Commander Report
01/17/2013
Angelo Vermeulen
The highlight of today was the harvesting (and preparation) of greens grown in the GreenHab. After
lunch the entire team went over to the GreenHab and we all harvested kale, collards and chard. Care
was taken to only harvest outer leaves and leave the plant for further growth. I gave a small
introduction into the different plants and experiments that are currently running in the GreenHab.
The event created a bit of a festive mood that continued in the evening when all the vegetables
were prepared for dinner. Yajaira Sierra-Sastre made a terrific salad with kale, walnuts,
cranberries, sesame seeds and an olive oil-based dressing. Collards and chard were used in a fresh
soup made by Sian Proctor and myself. Sian also made detailed photo and video documentation of all
the GreenHab-related activities today, both the harvesting and the cooking. Kate Greene noted that
visiting the GreenHab had changed her mood in a positive way, and attributed it to increased
sensory input – a psychological compensation for spending most of the time inside the hab.
I conducted routine maintenance work in the GreenHab watering most of the plants and seedlings. An
hydroponics system for watercress was built using a cement mixing trough filled with roughly 2
layers of pebbles, large and small. A small supply of pebbles from the GreenHab was used, and
stones and pebbles were collected outside the hab next to the road/tunnel leading to the
observatory (non-sim operation). One small waterpump was installed that circulates water from one
corner of the trough to the other. A second pump was tested but proved to be partially
disfunctional. It makes a relatively loud noice and spurts water instead of flowing regularly.
Currently Simon is looking into it to see if he can fix it.
The hydroponic setup was installed on top of a seedling heat mat which was place of a panel of
insulation foam. This assured a constant elevated temperature of the water. About 40 rooting water
cress cuttings were placed in the pebbles.
All other plants in the GreenHab were generally in good condition, except for the herbs. One
cilantro plant and one basil plant had to be thrown out because they had died. The dill, thyme,
parsley and mint that were put under a protective plastic cover have not recovered and it’s unclear
whether they will survive. The AcuRite wireless thermometer sensor was installed inside the
GreenHab. We can now monitor temperatures from inside the hab.
For HI-SEAS odorant ID tests were carried out. At the time of writing this report (8pm) the nasal
patency tests were not yet carried out and they might be rescheduled for tomorrow. We addressed
another question from the list of HI-SEAS discussion topics. We discussed how we would deal with
crew-ground disconnect.
Yajaira Sierra-Sastre continued her microbiological food study. Buffer has been prepared, and the
stomacher door seal was fixed by Simon Engler. Currently 5 food samples are being prepared for
plating and incubation later tonight.
Oleg Abramov conducted a thermal infrared survey of the upper floor of the hab. 20 thermal images
were taken between 3 and 4pm. The common room, the ceiling insulation, and Oleg’s state room were
investigated. The lowest recorded temperature was 4.8°C at the ceiling hatch, the highest was
47.2°C from Oleg’s laptop.
Kate Greene updated firmware on the ZEO equipment. She also completed a faq for the crew about the
equipment.
Sian Proctor finalized all introductory interviews which she will start posting tonight (in small
resolution). As explained before she also took care of all the documentation of the GreenHab-
related activities.
Water usage was up again due to toilet issues. There was some severe clogging and backflow in the
toilet. Accumulated faeces had to be scooped out, and put in bags. It looks like the tolilet is not
actually flushing, but only accumulating faecal matter down the drainage tube. This is obviously a
serious problem that we would like to resolve.
ATVs were checked and recharged batteries were put in all of them. All the gas tanks were filled.
We are officially out of fuel for the ATVs (both gas cans empty). ATV #1, #3, #4 are operational.
ATV #2 appears to have a stripped starter motor, and will not start. ATV #5 starts and runs fine,
but will not idle even at full choke. Finally, routine cleaning chores were done in the hab.
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CommanderCheckIn Report
01/17/2013
Angelo Vermeulen
Crew Physical Health:
All are well.
Eva Depart Time: N/A
Eva Return Time: N/A
Narrative Of Field Mission Results: N/A
Hab Maint:
Routine checks of water, diesel and propane. Loft tank was filled up three times. Water usage was up again due to toilet issues. There was some severe clogging and backflow in the toilet. Accumulated faeces had to be scooped out, and put in bags. It looks like the tolilet is not actually flushing, but only accumulating faecal matter down the drainage tube. This is obviously a serious problem that we would like to resolve. ATVs were checked and recharged batteries were put in all of them. All the gas tanks were filled. We are officially out of fuel for the ATVs (both gas cans empty). ATV #1, #3, #4 are operational. ATV #2 appears to have a stripped starter motor, and will not start. ATV #5 starts and runs fine, but will not idle even at full choke. At the GreenHab the AcuRite wireless thermometer sensor was installed and the hydroponics system with water cress was set up. The latter also contributed to increased water usage. Routine cleaning chores were done in the hab.
Rep Sched:
-
Tomorrow Plan:
(1) EVA #3 to a waypoint indicated by previous crew (1.6 km southeast from the hab), (2) HI-SEAS research: weighing and photographing of lunch, HI-SEAS discussion topics. (3) Individual research projects.
Inventory:
-
Support Req:
ATV fuel, assistance with delivery of packages at Hollow Mountain.
Miscellaneous:
Chard, collards and kale were harvested in the GreenHab, and used in dinner. The temperature sensor in the GreenHab indicated 52°F at 6:40pm.