Cmontanez2018 at 00:56, 8 March 2019

2019-03-08T00:56:10Z

Cmontanez2018: Created page with "Category: Journalism Reports Journalist Report – December 26th Sol 08 Journalist report to be posted Authored by Anselm Wiercioch Hey gang! Long time no see. Or, read..."

2019-03-08T00:43:39Z

Created page with "Category: Journalism Reports Journalist Report – December 26th Sol 08 Journalist report to be posted Authored by Anselm Wiercioch Hey gang! Long time no see. Or, read..."

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← Older revision		Revision as of 00:56, 8 March 2019
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	[[Category: Journalism Reports]]		[[Category: Journalism Reports]]
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		+	Journalist’s Report – December 19th
		+	Journalist’s Log – Sol 01
		+
		+	Waking up from cryo is strange, but after cycling a few hundred times in training, we’re all used to the feeling. Waking up from cryo and seeing the surface of another planet is not something you get used to.
		+
		+	We woke up slowly. All around the same time, but one by one. Not on much of a schedule yet. We’ll put that together after breakfast. Our emails are full of automated messages from CAPCOM. They know we’re “out cold” and aren’t expecting any response. Still, the crew works through their inboxes and we pass along a notification that we’ve successfully arrived and comms are functional.
		+
		+	We spent some time slogging through the ship’s stores (sorry, it’s the “hab” now, isn’t it..) and eventually decided on pancakes. We were supposed to save the mix for a special occasion, but collectively decided that hitting the surface aptly qualifies. Freeze dried blueberries are oddly comforting after almost 300 days of being freeze dried yourself.
		+
		+	At around 11am MST (Mars Standard Time, obviously) a local supply drone arrived with fresh water. Right on time – the ship/hab’s small in-flight tank was close to 6L. Not more than a day or two max with all of us active. The crew got the water system rerouted to pull from the station’s existing tank instead of the hab’s small in-flight tank and we successfully transfered a fresh supply over from the drone. As we would find out later in the day (only after a few showers and meals of course..) the drone malfunctioned and poked a hole in our supply line. Nothing was actively leaking, but next time we transfered water we’d have some issues. A short engineering exploration was conducted and we were able to retrofit the line to bypass the leak. We’re waiting for some adhesive to dry and will be testing the system tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Dehydrating within 3 days would not be a great start for the first people on the red planet.
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		+	We were also able to get the hot water heater and the greenhab heater started. After lunch, the hab is already starting to feel like home. I guess that’s a good sign. Going crazy would also not be a great start. The crew is getting along well. Obviously we’ve known each other and trained together for some time. Waking up from hibernation in a strange place that’s inherently running low on standard survival resources will put a strain on any relationship though. Christmas, New Year’s, and a Birthday should help to waylay any concerns there, at least for the meantime.
		+
		+	Anyways, our bandwidth is limted and there’s plenty of work to do still and some non-frozen sleep would be nice. More updates tomorrow. As it stands, we’re alive and warm and nothing is too broken.
		+
		+	#ImNotDeadYet
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		+	Journalist’s Report – December 20th
		+	Authored by Anselm Wiercioch
		+
		+	We put together a schedule yesterday, but it may take some time to get on that sleep schedule. We all woke up about an hour late today. Fortunately, we didn’t have anything super time sensitive on the
		+	agenda so we just shifted everything back an hour. Good to go.
		+
		+	Everyone handled their own breakfast and we had a morning briefing around 11am. We decided to prioritize an EVA as soon as possible after landing and ensuring basic resources were available in order to assess the situation. The hab lands automatically and there haven’t been any mishaps since the early moon colonization days, but it never hurts to check. Most of our systems showed nominal by last night, so our briefing this morning mostly revolved around prepping for that adventure.
		+
		+	Around 11:45, the first EVA crew was suited up and ready to roll out. The suits took some adjustment to get everyone fitted, but even at their best they were heavy and awkward. The suits are thickly
		+	insulated and restrictive (not that I’m complaining, freezing isn’t fun), and the helmets cut your field of view to about 60 degrees vertical and 90 horizontal. Functional, but it takes some getting used to. Our commander has some vibrating-boot-augmented-reality system that’s supposed to identify obstacles so that you can keep your head up. After wandering around in these suits a bit, I think a system like that could be pretty handy. Guess we’ll find out later this week. At noon the three of us (Commander Gibson, Geoffrey, and myself.) entered the main airlock. The hab crew walked through the depressurization proceedures while the three of us walked through our own mental depressurizations. A few seconds later the outer door opened and we stepped onto the surface of an entirely new planet.
