1223-XOReport

SOL: 10

12/23/2015 / Tues

HSO James Giammona

Second in Command: James Giammona

Summary Title

Getting ready for Christmas

MISSION STATUS:

Crew 159 is starting to get into the holiday spirit and took some photos for holiday cards from MDRS! Crew Engineer Chiara Cocchiara and Astroengineer Barak Stoltz had a successful EVA8 with no visibility problems due to our new defoggant.

Morning briefings focused on

1. EVA7 agenda

2. Christmas card picture

Mission planning for the day

1. 0800 – Breakfast/ Plan for the day

2. 0926 – Crew Engineer Chiara Cocchiara laid out the plan for EVA8. Similar to the last few days EVAs, the EVA8 team would explore more remote terrain using the ATVs. This will be Commander Stoltz’s first EVA riding the ATVs.

3. 1018/1215 – Crew Engineer Cocchiara leads EVA8. Weather was good and so ATVs were used to expand the range of exploration.

4. 1215/1245 – Lunchtime

Delicious chili and mashed potatoes prepared by HSO James Giammona

5. 1245/1315 Debrief led by Crew Engineer Cocchiara. Visibility was great. EVA8 was an exciting success. The EVA8 team were excited to describe the terrain they explored.

6. 1315/1800 – Crew works on writing reports and working on personal projects.

7. 1400/1430 – Crew takes Christmas card pictures in the astronomy tunnel.

8. 1445 – Commander Barak Stoltz hands command to XO Anna Ialeggio.

9. 1800/1845 – Dinner time and social time.

10. 1856/1901 – Second ISS flyover. Checking online, it seems that yesterday the ISS had its digipeater turned off. It should be back on today.

11. 1900/2100 – CAPCOM time window

12. 2130/2230 Personal leisure time

13. 2300/0200 Astroengineer Barak Stoltz will work on taking beautiful pictures with the CCD!

Mission planning for the week

1. Crew will implement a rotating commandership where each crew member is commander for two days.

2. XO James Giammona will work on contacting the ISS. ISS Finder says that today, Thursday, and Saturday around 1800 are when the ISS will fly over the Hab. Apparently, the digipeater has been off for the past week due to emergency EVAs on the ISS, but should be back on today.

3. Crew members plan to work on the 3d printer if the proposal is approved and also on other personal projects.

Mission planning for the remaining time of the mission

1. On Friday, commander will submit final report by 5pm.

2. Crew 159 will help Crew 160 travel from Grand Junction and assist in assembling their supplies.

SOL ACTIVITY SUMMARY:

1. A highly successful EVA today for EVA8. After engineering check, EVA8 headed northeast along the main road on ATVs. They confirmed the boundary area where communication with the Hab becomes spotty and then ceases, which is perhaps a 3 minute ATV ride.

2. EVA8 continued on ATVs for ~10 more minutes before dismounting and exploring some interesting new terrain on foot. The EVA8 team also encountered a landscape wildly sculpted by water action which revealed millions of years of geologic strata.

3. EVA8 encountered mimimal problems with condensation throughout the entire EVA. Commander Ialeggio’s solution continues to work with flying colors.

4. Crew 159 took photos dressed in their Christmas best for holiday cards.

5. XO James Giammona set up his Yagi antenna, tripod and radio to once again attempt to contact the ISS. Once again, we did not get any signal from the ISS even with the squelch totally off. The ARISS website mentioned that the ISS digipeater has been off for the past week and should have been turned back on early today, but perhaps there was a delay in turning it back on.(http://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.html)(http://www.issfanclub.com/packet-reports)

Look Ahead Plan:

1. How are you going to follow up?

1. Crew awaits response on proposal to use 3D printer.

2. EVA9 will also use the defoggant on their mission.

2. What is the plan for tomorrow?

1. Tomorrow, EVA9 will be led by Astroengineer Barak Stoltz with XO James Giammona joining.

2. XO James Giammona will attempt to contact the ISS again during flyover at 1803.

Anomalies and any problems in work:

None

Weather: Partly overcast day. Windy. 30-50 degrees F. Encountered a few minutes of small hail.

Crew Physical Status: Everyone remains in excellent health and high spirits.

EVA: where did you go?

After engineering check, EVA8 headed east on the ATVs along the main road for about an hour. After some exploring on foot, they returned the same way.

Reports to be filed:

Commander

Engineer

Journalist

EVA request

EVA Summary Report

Daily Summary Report

Support Requested:

None

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