Project: EVA: Incline Study Preparation

Personnel:
Tulika Raj

During the EVA various locations were marked for the incline study,
which will be conducted as an endeavor to further develop and propagate
Crew 62’s EVA incline study.

This study will focus on the extent of upward and downward motion on an
inclined surface in EVA suits. The incline would specifically be the
natural incline of the terrain. Voluntary subjects from within the crew
of varying height, age and gender will be incorporated for this study.
A grading rubric of 1 to 5 will be used to quantify the subjective
difficulty of navigating the incline in EVA suits by the user. Here, 1
refers to the most comfortable position that the subject might relate
to for an incline, and 5 refers to the most difficult position for the
subject to maintain. Through this study we will be able to assess the
mobility and movement uphill and downhill on varying soil types and
inclines during EVA. This study will provide the insight to safe
navigation of slopes while wearing the EVA suit.

Technical/Equipment Issues:

T-square, protractor, Soil pH meter (non-functional)

Discussion / Questions :

Today’s EVA involved measuring the slopes of inclined terrain at
various locations North and East in the Hab’s vicinity. The data for
soil color, angle, and texture were recorded for 4 different locations.
This study also provided the novel experience of conducting research
during EVA, and thus, it sheds light on the limitations of mobility and
data measurement and recording in EVA suits.

The “Hold All” soil pH, moisture and light meter was also used during
the study to quantify the soil type more accurately. However, the meter
was not functional, which does not cause hindrance to the incline
study.