Crew 166 - Mission to Mars UCL

Mathieu Roiseux - Crew Commander

Mathieu is the crew commander and is in his first year of a master degree in civil engineering in chemistry and materials’ science. During the stay at the MDRS he plans and leads the activities of the team. He’s in charge of the simulation regarding the organization part and both security and good relational interactions of the crew. This will take a lot of time. Thus Mathieu will not be in charge of a specific experiment but he will often help the other members in their tasks. One of his favorite hobbies which leaded him to this project is the astronomy. With his telescope, he takes advantage of nights without clouds to observe the nebulae, galaxies and pretty stars, too. It isn’t due to luck if he participates especially in the preparation of the spectroscopy experiment. He likes basketball and sports in general. Former member of a swimming club, he enjoys going in the woods of the southern Belgium where he’s born no matters if it’s to walk or making bicycle.

Bertrand Steenput - Executive Officer/HSO

Bertrand was born in October 1992; he lives in Belgium near Brussels. Bertrand has been loving astronomy and everything about space since he was a child. But astronomy is not his only hobby, he also likes electronics. Later, he would like to work in the space industry. HE is studying at the Louvain School of Engineering, in electrical engineering. He is now in his third year of Bachelor’s. One of Bertrand’s aims at the MDRS is to take the simulation very seriously. Thinking as if he was really on Mars is, for him, going to be challenging but also great. He also hopes to get to know himself better, to learn to live with other people in a small area and finally to have a lot of fun. During his stay Bertrand will conduct an experiment that will improve the radio communication. Indeed, his experiment is to compare the use of a Yagi antenna to direct the beam of the handheld radio against the use a transportable radio relay for the mission occurring outside of the hab.

Gregory Edison - Crew Engineer

Gregory is from Belgium. He lives in Brussels, the capital. Greg is currently participating in a double diploma program. He has realized 4 years of study in mechatronics and is now starting for two years in aerodynamics in Toulouse, France. Greg likes electronics, music and aerodynamics. He plays baseball and likes to dive in open sea. He would like to work in a space or aeronautics industry once he graduates. When he heard about Mission to Mars, it directly captivated him. The project is adventurous, but the main reason was of course the science project involved: it seemed interesting to be able to work on a project which could possibly be used later on by real Martian explorers. Greg hopes of course that all the experiments of the crew will go smoothly. Seeing how we have to work around one year to be able to participate in this two weeks simulation, he hopes that everything will work out, and that the group dynamics will also be strengthened. Greg is the crew’s engineer. He is currently responsible for any technical problem that can happen in the station. He also has to check the water level in the tank as well as our leftover power. His experiment is a danger zones location: by placing small emitters near danger zones (cliffs, holes...) and using a small arduino processor, he can warn crew members out on EVA when they are near one of these zones.

Arthur Bawin - Crew Geologist

Arthur is 20 years old, and comes from Jalhay, a village in the East of the Belgium. Arthur likes music and playing the guitar, board and video games, bike riding. He also likes astronomy, mathematics and physics, with a special mention to fluid dynamics: he started this year a master’s degree in Civil engineering, with a specialization in hydraulics and fluid mechanics (because, again, it is so much fun).  He’d like to work in this domain, and compute fun simulations of water and fluid flows. Like other members of the crew, Arthur is a member of the Kot Astro, a theme-based shared flat of Louvain-la-Neuve which goal is to promote astronomy at the university, through conferences, observation nights and many other activities. Arthur took part in this adventure to live an interesting experience, both scientifically and personally. He’d like to see how he can apply all the stuff he’s learned from school in a real and brand new framework. Arthur is the crew geologist: his job is to ask all the approvals for the EVA’s the day before the crew goes outside of the base, and make sure they gather the right samples for the experiments. In the base, he’ working on providing a 3D map of the surroundings of the research station, thanks to GPS datas.

Nadine Traufler - Crew Journalist/Astronomer

Traufler Nadine was born there is a little more than twenty-two Earth years, and lived in the small village of Floreffe before arriving at Louvain-la-Neuve to start civil engineering studies. She is now in its third year and is headed to the sectors of mechanics and applied mathematics. In addition to her studies, she is involved in various student associations, including the Revue des Ingénieurs where she held the position of Vice-photo (ie responsible for the team photo). The photo is one of his many passions, as well as reading and she certainly does not go without two or three novels to enjoy some free time more calmly. She is also very interested in everything related to space; she can thus enjoy the wonderful sky unpolluted by the lights of the modernity of the Utah desert. During the two weeks in the station, Nadine  assumes the role of a journalist, and therefore should note what will happen during the day, and takes a bunch of pictures because she sends a detailed report each night about what happened. After sunset, Nadine visits the observatory to lead a spectroscopy experiment and spends part of the day to analyze the results to determine the main chemical compositions of the brightest objects in the sky. She takes advantage of her time in the observatory to attempt to astro-photography.

Julie Mertens - Crew Biologist/GreenHab Officer

Julie Mertens is 24 years old and lives in Louvain-la-Neuve, in Belgium. Julie is studying bio-engineering at Université catholique de Louvain. She is currently in first year of a master’s degree in Integrated Plant Protection. She especially like walking in the countryside and diving when she has time for these. She was, during two years, member at the Kot Astro, a theme-based shared flat of Louvain-la-Neuve. At Kot Astro, Julie discovered the world of space. In the current rotation in the MDRS, she is the GreenHab Officer and the crew biologist. Her project consists to design an experiment to find out any bacterial life in rocks from the Utah desert, to grow it in culture, and to characterize it by a range of tests (phenotypic and biochemical) applicable in Martian conditions. As a bio-engineer Julie wants to study all kind of life and why not, life of Mars!

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