1130-CommandersReport

Commander Report

11/30/2014

Gregory Leonard

A spectacular sunrise marked the departure day of crew MDRS-143, and the beginning of our MDRS-144

crew and command takeover of the Habitat station. Their relatively early departure at 08:40 provided

us with considerable time to complete several important tasks today. All crew moved into their

staterooms; having a seven-person team, our seventh crew member will temporarily bunk in the lower

deck space until we complete the planned stateroom in the southwest quadrant of the loft level.

We completed inventory of our rotation food supply, digitized the inventory and stowed food in the

kitchen storage dividing items for use as breakfast, lunch/dinners and proteins. During an extensive

team meeting, we reviewed and discussed the overall scope and responsibilities for crew member

roles, and our views and strategies relating to the use of Hab resources, namely water use and

internet (see Engineering report for internet monitoring); we have devised some potentially novel

water conservation procedures (to be documented). Additionally we individually shared our

anticipations and expectations for our mission, and acknowledged each other’s objectives and purpose

for this project.

We held four mini-workshops relating to Hab systems and procedures. These included 1) introduction

to Hab health and safety issues which included a review of emergency procedures (e.g. Hab exits,

location and use of fire- extinguishers, in-Sim and out-of-Sim emergency meeting point, hygiene,

etc); 2) daily engineering checks overview (checking propane, and diesel fuel levels, and Hab water

levels); 3) introduction to using EVA space suits, radios and comms (several crew practiced putting

suits on and taking off, and walking outside the Hab), and 4) introduction to ATV safety and use

(most crew members practiced ATV operations and driving).

MDRS-144 crew have been assigned three official tasks today from the MDRS director: 1) Cleaning up

and modifying the layout of the “Antarctica pile” and the associated storage platform. Useful

materials were sorted from junk, and the tomorrow the platform will repaired and final materials

sorted; 2) Moving miscellaneous/extra MDRS gear that was scattered nearby the front of the Hab into

the GreenHab (temporarily); and 3) Designing the aforementioned 7th stateroom in the loft. A design

was conceived, and a materials list is being generated.

Without a doubt, a highlight for many of the crew was wearing the EVA suits for the first time and

appreciating today that we are joining in a legacy of other humans who are truly willing to pioneer

new frontiers of knowledge and inspire others to join us as well.