Engineering Report Day 01 TasMars2013
The daily engineering log records power, fuel, water and equipment checks, with the crew’s maintenance notes.
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TasMars 2013
Mission dashboard.
Step through the expedition, one day at a time. Follow the crew’s original reports, photographs and field notes.
ExpeditionTasMars 2013
MDRS crew123
Mission dates26 January–9 February 2013
Recorded here14 days · 67 reports
Expedition replayHistorical records
Explore the habitat ↗No reports of this type were preserved for this day. Choose another day or show all report types.
Commander Report Day 02 TasMars2013
Our first day at the Hab started at subzero temperatures with snow on the ground. Two of the team, Emma and Melanie who travelled from Australia and New Zealand, had some jetlag and the other two, myself and Jen, were still recovering from a long…
Read the original report ↗Journalist Report Day 02 TasMars2013
Life at MDRS is a “sim”, which means we simulate the experience of people living on a base on Mars. The base consists of the “habitat” – a two storied cylinder of 8 metres diameter which comfortably accomodates 6 people – the greenhouse – an 8…
Read the original report ↗Engineering Report Day 02 TasMars2013
The water tank on the trailer will be emptied sometime tomorrow so please tell DG that we will need a refill very soon. Also the diesel for the generator is about ¼ full, is this low and does it need refilling? The east fan in the green hab is…
Read the original report ↗GreenHab Report Day 02 TasMars2013
GreenHouse Report: 01/27/2013 Written by: Melanie Newfield, Mission Specialist Biological Sciences, TasMars 2013
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Commander Report Day 03 TasMars2013
Weather very cold in the morning with snow coverage on the ground. It cleared by noon leaving muddy surfaces. Temperatures approximately a few degrees C above zero and cloudy but sky is now clear.
Read the original report ↗Journalist Report Day 03 TasMars2013
I love experimental cooking with weird and wonderful ingredients, and the idea of having a captive audience for my culinary improvisations for two whole weeks inspired me to volunteer to do most of the cooking on our mission. I was so keen that I…
Read the original report ↗Engineering Report Day 03 TasMars2013
EngSupWater Report: 01/28/2013 Written by: Emma Braegen, Flight Engineer TasMars 2013
Read the original report ↗Health and Safety Report Day 03 TasMars2013
Health & Safety Report: 01/28/2013 Written by: Emma Braegen, HSO Officer
Read the original report ↗GreenHab Report Day 03 TasMars2013
GreenHouse Report 01/29/2013 Written by: Melanie Newfield, Mission Specialist Biological Sciences
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Commander Report Day 04 TasMars2013
Chanel Seven Australia film crew arrived at 9:30 am at junction of HW24 and Hab Road.
Read the original report ↗Journalist Report Day 04 TasMars2013
Read the original journalist account for day 4, including the crew’s observations and working notes.
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Engineering Report Day 04 TasMars2013
Hvac Event Date: 1/29/2013 7:20PM Hvac Event Time: Hvac Air Conditioner Used: no Hvac Ac Temp Setting: Hvac Lab Wall Heater Used: yes Hvac Wall Heat Setting: 5 Hvac Old Lower Deck Thermostat Setting: 70 Hvac New Lower Deck Thermostat Setting: 70…
Read the original report ↗Health and Safety Report Day 04 TasMars2013
Crew are in fairly good health with only minor issues. I got sunburnt a bit since we were outside so much with the film crew. I did wear sunscreen during the day but think I must have forgot to reapply when I was outside later in the afternoon.…
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GreenHab Report Day 04 TasMars2013
I watered all the plants in the greenhouse, but since it wasn't sunny, things weren't dry and I didn't need to water so much. I did some rearranging, moving the 4 trays of cress seedlings over to the table next to the head pad, so that I had a…
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Commander Report Day 05 TasMars2013
Today was a quiet day for crew MDRS123, recovering from the long and physically active filming with Chanel Seven Australia.
Read the original report ↗Journalist Report Day 05 TasMars2013
When I began to sort my way through the pantry, I realised that I probably wasn’t the first person to make curry on Mars. Among the 10 different varieties of chili in the pantry (powders, sauces and dried) was a substantial bag of Indian chili…
Read the original report ↗Engineering Report Day 05 TasMars2013
I tried to use the vacuum cleaner here today. When opening the lid on it I found it was about a third full of mud and water and the filter was quite dirty. I drained the mud and water outside and left the vacuum cleaner to dry outside for a few…
Read the original report ↗Health and Safety Report Day 05 TasMars2013
The crew are well today. Morale is high since we went into Hanksville to have burgers for lunch today and had a chat with the locals.
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Commander Report Day 06 TasMars2013
Today was the first all blue sky day clear of clouds with temperatures reaching approx. 50 degrees F.
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Journalist Report Day 06 TasMars2013
It’s been a consistent convention of science fiction writers that alien life forms look rather like us. Ninety years ago Edgar Rice Burrows’ green-skinned and four-armed Martians walked on two legs, saw through two eyes and spoke through a mouth…
Read the original report ↗Engineering Report Day 06 TasMars2013
The daily engineering log records power, fuel, water and equipment checks, with the crew’s maintenance notes.