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		+	You’re supposed to have some deep, meaningful message to drop at this point. Something short but poignant. “One small step for man” and all that jazz.
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		+	We were more focused on not dying. The suits (uncomfortable as they are) are designed to keep us warm and alive and oxygenated, but it’s one thing to read the spec sheet and another to put your life on the line testing them in an environment you’ve never seen before. An environment nobody has ever seen before with their naked eyes. It’s beautiful. The landscape isn’t much crazier than the Utah desert, but there’s something immensely humbling about seeing it. It’s hard to describe. We’re further away from earth than anyone has ever been. And we’re going for a hike.
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		+	We’re not nearly poetic enough for this. What we are though, is alive. We looked over our own and each other’s suits and we ran all typical system checks and everything looks good. We sent a plan to CAPCOM that we’d be circling the hab at a half mile radius, and there’s a hill to the north that offers a good vantage point, so we head that direction. Once we reach the top of the hill, the land plateaus for a solid mile or two before hitting some steeper hills. Looking back, the hab appears well settled. Nothing unexpected. The landing algortihms did their job perfectly and everything was in place before we woke up. Solid.
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		+	The landscape is mostly soft dusty hills with clay and rock interspersed. Rolling hills suround the hab (the site was carefully selected to avoid dust storms and provide the best landing opportunities) but off in the distance there are many plateaus and further away, snow capped mountains. The thin atmosphere makes the limited color spectrum pop vividly. Rich reds and browns dominate, but there are streaks of purple and grey and blue interspersed and they break things up nicely. The sky is gray and dull, but not cloudy. Just.. flat. It sounds sad, but it’s not. It’s a warm, comforting gray, and it makes the surface feel even richer.
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		+	We take some recon photos to compare to our maps later, and we head off to the north, following the ridgeline. After another half mile or so, we run into a dry stream bed that runs back down to the desert floor. We follow the stream as far as it goes and reach the ground. Another five or ten minutes wandering yielded a broken chunk of solar panel and an old, worn battery. Must’ve been from one of the ancient rovers we sent, back in the day. Comforting to see another thing made by our species, even if it’s been torn to shreds. Nothing useful though. We’ve been out for about an hour now, so we head back toward the hab and open coms for the other crew to prep the airlock for our arrival. When we get back, we go through the motions, careful not to track dust too far from the airlock. We strip our suits and help the second crew get their packs on. We have water now, and even though mars is chilly, our suits are warm and our packs are heavy. A shower is definitely on the agenda. After we get the second group out the door and ensure their systems are functional, we take turns manning the radio, showering, and eating lunch. Canned spinach and salmon. Nice.
		+
		+	A nap and some basic reports later, the second crew returns. They followed much the same path as us, and noted a lot of similar observations. Double EVA was a success. Ok guys, our work here is
		+	done. Good job. Let’s go home.
		+
		+	Ha.
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		+	Not quite. Another day down and 13 to go. Let’s rock and roll.
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		+	#FirstContact
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		+	Journalist Report – December 22nd
		+	Sol 04
		+	Journalist report to be posted
		+	Authored by Anselm Wiercioch
		+
		+	It snowed for a few hours today. That’s not supposed to happen.
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		+	Going to have to put some serious effort into revamping our understanding of Mars’ climate. Coldest day since we landed. The EVA crew decided to postpone until tomorrow due to potentially inclement
		+	weather. I’m not on tomorrow’s crew, but we might need to reprioritize some climate data while they’re out.. Will keep investigating. Otherwise, today was a slow day. Some progress was made in the
		+	greenhouse, and the network connectivity issues persist despite many hours of messing with it. Felt like a snow day in elementary school where you’re off class and can feel christmas around the corner.
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		+	Our crew engineer engineered some cinnamon raisin swirl bread and it’s magical. The freeze dried food stores will probably start to wear on us eventually, but for the time being we’re living it up. As long as coffee and tea holds out, crew morale is going to be coasting just fine.
