Training Study Integrating Innovative Technologies, EEG Devices & 3D Printed Surgical Tools

Commander Susan Jewell successful conducted the tele-surgery training study. This is an ongoing study with previous, current and up-coming crews at MDRS. We successfully completed the testing during this mission using the surgery training videos, the Optinvent glasses/ Google VR googles, the EEG head devices, and testing the 3D printed surgical tools during several testing sessions. Commander Jewell demonstrated feasibility last year during MarsWithoutBorders, MWOB Crew 145 mission the integration and testing on-demand and real-time printing of several prototype 3D printed surgical tools and feasibility of use in training non-medical crews in surgical procedures during tele-surgery simulations. The emergency scalpel design took very little time to complete (conceivably, it could have been designed, printed, and assembled while the medical EVA was taking place) and performed well in testing with the “claw” attachment. www.spacesurgeryinstitute.com

CRV (Cliff Reconnaissance Vehicle)

Commanders Mehdi and Mohammad conducted the CRV project with support of Jyothi and Susan. The Cliff Reconnaissance Vehicle (aka CRV) is a vehicle developed by Planète Mars (French chapter of the Mars Society, http://planete-mars.com/), successfully tested by different MDRS crews and iteratively improved during missions 23, 26, 39, 40 and 43 and in other locations. Even though the CRV platform had been tested in different variations before, the crew had new goals this year. First, document the use of the CRV on two different and precise interesting locations given by Planète Mars. Secondly, test the direct video transmission and assess the advantages and drawbacks compared to an emission-reception type of data transmission. Lastly, the originality comes from a partnership with THINGZ (http://thingz.co/) to implement for the first time on a reconnaissance vehicle parts and accessories that could be easily removed and replaced. The onboard computer will automatically recognize the connected accessories and can be reprogrammed in a few clicks. Indeed, it would be more interesting and cheaper to have a multipurpose robotic platform where one could add instruments and device easily. During the first EVA, the crewmembers tested the direct video transmission as well as the Thingz module. They also got used to the operations needed to let the CRV down the cliff and monitor the video at the same time.

One EVA was needed to scout the locations proposed by Planète Mars and try and find an efficient and rapid way to tie the vehicle at the back of an ATV.

Finally, the crew successfully conducted the experiment on a particularly interesting cliff with strata on the north side of Candor Chasma Canyon, 30 minutes from the Hab. Every piece of equipment worked well and the only difficulty was to retrieve the CRV and bring it back at the top of the cliff.

The crewmembers also thought about modernizations and improvements that could be brought to this fascinating, battle proven Cliff Reconnaissance Vehicle.

Medical EVA (MEVA)

Commander Dr. Jewell and a team of remote space physicians continued optimization and testing in the ability for a small crew to perform coordinated and efficient search & rescue operations, medical evaluation and treatment of a simulated life-threatening emergency during a MEVA. The first simulation EVA was assisted by crew member Jyothi. During the Second MEVA, Mohammad and Mehdi worked with Jewell to integrate the UAV/Drone for localization and tele-surgery capabilities. The rescue team successfully located the injured “Igor” dummy Astronaut using the onboard camera of the UAV.

Analysis of 3D printing potential

Commander Jyothi Nookula project involved analysis of how 3D printing can be employed to make Mars missions successful. Rapid prototyping has the advantage to manufacture in-situ, but limitations of material usage, time lead to generation exists. Her aim was to understand intensity of analog simulation missions and identify gaps that require the expertise of rapid manufacturing. With a 3D printer on ISS, it is evident that rapid prototyping helps in crucial long term missions. Spending time working with Crew 151, gave me enough opportunities to understand challenges and identify solutions to mitigate. The experience served as an incubator for her mission as part of Crew 160. With an in-depth understanding of analog missions, she plans to build prototypes to test as part of her mission later this year. Some ideas include rapid prototyping for emergency EVA missions. After returning from my mission with Crew 151, she worked on designing a drone that took less than 3 hours to print. She will test later this year.

Astronomy Observation

Commanders Mohammad and Mehdi completed the observatory project. The study of the feasibility of a low cost “Atmosphere Opacity Monitoring System” using the equipment of the Observatory for next year went well. On three nights, the Musk Observatory was used for bright star observation.

Computational Fashion and Space Wellness

Commander Susan Jewell and remote artist Carrie Mae Rose continued optimization testing of an early novel prototype energy Crystalline Bodysuit; a garment that would be used to bridge between hard science, innovative wearable technology, and complementary medicine with the potential to strengthen the neurological system and physiological capability of the heart and mind to improve the wellness and enhance quality of life for future astronauts. EEG data was collected using various cutting-edge EEG head devices, eg, MUSE, eMotiv headsets and the Neuroelectric’s ENOBIO headcap. This study will continue throughout the field season with other upcoming crews and the development of the Prototype 2.0.

During the time spend here on “Mars” our ambitious and innovative small crew, only “strangers” just two weeks ago, have formed lasting friendships built upon a firm foundation of trust, respect and collaborative openness. We were confident that no matter the difficulties during the journey we were totally focused with the tasks on hand, and with continued support from each other, we learned to overcome the obstacles and succeeded in attaining our mission goals and objectives. The crew members will continue the Martian journey and scientific projects initiated with Crew 151 during next MDRS field season 2015-2016. Jyothi will join Crew 160 and Mohammad and Mehdi will join Crew 165. Susan will continue her analog training at Johnson Space Center, JSC/ HERA (Human Exploration Research Analog) as a crew member participant. We are the Analog Astronauts with the mission to support human to Mars settlement of the Red Planet. Ad Astra!

We wish to thank our following sponsors and collaborators:

The Mars Society, MarsWithoutBorders, 3DSystems, ISAE Supaero and Planete Mars.

We also wish to thank Shannon Rupert, Sheryl Bishop, Jean Hunter, the MDRS management team, all the volunteers who worked as CapCom and who gave their time to MDRS, Dr. Robert Zubrin, Michael Stoltz and the entire Mars Society team for giving us support during this field season and for the inspiration and your dedication to continuing the expansion of humans to Mars over the years.

Thank You… To Mars…Ad Astra!