The Crew hit the ground driving Monday morning. Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs with oatmeal, hot coffee, followed by a side of rover EVA. MS Cecil and MS DeJan completed a couple of objectives for the morning mission. MS Gonzalez and CO Turner manned the IVA, and documented the mission’s progress.
The Crew is now in Phase II of communications with MCC, which means they are experiencing a 20-minute delay each way with the communication process, e.g., 20 minutes to send a message, the waiting period, and 20 minutes to receive a response. The communication delay is quite the adjustment from instantaneous communication, which Earthlings are more accustomed to than the Crew on Mars.
While the Crew awaited MCC’s approval for the afternoon EVA, the Crew all enjoyed a brief reprieve by reading books or napping. The Crew is completing a Book Club read along with MCC. Everyone participating is reading ‘Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void’ by Mary Roach. The Crew share thoughts after specific chapters and discuss the ‘for real,’' seriously’ or ‘no way’ moments that surprised them.
MS Cecil prepared pinto beans and chicken with some colorful flavors for lunch.
MS Gonzalez and MS DeJan enjoyed some laughs provided by the hilarious satires from ‘Family Guy.’ Everyone was on their own for dinner. The Crew watched ‘A Night at the Museum’ (missing Robin Williams, so much <3 <3) while completing additional evening tasks. The night concluded with a hand of cards before preparing for bed.
The Crew has commemorated their mission by adding their logo to the wall of Analog Astronauts. We thank MS Cecil for her artistic contribution!
After the afternoon EVA, MS Cecil and CO Turner knocked out a 65-minute workout of cardio, weight training, and stretching.
Hamama
All of the plant buds have burst through the brown paper now! The salad looms closer!
Martian Soil
MS Cecil got a welcomed surprise yesterday when she got her first sprouts. It was touch and go as the temperatures in the green hab increased that day, and her soil kept drying out. A lot of water spaced out throughout the day got everyone back up and going. Some of the sprouts today are still a little wilted after being exposed to the heat last night. However, the soil temperature is back to normal, and the little ones are perking up! MS Cecil will be finishing her PH tests tonight and is happy with the results of her project so far. Hopefully, within the next few days, there will be sprouts in the Martian soil as well. Note: To help the seeds recover in the back bins, the heating pad was turned off for the day and night. Once temperatures are back to normal, it will be turned back on.
Measuring EVA Performance
MS Gonzalez has begun to see patterns between members’ morning PVT scores and some resemblance of correlation to their sleep. Travis’s prediction of schedules sliding to the right has begun to take place, with an average shift of 20-30 minutes later for most crewmembers. However, from a psychological standpoint, members are adjusting well to being in the hab. Surprise has morphed into a routine, but that’s what off-nominals are for.
Mutually Sustained Systems for Space Flight
Results proved this morning that little, if any, plant-based O2 is being produced in the container. The final CO2 reading was off-scale high (4800+PPM). The plants were in total darkness for 10 hours. So, it’s time to head in a different direction. The plants will be sealed tonight after venting to ambient CO2 levels (410PPM), and the Grow Lights left on. Starting readings of CO2 will be measured tonight, and end readings in the morning at 0800hrs. The lit period will be 11 hours. The only observable result is when the CO2 readings are low, 1 PPM is produced in less than one second and maintains the level of 1 PPM in 1-3 seconds until the tank contains greater than 3000 PPM, then the production level drops to 1 PPM every 5-6 seconds. The seedlings appear to be doing well, and the Mars soil plant seems slightly weakened but still holding on.
Even with Grow lights on for 24hrs, CO2 production went to over 5000PPM by morning. The Mars soil seedling was inadvertently murdered by a tank lid chock falling on it. RIP. The Earth soil seedlings are weak but showing signs of producing new leaves. A mold has appeared on the mature tomato plant, possibly due to the high moisture content of the tank, and no circulating wind/air. Remediation is in order.
Green Study
CO Turner continues seeing new growth with the Earth and Lunar test and control microgreens. She loves the life that plants breathe into the Martian simulation. Nothing to report yet in the Martian Regolith. Even under infused conditions, nothing has occurred, boo. CO Turner looks forward to spending more time in the green hab.
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