Crew members: Executive Officer Bertrand Steenput, Biologist Julie Engineer Gregory
Locations:
519235E 4250355N
518907E 4250885N
518228E 4253596N
ATV: #1, 2 & 5
Time: 10:00 am depart - 12:30 pm return
Purpose: Check transmission efficiency for the "hazardous areas"
receptors/emittors and retrieve one that was located far from the hab and the road
Test antenna transmissions. Elevation/altitude measurements. Soil sample
Summary: We first get to the GPS coordinate of a “hazardous areas” transceiver to retrieve it. We took a while since the exact position was not known anymore. Seven antenna transmission tests were performed: we tested themagnitude of the signal, according to the orientation of the antenna.
Thanks to the "track log" feature of the GPS map, we recorded the
elevation all the way through the checkpoints.
As a security check, the track was also recorded on an "offline"
smartphone, i.e. using no phone signal nor internet or datas, simply
used as a GPS receptor. It compared pretty well.
We went back to the locations of two previously hidden "hazard boxes",
which are supposed to ring a little buzzer in the leader's helmet, in
order to prevent from going close to a hazardous area (a critical
slope, dangerous rocks, a cliff, etc.). They both seemed to work well,
as the buzzer did indeed ring as we were approaching.
We also take one soil sample analyses the bacteria that are present in the ground. We also take two times one zip bag of soil to make seeds grow in Martian soil.