Crew 101 Log Book for March 23, 2011 Photos of the dayCommander's Check-In ReportTom Caillouet Reporting Crew Health: Quite good EVAs and Times: EVA 16: 1247 - 1358 Number of Reports: 6 (Commander, Engineering, Journalist, Chef, 2 EVA, Science) Field Results: EVA 16 - ATV trouble forced early stop. Plans for Tomorrow: May or may not be in sim. Lack of two working ATVs severely limits range of gathering more samples or exploring. Commander's ReportTom Caillouet Reporting Today was a bit of a turning point in the mission. During EVA 16, one of the ATVs encountered trouble, so we are now down to one consistently working ATV. This puts us in a bit of a bind because our remaining planned EVAs were all very long range - exploratory and radio range testing. Without two working ATVs, our work here is effectively over. None of us were terribly heart broken at the thought of there being no point in continuing sim, though. We'll continue what science we can in the Hab, but that's looking to be all for the EVAs. It was my turn to cook, so I decided to try my hand at red beans and rice. The Hab's cooking equipment is surpassed even by my lowly apartment's set up (the general lack of a 'seriously, just barely higher than warm' setting on the stove is a pain), but it was sufficient to whip up a decent meal from various dehydrated meats and vegetables. Our batch of French bread went even better than last time, if only because we got four loaves instead of just two (it still only took one meal to finish off, though). I've certainly made better, but I end the day pretty satisfied. Engineering ReportCody Hall Reporting Generator/Electricity: • Kitty (Diesel Generator) (Used? Yes/No): Yes • Honey (Gas Generator) (Used? Yes/No): No • Battery Charge Level: o V everstart o V armor plate o V green
1 generator run
• Diesel (Full/0.75/0.5/0.25/Empty): 0.75 • Propane Tank (Full/0.75/0.5/0.25/Empty): 0.25 • Gasoline Tank (Full/0.75/0.5/0.25/Empty): 0.5 Notes/Comments:
Oil: • Kitty Oil Quantity (# of Quarts in storage): Changed/replaced by DG • Honey Oil Quantity (# of Quarts in storage): Leave it to DG • ATV Oil Quantity (# of Quarts in storage): 6 quarts on the engineering work bench • Car Oil Quantity (# of Quarts in storage): Leave it to DG Notes/Comments:
• Outside Potable Water Tank Level (inches from bottom): 14 • Trailer Potable Water Tank Level (inches from bottom): full • Hab Potable Water Tank Level (inches from bottom): 6 • Potable Water Meter Reading: 438115
GreenHab: • Condition of plants in Tank 1: unchanged • Condition of plants in Tank 2: unchanged • Condition of plants in Tank 3: unchanged • Greenhab notes/ comments: straining tank is draining, but is still not down to sand
Observatory: • Telescope Used? (Yes/no) No Observatory Notes:
Transportation: Hab Car (NOT RENTAL) • Used (yes/no): No • Oil Checked (yes/no): No • Tire Status: Not checked • Odometer at end of day: 123688.4 • Notes/Comments on Hab Car:
• Used: yes • Oil Checked: no • Fuel Consumed: replaced • Tire Status: ok • Comments:
• Used: yes • Oil Checked: no • Fuel Consumed: not replaced • Tire Status: ok • Comments: gear shift lever that DG welded on broke off during EVA 16
• Used: no • Oil Checked: no • Fuel Consumed: none • Tire Status: ok • Comments: think battery may be dead; could not start
• Used: no • Oil Checked: no • Fuel Consumed: none • Tire Status: ok • Comments: could not start. Battery is not dead, but star button mostly makes clicking noise instead of trying to start
• Thermostat setting upstairs (Farenheit): 68 • Actual temperature upstairs (Farenheit): 71 • Thermostat setting downstairs (Farenheit): 65 • Actual temperature downstairs (Farenheit): 64 Notes/Comments:
Notes/comments on internet/computers:
Notes/Comments: found more of Engineering roof, and returned it to Engineering. It was a large aluminum piece and was very bent up. I will send pictures early tomorrow. Did not see Josh’s email requesting pictures until it got dark. Science ReportChristina Graves Reporting Objectives: Science objectives for the day is to complete DNA isolation from soil samples collected thus far (8 in al) using the E.Z.N.A. Soil DNA kit (Omega). Materials and Equipment: 1. water bath set to 70C 2. centrifuge 3. 1.5 mL centrifuge tubes 4. 95% ethanol for sterilization 5. ice bath 6. dIH2O
DNA was allowed to sit on ice (0C) overnight to maximize DNA precipitation. They were then centrifuged again at full speed (13000rpm) for 10 minutes [note: protocol calls for 4C centrifuge]. The supernatant was then discarded. To the pelleted DNA, 200uL of elution buffer was added to the tube, and shaken thoroughly. The samples were then incubated at 70C for 20 minutes to dissolve the DNA pellet. 100uL of HTR reagent was then added, and mixed thoroughly by shaking for 20 seconds. The samples were incubated at room temperature for 2 minutes, and centrifuged at full speed (13000rpm) for 2 minutes. The supernatant was the transferred to a new 1.5mL eppendorf tube, and an equal volume (400uL) of XP1 buffer was added and thoroughly mixed. The samples where then applied to a HiBind DNA column in a provided 2mL collection tube, and were centrifuged at 10000 rpm for 1 minute. The flow-through was discarded, and 300uL XP1 buffer was again added to the column. The samples were again centrifuged at 10000rpm for 1 minute, and collection tubes and flow-through were discarded. The columns were then placed into a new 2mL collection tube (provided) and was with 700uL of SPW Wash Buffer diluted with ethanol, and centrifuged at 10000rpm for 1min. The flow-through was discarded, and samples were rewashed with 700uL of SPW Wash Buffer diluted with ethanol, centrifuged at 10000rpm