Read the original report ↗Health and Safety Report Day 06 TasMars2013
The crew are doing well however the main health and safety issue is we need a properly working toilet. We're requesting that a chemical or other form of portable toilet be brought to the hab. There are no stores within close distance that we can…
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Interim Kitchen Report Day 06 TasMars2013
Overall the crew is happy with the food, although there have been a few concerned comments about weight gain. I’m not sure whether anyone has actually put on weight though, as we are quite active and have had some reasonably demanding EVAs. I…
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Commander Report Day 07 TasMars2013
Today was a quiet day spent mostly reviewing the results of the previous day’s EVA.
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Journalist Report Day 07 TasMars2013
A couple of days ago, we were looking at geological formations and came across a flattish area covered with evenly sized pebbles. There was a beautiful array of colours, and we began admiring them and picking them up. I commented that it was like…
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Engineering Report Day 07 TasMars2013
I put up the spare fan from the hab near the vent in the roof to create an exhaust fan. It has definately improved the conditions in here and it's much more comfortable. Had some trouble tonight with the heating. It was getting cold the evening…
Read the original report ↗Health and Safety Report Day 07 TasMars2013
Crew are doing fine except that Jen has a bit of a cold. The crew are much more comfortable since the exhaust fan got set up to move the air around. The engineer tried cooking tonight and thankfully everyone is still ok.
Read the original report ↗GreenHab Report Day 07 TasMars2013
I’m running behind with my green hab reports, and since I know from long experience of catching up that it’s best not to try starting at the beginning, but at the end, here’s today’s report.
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Commander Report Day 08 TasMars2013
Today we departed from the plan and worked mostly on an outreach video for New Zealand schools and Channel 10 Australia children science show.
Read the original report ↗Journalist Report Day 08 TasMars2013
Today I’m taking a break from talking about cooking and eating food, and turning my attention to… food production. While the versatility and quality of the dehydrated vegetables is impressive, after a while you start to want something fresh. The…
Read the original report ↗Engineering Report Day 08 TasMars2013
I fixed the coffee machine by cleaning it with a mix of acetic acid as suggested by mission support. I found the acetic acid kept in the chemical storage area downstairs and mixed up a 3% solution. I put 30mL into a 1L container. I poured this…
Read the original report ↗Health and Safety Report Day 08 TasMars2013
We received more supplies today including supplies for the medicine cabinet. I had sorted out the cabinet yesterday and found quite a few items had expired such as alcohol wipes and medications. I'm using a marker to write the expiration date…
Read the original report ↗GreenHab Report Day 08 TasMars2013
Chuck Killin arrived with the following garden supplies: • potting mix • seed starting mix • vermiculite • plant food • growing trays with a high lid I transferred the high lids to some of the trays which had improvised lids, like the snowpeas. I…
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Commander Report Day 09 TasMars2013
Today was a cloudy day with temperatures around 35° F, with cloud cover clearing late in the afternoon.
Read the original report ↗Journalist Report Day 09 TasMars2013
There’s a complex etiquette that has developed among our crew about the use of water. At what time is it first acceptable to run a tap in the morning? There’s no set time, but people tend to get up and work quietly at their computers without…
Read the original report ↗Engineering Report Day 09 TasMars2013
The daily engineering log records power, fuel, water and equipment checks, with the crew’s maintenance notes.
Read the original report ↗Health and Safety Report Day 09 TasMars2013
Most of the crew is well but Jen still has a cold. She is doing ok except would like some medicine to stop her nose running. Unfortunately it looks like we don't have any specific cold medicine in the medicine supplies. We have allergy tablets…
Read the original report ↗GreenHab Report Day 09 TasMars2013
I put some sprouts to soak this morning. There is now no discernible smellin the containers after I scrubbed them out and soaked in a bleach solution (as per the manufacturer's instructions). We might yet have sprouts with dinner tomorrow or the…
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Commander Report Day 10 TasMars2013
The day started very cold with the ground frozen until 10 am. The sky was clear all day and temperatures ranged from 19° to 46°F.
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Journalist Report Day 10 TasMars2013
MDRS is a place for ideas, but more than that, it is a place to try out ideas. The thing is, an idea that sits in someone’s head, or is bounced around a random conversation in the pub, never actually does any good. You know those conversations –…
Read the original report ↗Engineering Report Day 10 TasMars2013
Internet has been throttled since this morning. Unplugged web cam in case it was related to this.
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Health and Safety Report Day 10 TasMars2013
Jen is doing ok but still has cold symptoms without medicine to deal with it. Rest of the crew is doing well.
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Education Log Day 10 TasMars2013
In 2013 Kiwi school kids had the rare opportunity to follow a mock Mars Mission at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the Utah desert for the duration of two weeks.
