EVA-7
Rebecca Fink

Objectives: Complete PID "spider web" waypoints, check GreenHab status

EVA Team:
EVA Commander: John Christian
EVA Crew: Rebecca Fink, Heidi Anderson
Hab Comm: Doug Martin

Planned Route: MDRS - points W of hab - points NW of hab - points SW of hab - GreenHab - MDRS

Timeline:
Don Suits: 1030 MST
Enter Airlock: 1043 MST
Egress: 1048 MST
Checkpoint 1: Radio Ridge - 1114 MST
Checkpoint 2: Complete NW traverse - 1204 MST
Checkpoint 3: far SW point - 1229 MST
Checkpoint 4: GreenHab - 1309 MST
Ingress: 1320 MST
Enter Hab: 1321 MST

New Waypoints Established (Details See Excel Database): N/A

Narrative: The purpose of this EVA was to complete the spiral set of waypoints for the soil sampling, which included the points in the NW, W, and SW directions from the hab. The EVA crew first moved straight west from the hab, taking samples along the way, until the furthest-west distance was reached. This point required a good deal of climbing up and down smaller hills. Next, the crew travelled north to reach the far northwest corner and began the descent, approaching the hab from the northwest, taking samples along the way. Several of the waypoints we were to sample were difficult to reach, being hidden in trenches or on the sides of very steep slopes with lose soil, but the EVA crew was able to take all the requested points.

To take the samples along the southwest direction, the crew headed back up a ridge in order to get a fix on the west direction, and then went directly south to the far southwest corner of the "spider web". The traverse along this diagonal was at least as treacherous as the northwest approach, and possibly more so, but the crew was able to reach all the pre-planned measurement points. It should be noted that, should it be necessary to reach these waypoints in the future, it would be much easier to approach them from the hab (from northeast of the points) as the hills are not as steep on that side. On the southwest side the crew encountered a lot of very steep climbs and descents with very loose soil, making the footing very difficult. Nonetheless, all sample points were collected successfully.

The crew returned to the GreenHab at 1309 MST to record tank levels and obtain a diagram of the tank and valve system. The GreenHab plants were also watered at this time. The EVA was completed at 1320 MST.

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EVA-7
Jan Osburg

Objectives: First long-range EVA; reach Northern end of 4WD road that passes by hab, and test radio communications and APRS along the way.

EVA Team:
EVA Commander: Jan
EVA Navigator: Jan
EVA Crew: Kyle, Doug
Hab Comm: John

Planned Route: MDRS - WPT099 - WPT100 - WPT077 - WPT026 - WPT093 - WPT015 - MDRS

Timeline:
Don Suits: 1530
Enter Airlock: 1545
Egress: 1550
Ingress: 1906
Enter Hab: 1907

New Major Waypoints Established (Details See Excel Database):
WPT139: Cow Dung Road Exit
WPT140: Ham Hillock (first time we had ham-only comms)
WPT141: Heidi's Hill (named after Kyle's girlfriend)
WPT142: Overhang (with neat overhanging rock plate)
WPT143: Blecken's Boulder (named after Doug's girlfriend)
WPT144: Radio Range (outer range of direct ham radio comms)
WPT145: Dead End (BLM marker with said inscription at the end of "Cow Dung Road"
WPT146: Jennifer Junction (named after Jan's wife)

Narrative: Since this was our first long-range EVA, we spend quite a bit of time on setting up our radios and the APRS, gathering emergency gear, and briefing the EVA and hab crews on objectives, procedures, routes and contingencies.

We soon set out on our ATVs, but after a few hundred meters we had to stop and return to the hab, since we had forgotten to pack the 12V tire inflation pump. This decision was soon rewarded, since Jan's ATV was starting to pull over to one side, caused by an underinflated tire. To our delight, the pump worked as advertised, and so we continued on our quest to reach the northernmost point of the dirt road going by the hab ("Cow Dung Road" [sic]). As we progressed, we frequently halted to check our radio link with the hab, both voice and APRS (position-reporting packet radio). The voice link functioned to our satisfaction, but APRS was somewhat of a disappointment since we could not get it to work. Hopefully we will be able to fix this before our next long-range EVA. However, we frequently transmitted our position and status to the hab via the voice link.

Several times along the way, radioman Kyle had to climb to higher ground to get better reception. Once we have the repeater system up and running, we will hopefully be able to avoid that type of strenuous exercise. However, on the upside, once we reached the tops of the various hills and hillocks, we were rewarded for our efforts with beautiful views. The most impressive panorama awaited us from the top of newly-christened "Blecken's Boulder", with the majestic Henry Mountains to the south and Factory Butte towering over Skyline Rim to the west.

The drive north today brought back memories of my previous time at MDRS, with Crew 5 in April of 2002. We went past several waypoints that my old crewmates and I had surveyed and named, back when we didn't have no fancy mapping software at the hab, and no newfangled automatic position reporting packet radio system with us on EVA back then, we had to manually type in positions using the rubber keys of our GPS units, and we were damn glad we had GPS units in the first place ;-)

After about five kilometers of driving and reminiscing, we reached the end of Cow Dung Road, appropriately marked with a BLM post inscribed "Dead End". From there it was only a few steps to gorgeous views of a very Mars-like canyon, from waypoint "Family Crest" (so named by Crew 5 since this picturesque crest had likely been the site where many local families had gotten started). We used the occasion to take tourist pictures of us in our EVA suits, including some with Buzz the Yellow Jacket, Georgia Tech's mascot, and Fifi the Pink Cat, my little daughter's favorite stuffed animal which she had sent with me to keep me company on my trip to "Mars".

However, a look at the dark clouds gathering over Factory Butte soon encouraged us to stow our gear and start the trip home. With Kyle in the lead, it took us less than an hour to navigate the road back to the hab, where the rest of the crew was already awaiting our arrival, ready to share their experiences at the hab and eager to hear the stories we had to tell.