GreenHab Report


Today I finished cleaning up the GreenHab rolling up extension cords
and sweeping so as to reduce the dust. Each plant received two cups of
water. They are now saturated and should be fine for the next day.
Some radishes are starting to form nicely and by the weekend they
should be harvested. I am giving the lettuce until the weekend before
I harvest it as well so there will be enough for the next crew that
comes in after us. Since most of the vegetation has been planted only
within the last month or so, they are still juvenile and need more time
before harvesting.

Crew 68 made its own contribution by planting corn, radishes, onion and
carrots. More would be planted but there is no more potting soil.
During one of our future EVAs, we will acquire some local regolith near
the Mars Desert Research Station and utilize it as our potting soil and
see how that particular harvest fairs.

The mature plants in Aquatic Tank (AT) #2 were moved to AT#1. The
juvenile plants are to stay in AT#2 so they will not go into shock.
During a previous Crew rotation, it was observed that the plants in
AT#1 were dying (per Mission Support today) and that's why that AT was
empty. We will try to see if the mature plants survive in the AT#1.
If there is any evidence that they are failing then it is recommended
that 25% of the water in AT#1 be extracted and then replaced with fresh
water. The same procedure should, in theory, be done for all ATs that
contain plants in them. This should be done once every month. This
would be an interesting experiment in that we would have to watch how
much water we utilize (especially if we are on "Conservation Mode").

On the subject of "Conservation Mode"...in my report yesterday
pertaining to the GreenHab and the wiring (voltage), it is highly
recommended that a fuse box be installed in the GreenHab as soon as
possible. It is my opinion that with the various voltages in the
GreenHab, we cannot accurately monitor the exact power we are using to
maintain the GreenHab. On Mars, this is essential. One voltage should
be used. There needs to be a more simplistic and, most importantly,
more accurate way to maintain the GreenHab's power and discern how it
affects the main module's (the MDRS) power supply.