Today the crew got a reprieve to sleep in for an extra hour. This proved essential because of the prior day's long ingress. The Crew welcomed fresh coffee to start their morning, then began their daily tasks. For dinner MS Gonzalez found the Spanish rice with beef goulash very good while MS Cecil enjoyed her pepperoni pizza MRE and a health bar. MS DeJan really liked the Italian Sausage, and CO Turner felt satisfied with the leftover Spanish rice mixed with pinto beans and rehydrated beef cuts.
The Crew performed a multitude of tasks today ranging from setting up their experiments and research projects with the additional necessary supplies deployed to the rover, to prepping the EVA suits with illumination devices for the night EVA operations. This was interrupted by an overflow from multiple AC units which required draining. Team effort was required to drain all five units which will now just be another additional daily task.
The crew explained that they felt they were getting in the groove and working well together as they executed their tasks. All members enjoyed a quiet afternoon break before gearing up for the Night EVA. The docking mechanism for a EVA suit dislodged during mission prep. No Crew members were injured as they worked quickly as a team to successfully reengage the docking mechanism. The Crew’s quick action resolved the hiccup with no damage to equipment.
Suiting up for the EVA, MS DeJan and MS Cecil assisted with suit donning. Both MS DeJan and Cecil operated the Base Command systems.
At 2030 MS Gonzalez and CO Turner conducted a night EVA to test tangerine suit's ad hoc lighting attachments under varying illumination conditions. MS Gonzalez successfully instructed CO Turner on Wave Relay MPU5 radio utilization. The EVA crew completed research test card’s 2 & 3 beginning with radio checks and proceed to test lighting by walking west away from ambient lighting and traversing north along the simulated hill line. Base Command reported comms check every 10 minutes. Throughout the EVA, MS Gonzalez instructed CO Turner on various functions and features of the MPU5 radio. They also performed a Hab inspection because of the strong winds earlier in the day. MS Gonzalez and CO Turner noted the GYM Habitat module is losing insulation and the weather wrapping is torn away from the North facing side. Repair requires ratchet straps to properly re-secure. CO Turner retrieved FD Miller’s shoes left on "Mars" from the previous ARG-4i mission, and brought them into the Hab. Both MS Gonzalez and CO Turner then enjoyed a brief game of Martian Rugby! Both Crew members were successful at tossing and catching the Rugby ball, and CO Turner was thrilled to kick the Rugby ball into the Martian practice field. EVA actions concluded at 2130. MS DeJan and MS Cecil assisted with crew doffing. EVA operations are truly a full crew effort.
It should be noted that by the end of the day the crew have all studies running and fully operational. The team spent the day getting settled in and acclimated to the routine of how to coordinate their research tasks without hindering each other.
Martian Soil
MS Cecil completed the base line tests for her soil’s nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels, or PH this morning. She set the next set of tests after adding algae water fertilizer the night prior. While the tests were sitting for nine hours MS Cecil put a heating pad under the back two bins M2 and B2. This is to test if heating the bottom 24/7 and the top on a day and night cycle will affect how the soil reacts over time and how the plants will grow. After the nine hours wait MS Cecil complete the second set of soil tests finding that M2 has become sweeter and B2 has become more acidic (heating pad). The two with just the overhead lights remains stable at 7.0 across the board with the exception of the potassium level B1 8.0 and M1 at 8.5 showing that the soil so far is on the sweeter side. The soil was a little dry today receiving 20 squirts of water in each bin to fix the issue. The overhead lights are turned off for the night, will dig hole half way down in soil for temperature check moving forward. Will retest soil Ph levels in Saturday after soil has time to settle. Will monitor moister levels and track for any seed damage or growth.
Measuring EVA Performance
MS Gonzalez received a valuable resupply and is collecting copious amounts of data. All crew members seem receptive of the 5-minute psychomotor vigilance tests. The Garmin app is providing valuable insights to member’s sleep patterns and peak fatigue. Today’s EVA took 19-minutes to complete donning; the crew should be able to decrease that significantly in the coming days. With the amount of data gathered, it should be possible to overcome a low sample population.
Mutually Sustained Systems for Space Flight
MS DeJan received the missing flex hose was supplied and now the test chamber is operational. Due to the smaller volume of the supplied container, only one Hasta plant, one mature Tomato, and three tomato seedlings (Moe, Larry, and Curly) were installed. Larry is in simulated Martin soil. Baseline readings will be compiled tonight. Tomorrow CO2 will be infused and O2 production measured Saturday morning, and every morning thereafter.
Green Study
CO Turner is thrilled that her project is set up and ready. She is continuing her project from the previous 4i-mission with the exception that of testing the Martian regolith with different infused soils to create. The control group only receives traditional greenhouse light and filtered H2O. Specialist Turner is excited to see the outcome of this project.
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