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As of 7 pm last night we are officially “in Sim”. We can no longer leave the habitat without a spacesuit simulator.

Yesterday morning Graham and I took a great hike up to the ridge west of the Hab to watch the sunrise and the moonset. The landscape here is pretty fantastic.

Sunrise over the Hab

Moonset over Factory Butte

Here’s a link to yesterday’s reports.

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We’ve been focusing on engineering tasks in and around the “Hab” the past two days in preparation for going into “Sim”. A number of systems were down or in need of attention when our crew arrived. In order to have a good simulation we decided to try and fix as many of these before going into Sim in order to have the most convincing experience possible.

The Hab is a 2-story cylindrical structure that houses our living quarters and lab spaces. We access the outside environment via 2 airlocks. One leads directly out into the landscape and is used for EVA [extra vehicular activity] missions. The other is the engineering airlock and connects with simulated pressurized tunnels which lead to the power generator, observatory and GreenHab. EVA missions require a space suit simulator. The GreenHab is a combination of greenhouse and waster water management system. More on this in a future post.

Going into Sim means that we will pretend to be on Mars and that we will explore it geologically, biologically, etc. We will not leave the Hab without a space suit simulator. Everyday we prepare a number of reports and converse with Mission Support over email about the status of our research and various Hab life support systems.

Luis hauling water

We plan to go into Sim at some point tomorrow. Today we continued work on various water related systems. Flow of potable water into the Hab is still frozen. We’re trying to rectify this as the alternative means hauling 45 gallons of water manually. We’re also working to get the GreenHab system back online. The GreenHab processes and recycles our grey water (sink and shower water) through a series of filtration systems, tanks and plant life so that it can be reused in the Hab.

Graham photographing the moon

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It was a full moon tonight and we spent some time after dinner in the observatory. The full moon made the sky very bright and it made for less than ideal conditions for astronomy. However we still got nice views of Mars, Saturn, the Moon and Orion’s Nebula.

Afterwards we celebrated Luis’ b-day with Betty Crocker cupcakes!!

Mike holding the moon

I’ve posted a journal report for our first day on Mars. You can also review our other daily reports at the MDRS logbook.

Crew 65 shopping for supplies

Milky Way over the Hab- photo by Debi-Lee Wilkinson

Crew 65 mission commences

Graham in the GreenHab

Crew 65 arrived safely last night (January 19, 2008).

We’re busy getting trained and acclimated, so I’ll keep this short for now.

In the meantime, if you want to check in on us, we have live webcam feeds in and around the MDRS habitat:
http://www.freemars.org/mdrscam/

Here’s a recent screenshot from the 2nd floor of the MDRS habitat facing west.

2nd floor MDRS habitat

Crew 65 Patch design

Here’s our crew mission patch designed Mike Smithwick

MDRS Habitat Panorama

I flew into Salt Lake City, Utah today. Tomorrow we drive about 6 hours to get to the MDRS habitat. Looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight and my last hot shower for awhile.

Here’s an email I sent out about a week ago - in the comments I’ve pasted in some of the responses I’ve received so far …

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Dear friends and family,

As some of you may or may not know, I have had a long interest in space travel. In one week, on Friday January 18th 2008, I will join 5 other crew members to commence a 2-week stay on the planet Mars. I am very excited about this opportunity and I am also excited to share the news with you.

You can read more about the Mars Desert Research Station and keep tabs on my crew at this website [I’m on Crew 65]:
http://desert.marssociety.org/

I invite you to participate on this journey with me. I hope that you might share with me your feelings about space travel and Martian/Lunar settlements as well as your reaction/thoughts about my upcoming trip. [in the medium of your choice]

I am also able to bring a modest amount of luggage with me. There is a history of astronauts bringing various items into space such as stamps, currency, etc. I’m more than willing to bring and document a reasonable number of your items with me on my trip. I will check my PO box the day before I leave. Please mail me your items or let me know ASAP and I will try my best to procure them before I leave.

Packages must arrive at my PO Box by the Thursday January 17th, 2008 (sorry for the short notice).

Finally, I am interested and willing to perform actions, instructions or experiments during my time on Mars. I should have limited (though delayed) internet access during my stay. But to assure that I receive them before I leave, try to email me your requests by midnight on Thursday January 17th 2008.

Happy New Year!!

morgan

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