EVA-4 Report:
Ryan L. Kobrick

Start EVA: 10:55
End EVA: 13:40
Ryan: (Executive Officer)
André: (Geologist)
John: (Biologist)
Jonathan: (Researcher)

Destination Name: Martian Squeeze Destination GPS: UTM NAD27 – 518 641 4249 499 (UTM WGS84 – 518 576 4249 703)

EVA Goals: The EVA goal of today was to train the crew and practice using the Mars Society Canada's (MSC) field reconnaissance method named HERMES (Human Expedition Reconnaissance for Mars Exploration Science) using the MSC's Astronaut EVA Dataloggers.

Results: This was André's first experience in a MDRS spacesuit and our first fully simulated training EVA. The first 15 minutes of the EVA were spent setting up the GPS and Datalogging systems. The crew then traversed south on the Lowell Highway towards the ridge of “Martian Squeeze” near “Bob's Rock Garden”. At the location, the crew used the HERMES protocol to take panoramic photos for future scientific missions to return to the same site. The dataloggers are used to aid the astronaut-scout in acquiring and reporting geological and geospatial information. The method uses software to integrate the data by stamping all photos with GPS and time information, and captioning photos according to the naming convention (Information provided by MSC). The area was chosen using André's Landsat 7 data with MSC's programmed maps that included a division of the local region into a set of circular areas. The crew was divided into two pairs and each pair took a central panoramic of the chosen area. After, the pairs carried out a combined set of 3 panoramas due to time constraints. A future scientific crew could return to the same location and use these scout crew panoramas.

Special Notes: One of the dataloggers (Red Dog) had difficulty maintaining a blue tooth connection the GPS receiver when the PDA cover flap was shut.

Waypoints: Waypoints were taken at the 4 panoramic sites (twice at the central location).

Lessons Learned: Shoulder discomfort was a common problem during the EVA as the helmet ring sat awkwardly on the shoulders. A front vest was used and even though it offered additional storage, it was straining on the neck and caused some equipment to fall out of the pockets when bending over. The GPS units should use hard wiring as the blue tooth connections are unstable. The dataloggers should be set up to measure data point when a minimum displacement of movement instead of on a time interval. There are a lot of data points in positions where pictures were being recorded. The GPS maps and folders in the memory should be pre-programmed in the equipment before going out in the field to save time and consumables, particularly crew energy, and life support systems power.

Secondary location panoramic photograph of Martian Squeeze

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EVA-5 Report:
Melissa Battler

Start EVA: 15:15
End EVA: 17:30
Melissa: (Commander)
Danielle: (Chief Engineer)
Lealem: (Field Engineer)
Kevin: (Field Engineer, HSO)

EVA Goals: Same as EVA-4

Results: This time, maps were loaded onto the PDA dataloggers before departing the hab. Still, the first 10 minutes of the EVA were spent setting up the GPS and Datalogging systems. The crew then traversed directly east 1 km from the hab, and used the HERMES protocol to take panoramic photos and suggested worksite photos for future scientific missions to return to.

Special Notes: There was some difficulty with maintaining connections between the blue tooth GPS units and the dataloggers. Also, we forgot to bring a few pieces of equipment into the field with us, and we realized that we need to update our EVA checklist.

Waypoints: Waypoints were taken at the 3 panoramic sites (twice at the central location).

Lessons Learned: Shoulder discomfort was a problem again on this EVA, as the helmet ring sat awkwardly on the shoulders. However, we realized that propping the helmet up onto the backpack shoulder straps helps. We did not use the front vest, on the recommendations of the EVA-4 crew, but used our spacesuit pockets instead, with no complaints. Also, we realized that we should duct tape our PDA styluses to our space suit gloves, to avoid dropping them. We should also remember to review the location, topography, and traverse route prior to each EVA, so we won't have to figure things out in the field.

Crew feedback on HERMES: The crew had mixed feelings about HERMES. While everyone agreed that the HERMES protocol would lead to effective and efficient exploration of an area not previously visited (i.e.. Mars), there were many suggestions for improvement of the technology currently employed. Anonymous crew comments follow:

An integrated system would be much more efficient and allow the scouts to spend more time making good observations of their surroundings rather than figuring out where all the pieces are that they need to record the data.

The HERMES protocol for carrying out field scouting is a well developed protocol that would allow a research group to easily process the acquired data and plan a return EVA.

At the very least, a compass should be integrated into the camera tripod. The operation of the camera is very awkward with the separate compass.

The iPaq units seemed to be underpowered for running the ArcPad software and overly complex for the needs of HERMES. Also some way to mount the iPaq would free up the operator's hands for doing other tasks. One issue with the Pharos GPS units is that they all use the same code, and it appears that at times the units interact with each other.

The methodology is straightforward and consistent, which makes it a perfect candidate for automation. If software was developed to automatically perform the tedious naming tasks, scouting missions utilizing HERMES would be even more productive.

Unfortunately ArcPad does not have a very intuitive interface… creation and naming of layers is complicated and the software does not allow extraction of individual waypoints directly from the current GPS location. The Bluetooth interface between the PDA and the GPS receiver is unreliable, and requires too much attention from the fieldworker. A hard-wired GPS/data entry system would be preferable, and move streamlined and automated GUI would be a huge improvement.