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		+	Connor and I’s sleep schedule is holding out strong. We aren’t being too strinct about the schedule and we aren’t going too extreme – still a solid six hours or so per night, spaced into ~3 naps. We’ve been ever so slightly tired but that’s to be expected on the first day or two. Generally feel pretty energized though.
		+
		+	The most annoying thing at the moment for me is just being cooped up in a tin can. Really struggling to understand how all those super smart engineers on the ground decided a treadmill wasn’t necessary. Yoga and pushups only get you so far. The hab’s air system isn’t exactly refreshing either. Meh. It’s all good though. I’m sure we’ll get used to it. Or at least, we’ll be gone before it really starts to get to us.
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		+	We did find a massive binder of awesome (mostly old and/or super goofy) movies, so that’s helping the nights pass faster after work is done each day.
		+
		+	Nothing too crazy. The days are moving by faster as a whole.
		+
		+	#Snowday
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		+	Journalist Report – December 23rd
		+	Sol 05
		+	Journalist Report
		+	Authored by Anselm Wiercioch
		+
		+	The main event of the day (other than fresh scones) was the second major EVA to the area we’ve named the “dinosaur quarry.” There are a lot of interesting geological formations there that resemble dinosaur bones. The area seems like it may have been a small reservoir at some point, but is obviously long since dried up. It’s about 15 minutes away on our individual electric rovers. A cold, bumpy ride but not too bad. Some insulation lessons were learned from the first expedition on Sol 03. After a long exploration of the quarry area, the crew regrouped in the hab. A few showers and some greenhab work rounded out the majority of the day.
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		+	The weather was pretty typical today – bland skies and lots of cold. A small amount of precipitation, but not much stuck. Still too little data to draw conclusions about that. We shouldn’t see much snow at these latitiudes. I mean we’re hardly equatorial, but we’re a ways from the pole.. Maybe the wind currents are strong enough to escape some ice off and carry it all the way down? shrug Jury’s still out on that.
		+
		+	Speaking of the cold, our greenhab progress is.. slow. We suspect some small leaks in the insulation that are causing the heating system to overload and shut down until things are near freezing, then snap back on full blast. Back and forth. We attempted to seal some of the gaps we found, but one of our mission commanders back home told us to postpone repairs. Not sure yet how that will affect our research. Hopefully some lettuce can last a few light frosts.. On the other hand, all germination attempts are going well. We’ve got red and green oak lettuce, raddish, and some mysterious unlabelled seeds that we found stowed away in the hab.. I’ll let the biologists talk about that more though. I’ll just complain about the weather instead.
		+
		+	I guess I shouldn’t be complaining about snow, really. Some of the crew came from dry desert areas on earth and have never had snow for the holidays. Chrismas is coming up soon (we haven’t been here long enough for the time difference to throw us off yet – the first Martian Christmas will still be on Earth’s Dec 25.) We all brought small gifts for a white elephant exchange and are trying to decide on a fancy meal to celebrate. I’m sure we’ll think of something interesting. We’ve got a creative group.
		+
		+	Despite minimal coffee intake (gotta save water, ya know?), a lot of freeze dried food, rare showers, intermittent wifi, etc., crew morale is holding strong. Personality is obviously a major concern in the astronaut selection process – technical skills are a dime a dozen, but teams that work well under stress are more difficult to find. I have high hopes for the coming week. We all bring very different attributes to the table, but ones that fit together and are greater than the sum of their parts.
		+
		+	Of course, even with the crew getting along well, I’m still more than happy to complain. A massage and a shower would really hit the spot. It’s only been a few days, but those helmets are heavy and hard on the shoulders and We’re building up some considerable stank. We don’t have those ISS goon’s luxurious air filtering system or low gravity to keep things cleanly. Maybe we should just take turns snapping the airlock open for half a second each and freeze drying all the bacteria off of us.. Super dangerous. Not doing that.. At least for another 3 days..
		+	Ha.
		+
		+	#KeepMarsWeird
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Crew 172 - Journalism Reports - Revision history

Cmontanez2018 at 00:56, 8 March 2019

Cmontanez2018: Created page with "Category: Journalism Reports Journalist Report – December 26th Sol 08 Journalist report to be posted Authored by Anselm Wiercioch Hey gang! Long time no see. Or, read..."