MDRS 2012-2013 Field Season Mission Support COMMS Procedures

 

1.     All operational COMMS must go through Mission Support using the Mission Support eList (mdrs-mission-support@marssociety.org).  Most Mission Support personnel are on this eList, as well as the current crew, the crew immediately prior to the current crew, and the crew that will be next at MDRS.  All COMMS must be text; send no attachments except photos.

2.     The COMMS window is from 7:00-9:00 pm MT.  Crews must submit the day’s reports between 7:00-8:00 pm using HALp and/or email.  Mission Support will let the crew know which at the beginning of their rotation and inform them of any changes. 

3.     At the beginning of the COMMS window, the CapCOM on duty will send a sign on to the Hab that will include addressing any of the crew’s concerns sent to Mission Support since the following evening’s sign off.  CapCOM duty hours will begin at 2 am on the day of duty through 2 am of the following day.  For example, a CapCOM working on Monday will be reasonable for all COMMS from 2 am early Monday morning until 2 am early Tuesday morning.  

4.     The crew should ACK the sign on as soon as it arrives to let Mission Support know that COMMS are nominal and also to let Mission Support know the status of crew reports.   A list of reports to be sent that evening will suffice for this. 

5.     During the COMMS window, Mission Support personnel will ACK and edit the crew’s reports and CapCOM will address any crew and Mission Support concerns. The ET and RST will address any engineering and science concerns, respectfully. Aside from these two teams and the Mission Support Directors, only CapCOM will be in direct communication with the crew.   Mission Support wanting to send a message to the crew should send it to the CapCOM eList so that whoever is CapCOM can forward it on.

6.     CapCOM will relay comments/questions/suggestions to the crew on their reports. Crew should rewrite reports according to these edits.  One of our goals this season is to raise the quality of our crew reports.  These edits should be completed as soon as possible, preferably before the end of the COMMS window, although that will not always be possible.  Any report requiring edits that are not resubmitted by the end of the COMMS window will be posted the following day.

7.     CapCOM will send the sign off promptly at 9:00 pm.  It will include information on the status of reports, requests for any missing reports and any suggestions on the crew’s submitted EVA plan.  

8.     Both crew and CapCOM will ACK and respond to any emails sent between the Hab and Mission Support as soon as possible during the COMMS window.

9.     The crew’s daily responsibilities include submitting all reports, including any special ones (Mission Goals, GreenHab, Summary) requested by Mission Support.  They will also be responsible for submitting six-eight photos representative of their day’s work. COMMS may be submitted at any time, with the understanding that depending on who is the CapCOM on duty, COMMS may not be answered until the next COMMS window. 

10. Mission Support’s daily responsibilities include responding to all COMMS sent by the crew during the COMMS window, receiving, editing and posting the reports and photos on the MDRS website.  Mission Support personnel on duty will communicate with each other via an online chatroom.  We are currently using Google chat, but this may change. 

 

Please be aware that this season we have many new COMMS protocols, and also a new reporting system. During the first few months of the field season, COMM protocols may change as needed due to this new system and also due to upgrades in IT.  We will all need to be flexible when these changes happen, but in the end, the system will be much improved.