Crew 181 - Journalism Report
Journalist Report – May 13th
Journalist Report 13 May 2017
Prepared by Janet Biggs, Crew Co-Journalist
Images by Juan Garcia, Crew Co-Journalist
MDRS Pre-Sol
Crew change-over 1
We arrived on Mars yesterday!!!
Accompanied by an adrenalin pumping soundtrack of Led Zeppelin’s Immigration Song (we tried to find the Karen O version, but couldn’t … a tradition from our Commander’s previous mission) and of course David Bowie’s Life on Mars, we arrived at MDRS in a swirl of dust … which continued long after our spaceship (van) landed due to the 50k/hr winds! We excitedly entered the Hab, but crew 180 was nowhere to be seen. They were out and about, enjoying a little “out of sim” time in the Martian landscape. Once they realized we were here, they joined us in the Hab and introductions were made. Crew 180 was excited about their experience and kept saying how they wished they could stay!
They showed us the Martian ropes and told us about the projects/research each worked on and what they had accomplished. Each outgoing crewmember paired up with their incoming counterpart and went over how the mars station functions … from the solar panels, generator, science lab, and Green Hab to the ATVs, filing reports, and most importantly for us right now, the water system and food. We were low on both!
But enough of practical concerns … there were new space suits to try on, mission patches, name tags, and nationality flags to attach … and pictures to be taken!!! Two of the outgoing crewmembers are from Columbia. Once they learned that Juan, one of our crew members, was Columbian American and wearing a Columbian flag on his uniform, even more cameras came out!
Crew 181 unpacked, while crew 180 filled up the spaceship (van) with their luggage. It seemed like we had all just met, and suddenly they were off. MDRS was now ours!
Of course, we all went to the kitchen first. Not much food. Certainly, not enough food to last us for two weeks on Mars! And not much water too. When showing us how to move water from tank to tank for consumption in the Hab, we realized we only had one tank left … so no showers for us until the resupply ship arrives! Plenty to drink, but our Commander, put it on the list for our first CapCom communication. When will the supply ship arrive with new water?
As crew 180 was jumping in their spaceship to return to earth, they mentioned that they had used up all the internet data allotted for the day. We are limited to 500MB per day and once it’s gone, it’s gone.
Oh, and did I mention the food? As in not too much? Between the lack of internet and lack of food we decided to head into Hanksville for one last earth excursion. We stopped into the local market and happily the supply ship had reached Hanksville!!! We loaded up our supplies (I had no idea you could freeze dry beef chunks, broccoli, and blueberries!) Just looking at the powdered milk … powdered everything, made us run to the local burger and ice cream joint! After our last meal (and ice cream shakes) on earth, we headed back to Mars.
We spent some time picking our “staterooms” … think closet with plank bed and no windows (except for the commander who has one window … the perk of rank) and putting away our freeze-dried powders in the kitchen, but soon the stars beckoned and we all ended up outside, lying on the ground, staring up at the incredible night sky.
Journalist Report 14 May 2017
Prepared by Janet Biggs, Crew Co-Journalist
Images by Juan Garcia, Crew Co-Journalist
MDRS Sol 1
Let me introduce you to our crew. We are a crew of five, our commander Cassie Klos (also artist in residence), Charlie Rogers, our Engineer and EVA engineer, Avishek Ghosh, our Green Hab Officer, Juan Garcia, artist in residence, co-journalist and Health and Safely officer, and me, Janet Biggs, artist in residence, co-journalist, and crew astronomer. As you can see, we are heavy on the arts in our crew. While being built to support scientific inquiry necessary for the human exploration of Mars, MDRS has always embraced the intersection of science and art … but with the emphasis on science. This is their first experiment of a crew with the emphasis on art. We will see how it goes!
Up until now, we have only been a crew of four. Avishek’s flight from the UK was delayed and he had to spend the night in Denver. He caught a bus and arrived in Grand Junction at 5am this morning. Our commander took the shuttle pod (Hab car) to go pick him up. The rest of us are having a lazy morning, getting used to our new home, talking Mars and tech, and making plans for once we go into sim!
After a few home repairs (realigning the front Hab door) and clean up (downstairs area of the Hab and kitchen), we learned that shuttle pod (again, Hab car) needed some oil, so the Commander and crewmember Avishek will be touching down shortly…
The shuttle pod has redocked and we are now a complete crew! Charlie made our first meal of Martian Mac and Cheese! After lunch Commander Cassie talked logistics, ideas, and expectations. Our ideas run the gambit from playing a game of Martian hide and seek, building a runway to host possible visitors, to following each other around obsessively documenting every step.
But for now, we are busy preparing. Tomorrow morning, we go into full sim and officially land on Mars!!!
