FMARS -2001 PHASE 1: DAILY ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS REPORT July 8, 2001

Summary Report By Pascal Lee

EVA 1 was successfully carried out. The EVA 1 crew comprised Frank Schubert and Sam Burbank. The IVA officer onboard the FMARS was Darlene Lim. EVA 1 goals were: 1) to connect a draining hose to the waste water tank underneath the hab in order to allow gray water (comprising only biodegradable materials) to be drained to a ground sump ; 2) affix an external escape ladder to the habitat leg closest to Haughton Crater, right underneath the upper deck's emergency escape window. Total EVA time was 1 hr 47 minutes.

The EVA protocol followed on EVA 1 assumed a hab air mix of 30% O2, 70% N2 at a total cabin pressure of 8.3 psi, and a suit air composition of 100% O2 at 3.8 psi. The corresponding TR (tissue ratio) value, defined as the initial partial pressure of N2 in tissue (while in the cabin) divided by the final total pressure in the suit, is 1.52 before any prebreathing. From there, with just 30 minutes of prebreathe (breathing pure O2 to flush out N2 out of our system), the risk of decompression sickness (DCS) of type I (joint pains) can in this case drop down to ~ 15%, i.e., in about 5 cases out of 6, there should be no felt symptoms of DCS. After suiting up, Frank and Sam spent 30 minutes simulating a prebreathe. They went into the airlock and sat there for half and hour. (Note: prebreathing does not need to be done in an airlock, but it can be easily done in an airlock with O2 being supplied via an umbilical, thus saving the O2 of the portable life support system (backpack) itself.

No major difficulties were encountered during EVA 1 except that the headset radio batteries lost power towards the end and some helmet fogging was reported. Rainer Effenhauser monitored the health of the EVA crew during the EVA based mainly on breathing rates heard over the vox and from EVA crew answers to his inquiries (relayed via the IVA officer). Steve monitored the quality of the comms system in use and provided guidance on radio settings, in particular vox threshold settings (also via the IVA officer). Pascal helped with some decisions during the EVA regarding usage of materials (hoses) available on the outside of the habitat (also conveyed via the IVA officer). Overall EVA 1 was a very successful event. The planned EVA was executed. Video footage was captured by Sam, to be released after editing.

Because EVA 1 prep included the unpacking of suits from their original shipping boxes, EVA 1 started later than originally planned: 21:30 UTC instead of 19:00 UTC. As a result, EVA 2 was postponed and is now scheduled for tomorrow.

EVA 1 mobilized the attention and time of just about the entire remaining FMARS crew. Pascal and Rainer were able to find small amounts of time to tend to other matters. Charlie was also able to make progress on setting up the biology section of the lab. Earlier in the day, Pascal had set up the rock saw and the rock grinder/polisher in the geology section of the lab. While EVA 1 today was our first EVA on FMARS -2001, it seems likely that EVAs on Mars will require the attention of a substantial fraction of the crew remaining inside a hab while the EVA is in progress. For relatively short EVAs with specific tasks to perform such as the one carried out today, the role of Mission Support on Earth is likely to be very limited during the EVA itself. The crew remaining inside the hab during an EVA will need to have good "situational awareness" in order to provide adequate support and to receive adequate information during the EVA. EVA crewmember-mounted videocams and fixed external surveillance-type cams will be used later in the field season in order to help increase situational awareness. Monitoring EVA 1's progress directly through the FMARS hab windows proved useful. The use of a form of sign language in the event of radio comms failure might provide a viable communication backup at close range.

Report on Intra-Vehicular Activities (IVA) in support of EVA 1 by Darlene Lim

IVA support was provided for EVA 1 this afternoon. The IVA officer was Darlene Lim.

IVA encompassed providing a point of communication contact for all EVA simulation operations, incluperding communication linkage between the FMARS and the EVA crew. Essentially the IVA officer acted like a ground based air-traffic controller. More specifically, the IVA officer provided guidance on prebreathing and depressurization procedures prior to EVA commencing, full communications support between the EVA crew and the FMARS crew during EVA, including guidance on EVA procedures and timeline and troubleshooting any communications problems. The IVA officer consultated with the rest of the FMARS crew during EVA 1 in order to deal with intermittent questions and problems. All information was relayed to the EVA crew via the IVA officer.

EVA protocol check-lists will be developed based in part on today's EVA, including prebreathing, depressurization, EVA and repressurization procedures. These will be provided to following rotations as a guide for future IVA officers and EVA crews.

The following is a run-down of today's EVA timeline as recorded by the IVA officer on duty:

PREBREATHING:
START - 21:00UTC
END-TIME - 21:30UTC
TOTAL RUN-TIME = 30 min

DEPRESSURIZATION:
START - 21:30UTC
END-TIME - 21:35UTC
TOTAL RUN-TIME = 5 min

EVA:
START TIME (EGRESS) - 21:35UTC
END-TIME - 22:41UTC
TOTAL RUN-TIME = 1 hr 6 min

REPRESSURIZATION:
START TIME - 22:41UTC
END-TIME - 22:47 UTC
TOTAL RUN-TIME = 6 min

TOTAL RUN-TIME OF ENTIRE EVA SIMULATION = 1 hr 47 min

Medical Officer's Report by Rainer Effenhauser, M.D.

Today was an extremely productive and busy day.

