Generator/Electricity:
Generator was not running this morning. We attempted to start it once but the generator battery volts were at zero, so we were unsuccessful. Next we attempted to start the generator again, this time using the blue truck battery connected in parallel across the black generator battery. This successfully started the generator, and after a few minutes the inverter loaded the generator. But a few minutes later, the generator stopped again. At 15:00, we made a final attempt to start the generator and keep it running. During this process we carefully monitored both the generator meters and the inverter meters to try to determine what was causing the generator to stop. This time we left the car battery connected across one of the generator batteries for about 10minutes, until the inverter load (current performance%) stabilised at 30% (when the generator first started the current fluctuated between 50-60%). When the car battery was disconnected, the generator appeared to be stable, and we monitored it for another 15mins to be confident of this.

At 17:00 the generator stopped running again. Since nothing about the Hab loading of the generator had changed, we decided to wait till Don arrived before attempting to start it again.

At 18:15 Don arrived at changed the oil filter and topped up the oil on the generator. He inspected the batteries and determined that it was the faulty connection between the two generator batteries that caused the voltage to the generator to stop. Since these batteries power the fuel pump, when the voltage was too low for the pump, the generator stopped. Crew 39 had inserted a jumper lead between the two batteries to correct the problem, however Don found that lead to be faulty, and replaced it with a newer lead from the Blue truck. The generator was started successfully without requiring the truck battery to be in the circuit. The generator now appears to be stable. HOLD ON – as of 21:30 this evening, the generator has stopped again. We will use the truck to charge the generator batteries in the morning, and then attempt a restart. Don Foutz is looking into a more permanent way of charging the generator batteries and will let us know tomorrow.

Crew 40 will add a check of the generator oil pressure and level to the engineering report each day to ensure smooth running of the generator is maintained. Once the generator is in a nominal state, we will run it for several hours in the evening only and run off batteries otherwise. Until then we will leave the generator on as long as possible to maximise its benefit before it stops again.

Internal batteries at 23.8V as at 21:30. Will monitor later in the evening and in the morning to ensure Hab batteries stay above 22.5V.

Fuel Status:
Generator large tank at 3/4 full.
ATV fuel: #1 is 1/2 full, #2 is 1/2 full, #3 is 1/2 full. Will refill if needed for EVA tomorrow.

Water status:
Inside tank refilled today, and after several showers (for the greenhab levels) the water level is back at "30". Needs to be converted to a volume.
Water outside reading at 26.5'” deep, needs to be converted to a volume
Showers: 2
Flushes:13 (due to having both crews in the hab this morning).

Transportation: ATVs used for training of new crew only, in the immediate vicinity of the hab. ATV #3 idle is set to low, so the ATV repeatedly stalls. Please advise what we should do about this.

Mars Suits: Not used today. Crew will undergo suit training tomorrow morning. Update on suit status available then.

HVAC: Heating on last night, but off during the day. A/C not required.

Computers & Network: All in working order.

GreenHab:
Tank #5 virtually empty due to few showers and heavy toilet use due to both crews using it in the morning. This usage should stabilise now with just one crew present.
Tank #4 about 4" low, and Tank #3 about 2" low. Need to take more showers, but since generator is off we will not run the water heater in order to conserve power. We will increase our water usage to the greenhab tomorrow.