Journalist Report – May 14th
Journalist Report 14 May 2017
Prepared by Janet Biggs, Crew Co-Journalist
MDRS Sol 1
Let me introduce you to our crew. We are a crew of five, our commander Cassie Klos (also artist in residence), Charlie Rogers, our Engineer and EVA engineer, Avishek Ghosh, our Green Hab Officer, Juan Garcia, artist in residence, co-journalist and Health and Safely officer, and me, Janet Biggs, artist in residence, co-journalist, and crew astronomer. As you can see, we are heavy on the arts in our crew. While being built to support scientific inquiry necessary for the human exploration of Mars, MDRS has always embraced the intersection of science and art … but with the emphasis on science. This is their first experiment of a crew with the emphasis on art. We will see how it goes! Up until now, we have only been a crew of four. Avishek’s flight from the UK was delayed and he had to spend the night in Denver. He caught a bus and arrived in Grand Junction at 5am this morning. Our commander took the shuttle pod (Hab car) to go pick him up. The rest of us are having a lazy morning, getting used to our new home, talking Mars and tech, and making plans for once we go into sim! After a few home repairs (realigning the front Hab door) and clean up (downstairs area of the Hab and kitchen), we learned that shuttle pod (again, Hab car) needed some oil, so the Commander and crewmember Avishek will be touching down shortly… The shuttle pod has redocked and we are now a complete crew! Charlie made our first meal of Martian Mac and Cheese! After lunch Commander Cassie talked logistics, ideas, and expectations. Our ideas run the gambit from playing a game of Martian hide and seek, building a runway to host possible visitors, to following each other around obsessively documenting every step. But for now, we are busy preparing. Tomorrow morning, we go into full sim and officially land on Mars!!!
Journalist Report – May 15th
Journalist Report 15 May 2017
Prepared by Juan Jose Garcia
Images by Juan and Janet
Sol 2
The morning started off with the first EVA of the mission. The astronauts shuffled out of the airlock than Avishek and I could photograph them. We stepped outside and monitored their progress from the science dome. The window in that building frames their explorations quite scenically.
We split our allotted EVA time in to two time slots so we could all get a chance to feel out the suits and test out the terrain.
The first team was Charlie, Cassie, and Janet. They found a dinosaur bone (yes, seriously)
The second team would later find no dinosaur bones.
After the first EVA, I made lunch for everyone. Rice, chicken, and re-hydrated peas. Cooking transports one back home. It is very much an Earth activity. If one doesn’t look out the windows too often, the HAB feels like a very fancy space base out of some child’s imagination. But it’s real! Charlie fixes the Air (bless him) in the suits. Over lunch he drops some more knowledge about drones, rocket ships, and combustion on other worlds.
It’s when you take a peak outside the circle windows at the intense landscape and the distant imposing mountains that makes the homeyness of the HAB even more welcome and bizarre. It’s like we are at sea. Especially with the strong wind gusts, it feels like the ocean.
Olly Burn landed today with the help of Cassie. Olly is a British photographer come to pursue a personal project with us here at Mars. Olly’s ship left London, Earth a couple of days ago and was visible in our atmosphere around mid day.
We introduced ourselves to Olly and got to know about his work. Olly showed us his Hasselblad camera with a 50-year old lens identical to the ones used on the Moon!
Later this evening, Olly, Avishek, Cassie and I suited up. We went in the airlock. It was very much a moment resembling crews packed in the Apollo ships. A cool diffuse light poured through the front window of the airlock. The walkie-talkie’s beeping and the muffled voice of our comrade Charlie made the experience more real and more serious. The airlock door heaves open with the wind and we step into a bright wash of light and a windy world.
Covering the terrain was similar to exploring the bottom of the sea. The land is like rubber at parts. The squishy fragmented sand is unlike anything I’ve encountered in nature in New York or Miami back on Earth. Strange egg-like rocks, immovable, jut out of the red land.
The sky was overcast and menacing. The wind picked up on the hills. Climbing the final hill in front of the HAB became intense when just like in the beginning of the Martian movie, the wind started picking up dramatically. It would topple you off your feet. The top of the hill became a wind tunnel. Cassie signals for us to return to the base.
Charlie and Janet have chili with re-hydrated beef and impressive biscuits. Olly joins us for dinner.
Journalist Report – May 16th
Crew 181 Journalist Report 16 May 2017
Journalist Report 16 May 2017
Prepared by Janet Biggs, Crew Co-Journalist and Artist in Residence
Images by Janet Biggs, Crew Co-Journalist and Artist in Residence
Sol 3
Our EVA is planned for late afternoon so we got to sleep in!!! We didn’t actually sleep in that late, but just knowing we could was a wonderful luxury.
Speaking of EVAs, let me describe the process of getting out the door on Mars. It starts with figuring out what to wear under your suit … light enough to keep cool (not really possible on Mars, but a goal) and heavy enough to keep the suits from scratching. Our suits are bright orange with lots of pockets … handy for holding radios, lens caps, and rock samples. Once you have the suit on and zipped up, you take a radio and headset, check that they work, and secure the headset with a bandanna or headband (also helps keep hair out of your face … no pushing hair out of your face or scratching your nose inside a helmet). Next is the air circulating backpack. Someone helps you into the backpack, which weighs about 30 pounds, and brings the helmet ring down over your head. Once strapped into the backpack, a helmet is placed over your head and locked into place on the ring. Two hoses from the backpack are screwed into the helmet to circulate air. Gloves on and you’re ready to go. Into the airlock for simulated pressurization (in our sim, pressurization is achieved in one minute) and then out the hatch door and you’re walking on Mars!
