Commander's Check-In Report

Commander's Report

Engineering Report

Cody 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

Notes/Comments (include how many generator runs, approximately when, and any times you needed to turn the generator on/off):

1 generator run

Fuel Status:

•       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:

Water Status:

•        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

Notes/Comments :

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:

ATV 1 (Opportunity):

•        Used: yes

•        Oil Checked: no

•        Fuel Consumed: replaced

•        Tire Status: ok

•        Comments:

ATV 2 (Spirit):

•        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

ATV 3 (Viking I):

•       Used: no

•       Oil Checked: no

•       Fuel Consumed: none

•       Tire Status: ok

•       Comments: think battery may be dead; could not start

ATV 4 (Viking II):

•       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

ATV Comments: found ATV cover

Heating and Ventilation:

•       Thermostat setting upstairs (Farenheit): 68

•       Actual temperature upstairs (Farenheit): 71

•       Thermostat setting downstairs (Farenheit): 65

•       Actual temperature downstairs (Farenheit): 64

Notes/Comments:

Computers/Networking Infrastructure: working

Notes/comments on internet/computers:

General Engineering

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 Report

Christina 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

Preparation and Procedure: The water bath was set to 70C, and elution buffer was preheated. Prepare an ice bath using a styrofoam bucket and ice.

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 Report

Cody 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 Report

Tom 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 Report

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!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!