• Returned from Resolute after Medevac of Inuit Youth following ATV injury
• Monitored today's EVA including prebreathe, depress,and repress procedures
• Placed all medical gear in the dedicated medical shelves in the hab
• Deployed 48-hour formaldehyde monitors (which monitor for the presence of any formaldehyde, a toxic contaminant present in some building materials, and also monitored onboard the space shuttle and ISS)
• Took an air sample from upper deck of hab using the JSC GSC (Grab Sample Container) device for later analysis
• Confirmed normal readings in the hab using CSA-CP device which gives real-time readings of % oxygen, carbon monoxide (ppm), HCN (ppm), and HCL (ppm).
• Verified status of medical equipment, including defibrillator, and did defibrillator training & demonstration with 2 crewmembers
• Did 2 sessions with Charlie Cockell using the WinSCAT "Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool", which is used onboard the International Space Station
• Transmitted multiple encrypted medical images as telemedicine demonstration to NASA JSC/Houston

Tomorrow (July 9th) I plan to perform hab water quality testing after the incubator arrives, and to participate in the 2nd EVA of the day on a traverse. In addition I plan to complete the habitability assessment survey given to all HMP-2001 and FMARS-2001 crewmembers.

FMARS-2001 PHASE 1: DAILY RESEARCH REPORT 8 July, 2001 by Pascal Lee

Pascal installed the rock saw and rock grinder/polisher in the geology lab on the lower deck of the FMARS today. Charlie set up the biology lab on the same counter top further away. Charlie also installed the geology/biology Olympus BX-51 microscope system which we will be using in our astrobiology and geology research throughout the summer.

No science traverse was performed today. The first science EVA is scheduled for tomorrow.

Steve Braham will provide a more comprehensive summary of his comms research at a later date.

FMARS-2001 PHASE 1: DAILY NARRATIVE REPORT 8 July, 2001 by Pascal Lee

Today was a very exciting day. We conducted our first simulated EVA. We kept it simple and useful. It involved only two EVA crew members: Frank Schubert and Sam Burbank. Frank is the builder of the Hab and he is serving as our onboard "spacecraft" systems engineer. Sam Burbank is a filmmaker and our project videographer, but as a former owner of a motorcycle shop, he is also a competent mechanic and is doubling as ship mechanic. Frank and Sam were the best qualified for the first EVA planned for the day. They would need to hook up a hose to be used to drain our habitat waste waters to a ground sump, and they would have to install an escape ladder outside the habitat below the upper deck's emergency escape window. EVA 1 proved a great success. Aside from a couple of radio batteries dying towards the end of a 1hr 47 min-long EVA and some fogging problems in the helmets, all planned tasks were accomplished.

The EVA proved to be a true team effort. Darlene Lim served as single point of contact inside the hab during EVA 1 (she was the EVA 1 "IVA officer"). Steve Braham monitored the comms system while the EVA was in progress. Rainer listened in on the EVA crew's breathing (as relayed over the vox) to monitor their physiologic status. I somehow felt absorbed by the whole event and followed almost every moment of it, offering more or less useful advice to the EVA crew via the designated IVA officer. Chalie was perhaps the only who escaped the activity almost entirely. He spent a good part of the afternoon setting up the biology lab and installing all the equipment he and Darlene had brought to Haughton. I had installed the rock saw and the rock polisher and grinder earlier in the day.

Living conditions inside the FMARS are comfortable. The particular interior design and layout adopted at this point does not represent the result of intense research. It is merely one possible configuration, one that was simple, plausible and inexpensive enough to implement. In the future, other configurations could be explored. The lower deck is occupied by our sample processing lab and by Steve's comms hardware. It is also to serve as a medical ward in the event of an emergency. Rainer actually gave training there to a couple of crew members this evening on the use of defibrillator. The lower deck also houses our shower and the "incinolet", our incinerating toilet. The incinolet is the source of endless jokes and could be recommended to anyone for that reason alone. But it actually works well and has so far satisfied all users on the Phase 1 crew. The lower deck has, in addition, two cylindrical airlocks, one serving as the main, the other as a secondary airlock. These are of course not true airlocks in that they are not pressure vessels, but they serve the role of antichamber to our EVAs. Adjacent to the main airlock is an EVA prep room in which we are store our beautiful simlulated Mars spacesuits made and tested under the leadership of Mars Society volunteer Dewey Anderson. The upper deck is divided into two halves. One half is occupied by a series of six individual state rooms laid out in parallel. The other half is a relatively large open space, with on one side (against the wall) desk space and a workstation counter, and on the other side (also against the wall) the galley. Above the state rooms is a loft, currently also Steve's "bedroom" as we are presently a crew of seven. Our main water tank and supplies are stored on this loft. I'm occupying the room farthest from the interdeck ladder, the idea being that in case of an emergency, I would be able to check every room on my way out to the lower deck or to the upper deck's escape window. Next to me there's Frank, then Charlie, Sam, Rainer, and Darlene. The view out the windows of the upper deck is truly breathtaking. Towards the southeast we have a glorious view of Haughton Crater in its entirety, the dark cliffs marking its opposite rim area being over 13 miles away. Towards the southwest we see a long stretch of Haynes Ridge. To the northeast we see the vast flattish and reddish expanse of Von Braun Planitia. It's hard to imagin a safe landing spot on Mars that would be as scenic.

At the end of this first day, we are still getting along great. Because we got somewhat delayed today in the process of cleaning up the hab and unpacking the simulated spacesuits form their shipping boxes, EVA 1 started later than planned and we decided to postpone EVA 2 until tomorrow. Tomorrow we have in store a morning walking EVA with Darlene Lim and Sam Burbank who will hike a few hundred meters along Haynes Ridge to retrieve an aerosol collecting device left in place at Haughton Crater last summer. Then I plan to go out on a 4-person ATV-rover traverse with Charlie, Frank and Rainer to explore some of the northern reaches of Haughton Crater. The ground remains very wet at this time as a result of ongoing snow melt. Long distance traverses will probably remain problematic for some time. Depending on how things go on tomorrow's relatively short excursion, we might go on a longer traverse on our last day. Targets of scientific interest abound ; the question is that of their accessibility.