for 1min. Flow through was again discarded, and the samples were centrifuged at 13000rpm for 2min. at room temperature to ensure removal of trace ethanol from the samples. The HiBind DNA columns were then placed into sterile 1.5mL centrifuge tubes, and 30uL of preheated Elution Buffer was added directly to the center of the matrix. The samples were incubated at 70C for 15 minutes, and then centrifuged at full speed (13000rpm) for 1min. to elute DNA. The elution step was then repeated with an additional 30uL of Elution Buffer. Tomorrow, we will perform chromatography and PCR experiments on the DNA collected, as well as the bacterial staining and colony PCR experiments. EVA 16 ReportCody Hall Reporting EVA Time: 1247-1358 EVA Crewmembers: Cody KJ4RLF, Mitesh KK4AQI Base Communications: Jon KF7GLD EVA Procedure: EVA team would travel north along Cow Dung Road, stopping every few minutes to give GPS coordinates and gauge ham radio signal strength for newly raised repeater antenna. Once team reaches Brahe Highway, they would head west. Team would stop every few minutes to give GPS location, and base would gauge signal strength. Once team reached what appeared to be Copernicus Highway, team would turn south and repeat GPS and signal strength tests. After many check-ins, team would turn around and return to base. EVA Results: Multiple GPS readings were obtained along Brahe Highway, but the gear shift lever on Spirit, the ATV Mitesh was driving, broke at the weld during shifting. This made shifting gears very difficult, so we turned around and headed back to the Hab. Lessons Learned: Be wary of ATV troubles. Chef's ReportTom Caillouet reporting 1a) Today was a cooking day 1b) Was today a special day celebrated at the main meal with special food or activity? Raj's birthday! 2) List the foods served at today's main meal (usually the evening meal), giving full names of each. Red Beans (and pintos) and rice French Bread 3) List any main meal foods not finished by the crew (leftovers stored for later use or discarded) Red beans 4) Recipes for anything more complicated than following package directions exactly, or rehydrating. Cooked roughly from these recipes. Didn't really follow any directions too closely on the Red Beans and Rice, so not for novice cooks. French bread recipe from allrecipes.com, didn't use bread maker (can't find dough hook).
Red (and Pinto) Beans and Rice Ingredients: 1 pound dried red & pinto beans Large amounts of water freeze dried sausage a quantity of onion and mixed peppers 3 bay leaves 1 tsp of basil Creole seasoning, red pepper, salt to taste 4 cups cooked rice Directions: Soak beans for a couple hours. Rehydrate package of sausage (244 g) and a bowl of onion and peppers. Cook sausage, onion and peppers for about 5 minutes Crush some of the beans in the pot, add sausage mixture. Add seasonings to taste Let simmer on low as long as possible, tasting frequently for needed seasonings. Be wary of beans sticking to bottom of pan. Serve over cooked rice. French Bread: Ingredients 1 cup water 2 1/2 cups bread flour 1 tablespoon white sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon water Directions Place 1 cup water, bread flour, sugar, salt and yeast into bread machine pan in the order recommended by manufacturer. Select Dough cycle, and press Start. When the cycle has completed, place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched. Punch down dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 16x12 inch rectangle. Cut dough in half, creating two 8x12 inch rectangles. Roll up each half of dough tightly, beginning at 12 inch side, pounding out any air bubbles as you go. Roll gently back and forth to taper end. Place 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Make deep diagonal slashes across loaves every 2 inches, or make one lengthwise slash on each loaf. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for 30 to 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water; brush over tops of loaves. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. 5) Lessons learned (if any) Brown rice takes forever to cook. Beans must be checked more often for flavor (would have been ideal with a wee bit more salt). 6) Comments/questions for Kim and Jean, the food study investigators A slow cooker would be nice. Dough hook on bread maker missing making it pretty useless (has been the case for entire rotation). Journalist ReportChristine Redmond Reporting This morning Mitesh and Cody took the same trail Cody and I took yesterday, hoping to gather more data past the point we had to turn back due to weather. Unfortunately, no such luck. The EVA team had to turn back before the spot due to the shifter breaking on Spirit. Tommy made an awesome dinner! He made beans and sausage over rice and bread this afternoon. Crew 101 enjoyed an afternoon hike to mount Olympus (Raj’s favorite spot on Mars). Crew 101 also enjoyed the Martian sunset and is looking forward to the long anticipated movie Serenity tonight!Christine Redmond Reporting This morning Mitesh and Cody took the same trail Cody and I took yesterday, hoping to gather more data past the point we had to turn back due to weather. Unfortunately, no such luck. The EVA team had to turn back before the spot due to the shifter breaking on Spirit. Tommy made an awesome dinner! He made beans and sausage over rice and bread this afternoon. Crew 101 enjoyed an afternoon hike to mount Olympus (Raj’s favorite spot on Mars). Crew 101 also enjoyed the Martian sunset and is looking forward to the long anticipated movie Serenity tonight! |
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Crew 101 Log Book for March 23, 2011 |