Read the original report ↗GreenHab Report Day 10 TasMars2013
I topped up the water in the watercress (actually I've been doing this every couple of days). Note for Jean, yes, they are still doing ok, but not growing well enough to harvest. I'll try and get a picture tomorrow. I fed most of the plants…
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Commander Report Day 11 TasMars2013
Today was much warmer than previous days with above 32 °F reaching 50 °F with blue skies. The ground was not frozen in the early morning as per yesterday.
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Journalist Report Day 11 TasMars2013
While crew 123 – the TasMars mission – has some pretty ambition scientificgoals, there’s another equally important goal for our mission. A big part of our program is outreach, connecting with students in New Zealand and bringing the world of Mars…
Read the original report ↗Engineering Report Day 11 TasMars2013
Today I did some work on the dust suit experiments. I collected dust from different areas around the hab and put it into sample containers. I should be able to get these analysed after leaving MDRS. I also tried a first run of experiments with…
Read the original report ↗Health and Safety Report Day 11 TasMars2013
Jen still has a bit of a cough but is feeling better. Rest of the crew is well. I started work on a hazard matrix for the MDRS hab. It has a list of possible hazards along with the possible consequence and probability to find a risk rating for…
Read the original report ↗GreenHab Report Day 11 TasMars2013
Nothing too much to report as I was busy elsewhere, I moved a couple of pots around, watered anything that was obviously dry and did a good tidy up. I also set up a line to dry washing. It proved very effective, it's out of the way of the crew,…
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Commander Report Day 12 TasMars2013
Today’s temperature ranged from above 32 °F reaching 50 °F with blue skies, similar to the previous day.
Read the original report ↗Journalist Report Day 12 TasMars2013
When I was writing my story about MDRS as a proving ground, and then yesterday when we were struggling with the practicalities of how to collect dust from the exterior of a space suit, I started thinking about the origin of ideas. Sure, sometimes…
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Engineering Report Day 12 TasMars2013
Only engineering issue today is working with space suit number 2 is difficult since one of the tube is broken at one point. It is taped together but occasionally this comes apart and needs retaping. The rear latch on the helment is also broken.…
Read the original report ↗Health and Safety Report Day 12 TasMars2013
Jen had to leave the crew early today and she will be greatly missed here. David is picking up two new crew members who are planning to stay with us until the end of our rotation. The crew here are well and we look forward to meeting the new crew…
Read the original report ↗Education Log Day 12 TasMars2013
In 2013 Kiwi school kids had the rare opportunity to follow a mock Mars Mission at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the Utah desert for the duration of two weeks.
Read the original report ↗GreenHab Report Day 12 TasMars2013
Some of the snow peas were growing sufficiently well to repot so I filled up one of the large pots with recycled mix at the bottom and the new potting mix at the top. I placed this on the bottom of shelf 9 (the plastic set of shelves) and made…
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Commander Report Day 13 TasMars2013
Today’s temperature ranged from above 32 °F reaching 45 °F with blue skies. The ground is becoming drier for dust experiments.
Read the original report ↗Journalist Report Day 13 TasMars2013
I think the reason that I like experimental cooking is that it’s reallyjust a highly applied version of chemistry. I loved chemistry when I studied it – learning the ingredients, mixing this with that to see what resulted, the delight when…
Read the original report ↗Engineering Report Day 13 TasMars2013
The daily engineering log records power, fuel, water and equipment checks, with the crew’s maintenance notes.
Read the original report ↗
Health and Safety Report Day 13 TasMars2013
Read the original health & safety account for day 13, including the crew’s observations and working notes.
Read the original report ↗Education Log Day 13 TasMars2013
In 2013 Kiwi school kids had the rare opportunity to follow a mock Mars Mission at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the Utah desert for the duration of two weeks.
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GreenHab Report Day 13 TasMars2013
Read the original greenhab account for day 13, including the crew’s observations and working notes.
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Commander Report Day 14 TasMars2013
Today’s was cold reaching a maximum of 47 °F and the afternoon brought intermittent rain and snow.
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Journalist Report Day 14 TasMars2013
In 1898 Carsten Borchgrevink set out on the first expedition to overwinter on the Antarctic mainland. He carried supplies to carry him through the long, dark Antarctic winter, food, clothing, fuel, building supplies and guns for shooting polar…
Read the original report ↗Engineering Report Day 14 TasMars2013
Today I had a look at the pack for suit no. 5 again briefly but had no luck fixing it. I think it requires someone to sit down for a while and look through all the connections to see what is not working. David has fixed the broken suit tube that…
Read the original report ↗Health and Safety Report Day 14 TasMars2013
Read the original health & safety account for day 14, including the crew’s observations and working notes.
Read the original report ↗GreenHab Report Day 14 TasMars2013
The only work I’ve done in the greenhab today is water the plants. Thereare a few things that may benefit from repotting, but I will point thoseout to the next crew. We had a brief storm and the greenhab leaked a bit. In particular, water came in…
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Archive view: these are the expedition’s published records, not live telemetry. Day labels and dates follow the original reports; arrival, handover and departure can fall outside the recorded sequence.
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