EVA-15 Report
Celeste Gale Reporting

Participants: Diego Casa, Kyoichi Sasazawa, Celeste Gale (cmdr)

Equipment: ATVs, cameras, gps, rock hammer.

Route:

• wpt 101 051890, 425093
• wpt 121 051871, 425465
• wpt 119 051697, 425452
• wpt 130 051732, 425697
• same route for return.

Max distance from HAB: 6.12 km.

Objectives/Work Done: Study the area marked as 'Barsoom outcrops' north of the hab.

Weather: Cloudy, intermittent rain.

Narrative: We went out on three ATVs to reach the 'Barsoom Outcrop' at wpt 130. We took established routes and kept a good pace. However, along Kasei hwy (wpt 130) there is a hard pass over some gullies. We decided to try it, and we made it through on low gear with not much difficulty, in one case without dismounting. This created a false sense of confidence, as we'll see below.

Upon arrival at Barsoom outcrops, we took time to examine the formations, climb one of the outcrops, took 3 3D mapping data points, and examine the geology (see corresponding report). When our objectives were complete and we had all the data we needed to collect from this area, we decided to head back to the Hab.

On the way back, we took the same route, and we underestimated the difficulty of the dangerous pass. The gully was steep and was composed of very loose earth. To compound the difficulty, at the top of the gully the road turned hard to the right to avoid a steep gully. When the ATV is climbing, the front wheels did not have a lot of power to turn the vehicle, even when leaning forward.

One ATV made it to the bottom and then it was 'walked' up with much difficulty. The second one attempted to cross on one go, but overshot the turn and fell nose-down into the gully (coordinates in UTM 517395 4256847). The vehicle jammed itself vertical, the rider went over the handlebars and hit the opposite side of the gully face first, his right foot caught under the handlebar. The helmet and visor both broke on impact, but there was no facial or neck damage, since the force of the blow was transmitted via the collar to the shoulders padded with the backpack straps. The left handlebar collided with the rib cage, causing a blunt trauma. The right foot was caught under the right handlebar, which was turned due to the full weight of the vehicle. Quick action of the other two-crew members freed the rider.

No radio contact was available in that vicinity, so it was decided one of the crewmembers would drive back and one would stay with the injured rider. In the meanwhile, the other two-crew members left behind had managed to cross the remaining ATV by 'walking' it carefully and using the stricken ATV as an anchor. They also managed to get the stricken ATV on its wheels and along the gully.

The crewmember who drove back succeeded in contacting with Hab at wpt. 101. He told Hab "emergency". After the crewmember arrival, two extra crewmembers joined the rescue party in the pressurized rover with extra supplies (ropes, shovels, and miscellaneous materials that could be useful in an emergency). When the rescue party arrived, they decided to carve the gully wider so the ATV could be driven in reverse on its own power. Then, the ATV was positioned at the bottom of the pass and walked up while other team members were pulling forward with ropes (see pictures 2/23).

All vehicles returned to the HAB without further incident. The ATV in question (#3) does not appear to have suffered significant damage, and was put back into service. After consultations with the HSO and Flight Surgeon, the stricken crewmember was fitted with a compression chest bandage and given analgesics. Today (2/24) he returned to limited hab duties.

Lessons Learned:

1. Marked routes are not necessarily safe.
2. In a real mission, take into account that even in a small ATV accident, the helmet is likely to crack, with fatal consequences if the incident had occured on Mars. Future designs should take this into account.
3. Radio contact needs improvement.
4. Take shovels and ropes to Mars, or on your ATV's.

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EVA-16 Report
Bob McNally Reporting

Theme: Lowell Highway to Muddy Creek

Duration: 15:42-18:17 (2 hours 35 minutes)

Participants: Bob McNally (cmd), Louise Wynn, Kyoichi Sasazawa

Equipment: ATVs, GPS, Radios, Scintillometer, Magnetic Susceptibility Meter, Cameras, Geologist's Hammer

Location & Route:
Hab (0518.17E 4250.93N) to wpt 131 (0520.42E 4256.23N)
wpt 131 to 0515.65E 4252.94N, all via Lowell Highway

Objectives/Work Done: This EVA was conducted to investigate the cliffs overlooking Muddy Creek for geological purposes, and to see if there was a way down to Muddy Creek at the end of Lowell Highway. It had rained overnight and into the morning; the sun reappeared around 11am; by 3pm it was judged dry enough for a short EVA. The destination was selected as a point of Geological interest that was reachable in a 2-2/1/2 hour EVA, and reachable by map-marked trails only. We rode north on the Lowell highway, slowly in areas with remaining mud, and faster in dry stretches. The highway was mostly dry, with occasional areas of one-inch mud on top of dry, sandy base. We knew muddy areas can be slippery, so we traversed them with great caution. The second half of the outbound trip was dry, about 1/4 of our total mileage was over a muddy roadway. We reached the end of Lowell highway at 16:46; we found ourselves overlooking a spectacular canyon leading down to Muddy Creek. Many strata were revealed in the walls of the Canyon, and the rocky surface we were standing on was littered with the biggest variety of rock types we have seen in any one location. Louise took Geophysical data, while Kyoichi collected rock samples, and all three crew took photos. We observed severe undercutting at the canyon head, but primarily vertical walls along the canyon sides. A brief shower followed by bright sun from the west produced a strong rainbow arching over the canyon. On the trip back we foung the going drier than on the outbound leg, as drying had continued.

Weather: Sunny, Cloudy, occasional showers. Temp 50 deg.F

Maximum distance from Hab: 3.34 km

Lessons Learned: Traveling by ATV is possible after rain when the ground has begun to dry. The longer you can wait for drying to occur, the less mud you will encounter on the roadways. The ATVs are very capable in slippery conditions, but the knobby tires collect and distribute large amounts of the sticky clay mud we encountered. Distance covered is very reduced in the slippery spots because speed must be reduced for safety. By the time we were back, there were many clods of muddy dirt on the horizontal surfaces of the ATVs. We concluded that travel in really muddy conditions (we had only occasional mud) is doable, but with a high overhead of cleaning the equipment at the end of the trip. We discovered that there is not foot-access to Muddy Creek where we went. We also found the repeater can be effective in reaching the Hab when there is a clear line of sight from our location to Skyline Rim. We did not receive any messages back from the hab on the repeater; The Hab did not hear it's own messages repeated back to them; we postulate that the cloudy weather over the last several days may have resulted in a low charge on the repeater batteries, enough for one message but not another, until some time has passed. For specifics on the geology lessons learned, see the Geology report.