Crew 128A
Lone Star Highlanders
Commander Summary Report
Crew 128 A is composed of three students and three faculty members of McLennan Community College located in Waco, Texas. In conjunction with the Mars 101 class offered at our college, students of the class have a one week rotation at MDRS. During the week, our students work on undergraduate research projects that were related to the proposition of travel and living on Mars. Students submitted research proposals and competed for a position on the two crews that came from McLennan Community College. After submission, the best submissions/ students were accepted to become members of Crews 128A and 128B.
Our students for Crew 128A were Bao Pham, Alysen Johnson, and Randy Sommerfeldt. Bao Pham was conducting tests of an experimental harness that increases the resistance of movements to simulate the effort required for movement in a pressurized suit. Alysen Johnson was conducting research on the effect of the simulated environment and restricted diet on the hydration of the crew. Randy Sommerfeldt was determined the test methods used to determination of the suitability of various soils for horticultural growth. Our students will take the results of their testing and present the results at McLennan Community College’s Scholars Day as well as other venues that are available to our students.
The crew had three predetermined EVAs in additional to the EVAs required for their individual research. The EVAs were an In-Sim Orientation EVA, a Geology EVA, an Astronomy EVA and a Chemistry EVA. These EVAs gave our students a baseline to learn proper procedure and methods for performing an EVA.
Research and EVAs are not the ultimate purpose of the MDRS, but instead to simulate living on Mars. The crew has agreed that instead of losing weight as they expected this past week, we have all probably gained a few pounds due to the excellent cooking provided by our cook, Alysen. Her ability to ‘cook from scratch’ has allowed the crew to feast on meals composed of home-style stews, pizza, mac –n- cheese, homemade bread, and homemade cinnamon raisin bread.
During this week at the MDRS, we lived as if we were living on Mars. While it may seem we made a ‘big deal’ about food, but appetizing meals made from limited ingredients will be an important part of living in a stressful environment off of Earth. Dealing with the unexpected, like the windstorm we experienced this past Tuesday is an important part of the simulation. Effecting repair on the damaged porch railing that occurred during the storm damage was also an important. Keeping the airpacks repaired would also be an activity that would have to be performed while living on Mars.
Our crew melded this week to become an effective team. We all worked together to accomplished the tasks that we had to complete and developed camaraderie among our members that will extend past our time at MDRS. All of the crew’s goals were accomplished. It has been a pleasure to be the commander for this crew.