EVA-9
Kyle Brewer

Objectives: Troubleshoot and repair GreenHab water processing system

EVA Team:
EVA Commander: Kyle Brewer
EVA Crew: Heidi Anderson
Hab Comm: Rebecca Fink

Planned Route: MDRS - GreenHab - MDRS

Timeline:
Don Suits: 0000
Enter Airlock: 0015
Egress: 0020
Ingress: 0129
Enter Hab: 0130

New Waypoints Established (Details See Excel Database): none

Narrative: So it all started after dinner last night. Someone used the restroom and strictly followed the reminder taped to the bathroom wall: "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." But it didn't go down, it didn't even flush. The toilet tank was dry.

For all the non-GreenHab water treatment plant savvy readers out there, I'll digress for a moment and explain: The water used in the sinks and shower of MDRS is all collected as "gray water" and passed through a series of tanks in the MDRS greenhouse. The nutrients in this water are supposed to be consumed by algae and bacteria that live in these large tanks. In an ideal system, this water would then be returned to the crew for consumption. MDRS is not that advanced in its processes, and the processed gray water is only used as toilet flush water. So when the toilet doesn't flush, there's a problem in the GreenHab. Ok, back to the story...

We thought about this problem for a good long while and decided that we should have our out-of-sim crewmember act as a "sensor" for the crew. It's reasonable to assume that an actual Mars base would be wired with an array of sensors for recording data and providing feedback on the state of important systems like water processing. Our sensor reported that the TST (Toilet Supply Tank) was completely empty, that the pump between the TST and the Toilet Tank (TT) was running "dry" (not moving water), and that the lift pump that moves water from Tank 5 to the TST was running, but not moving any water into the tank. Based on this data, we turned off the TST-to-TT pump to keep it from being damaged due to overheating (it was warm/hot to the touch).

At this point the crew decided that to remain in-sim as much as possible, an EVA team should further check out the system. Suspecting the two large filters in the T5-TST lift line to be clogged, the EVA team carried tools (screwdrivers), spare filters, and a flashlight. To avoid contaminating EVA gloves with GreenHab water, protective gloves were worn by both crewmembers.

Immediately after arriving in the Greenhab, we checked what our "sensor" had indicated - the TST-TT pump had been running dry, and was switched off, and the TST was not being filled by the lift pump. To check the system, we decided to remove the pump line from the filters to determine pump functionality. This required first turning the pump off. Unfortunately for us, this pump has no on-off switch and had to be stopped at the GreenHab fuse panel. Alas, this power line did not use an actual fuse, but rather a wire short instead. (This is bad engineering practice, and a proper 15 amp fuse was installed in a later EVA). The wire was removed, the pump line disconnected, and the wire reinserted (a task which is much harder than it sounds while trying to remain in-sim and not use fingers to simply jam the wire into place.) The lift pump checked out fine.

Next to be checked was the filter system. This again involved removing that little bitty wire jumper to stop the pump. A quick inspection of both filters suggested that this was in fact the root-cause of the problem. While preparing for the EVA, the team was only able to locate "fiber" style filters (under the Engineering bench). Both filters in the system were replaced with this filter type. (We did search the GreenHab, but did not find the "pleated" style filters. It has been suggested that we did not look in the right place.)

With the filters replaced, it was time to restart the lift pump. Trying hard to stay in sim, we tried repeatedly to insert the wire jumper with needle-nose pliers. After the 4th or 5th try, the small wire slipped from the pliers and fell behind a tank. A quick scan of the area yielded another jumper which was inserted by hand to prevent its loss as well. Low and behold, the TST started filling and after a short time, the TST-TT pump was turned on and the toilet was once again flushable.

Lessons Learned:

1. Carefully plan what you are going to touch once our hands are "contaminated." It became frustrating to not be able to use your radio to communicated.
2. The GreenHab is small. It's even smaller in a suit. It's difficult for two people in suits to work in there. Shoot, it's difficult for one person in a suit to work in there. (But I could not have completed the task without help from Heidi).
3. Complicated systems like the GreenHab need to be well planned and well cared for. I was disappointed by the wiring system and lack of information given to us on our arrival.

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EVA-10
Rebecca Fink

Objectives: Fix toilet flush water supply, water GreenHab plants, check APRS

EVA Team:
EVA Commander: Rebecca Fink
EVA Crew: Heidi Anderson
Hab Comm: Kyle Brewer

Planned Route: MDRS - GreenHab - points S of hab - MDRS

Timeline:
Don Suits: 1100 MST
Enter Airlock: 1118 MST
Egress: 1124 MST
Ingress: 1203 MST
Enter Hab: 1204 MST

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

Narrative: The top priority for this EVA was to return the GreenHab to working condition. The crew watered the plants and checked the toilet supply tank, at which point it was determined that the tank was not filling even after the replacement filters were installed due to the fact that the pump was not running. The fuse responsible for the pump was missing (it had been jumpered by someone as a "temporary" substitute), so the crew installed a proper fuse. The crew then headed south of the hab to test the APRS. However, about 100 m from the hab, the EVA was aborted due to freezing rain and hail setting in.

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EVA-11
John Christian

Objectives: Check APRS

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

Planned Route: MDRS - points E of hab - MDRS

Timeline:
Enter Airlock: 1148 MST
Egress: 1153 MST
Ingress: 1250 MST
Enter Hab: 1251 MST

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

Narrative: The objective of this EVA was to verify the functionality of the APRS system around the hab. We began by heading east, frequently verifying our position with the hab. We continued east for about 0.4 km, taking time to test the system both in valleys (out of sight of the hab) and on hilltops. The APRS system worked very well during the entire EVA. As we were beginning to head west into more rugged terrain, the weather turned bad. We had to prematurely abort the EVA due to freezing rain and hail.

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EVA-12
Jan Osburg

Objectives: Repeat the previous day's long-range EVA to "Family Crest" with two more crewmembers, and try out an upgraded APRS setup.

EVA Team:
EVA Commander: Jan
EVA Navigator: Jan
EVA Crew: Heidi, Rebecca
Hab Comm: Kyle

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

Timeline:
Don Suits: 1520 MST
Enter Airlock: 1545 MST
Egress: 1550 MST
Checkpoint 1: 1737 MST Comm established 200 m S. of Family Crest
Checkpoint 2: 1830 MST FRS Comm re-established 2km out
Ingress: 1851 MST
Enter Hab: 1953 MST

New Waypoints Established (Details See Excel Database):
WPT 149: Mount Nutella
WPT 150: Rebecca Ridge

Narrative: We basically took the same route as EVA08, just this time followed by a "pressurized rover" with the History Channel team. They recorded some footage of us navigating the steeper parts of the ATV road leading north, and then spent almost an hour interviewing and filming us in front of the scenic canyon at "Family Crest".

On our way back, we stopped at several hills to test radio comms with the hab and to enjoy the Mars-like desert panoramas illuminated by a gorgeous sunset. Heidi took the opportunity to name one of those outcroppings after her favorite treat in life (Mount Nutella). Since Rebecca has a similar preference, we christened the ridge that she had used to get to the top of Mount Nutella "Rebecca Ridge". Soon thereafter, we were back at the hab for more interaction with the History Channel team.

Throughout most of this EVA, the APRS transmitted our position to the hab without problems, and we also had decent voice comms over the ham radio, since Kyle had temporarily installed an antenna on the roof of the hab. This is a good basis for our planned research next week. MDRS Crew 37