FMARS Sponsors	Crew Narrative August 2, 2005 Anthony Kendall Reporting Today we officially ended our simulation as we need to do a number of out-of-sim chores and Hab winterization procedures before our extraction plane comes (probably) Thursday. We were in-simulation for 17 full days, and completed 24 EVAs during that time. We had one day with no EVAs, but every other day had at least one, and as many as three in one day. These were, in all but two cases, science EVAs with true science objectives. The pace of our scientific exploration was at times beyond what we were able to assimilate into our daily science reports. Yet, the entire crew felt the necessity to push the EVAs as hard as we could because of the delays we had arriving to the island, and the possibility of a slightly early extraction. Our equipment held up remarkably well at this very fast pace, with the exception of constant communications equipment problems caused by the need to run wiring across the body. Built-in communications gear would have saved approximately 1-2 hours of person-time for each of our EVAs. However with the exception of our laggard ATV #2, all of our vehicles performed very well, we had no punctures and only one flooded engine. Our suits kept us warm and the backpacks functioned well. These issues were all very important to our mission because in order to stay in-simulation during an EVA, equipment must continue to function. In only a few cases did crew member need to break simulation because of equipment malfunction. The commitment that the entire crew had to performing all science work within full simulation restrictions impressed me. In many cases, the gloves we wear prevent fine-motor manipulation of objects; miscellaneous pictures of the sky are not uncommon and extraneous recordings on the voice recorder are par for the course. Actual astronauts on Mars would not have many of these problems largely because their gear would be designed around mobility restrictions. Their cameras will have large glove-friendly buttons, comms, voice recorders and navigation equipment would be built into the suit, and tools would be designed to effortlessly clip to a tool belt. Yet, despite the fact that our Mars analog simulation does not simulate the equipment very well, we decided that in order to really understand the psychological and mechanical aspects of working in a suit, we could not simply remove our gloves any time we wanted to take a picture. Running a 'holistic simulation,' as this is referred to, where a crew actually pretends that it is on Mars, is valuable for a variety of reasons. Though simulation spacesuits may be crude, electronics buggy, and Hab roofs leaky, if an entire crew tries to hard to make the simulation work, a wonderful synergy results. Crew members examine each situation with a critical eye towards how it would be different if this were not just a simulation of Mars exploration. Simple observations such as that determining grain size distributions in soil while wearing gloves is nearly impossible can become specific simulation-improving questions: how do we improve tactile response while still maintaining the insulation needed with gloves? This observation, and many many others, would perhaps never have been thought of by a team of engineers in Houston figuring out how to make the best spacesuit. Our crew did not even need a real prototype spacesuit to make this observation, our holistic simulation made it possible. Exploration, and exploratory science, will be a new experience to the generation that finally does get to practice them on the Red Planet. It is only through holistic simulation that a crew can truly feel as if they are exploring a new planet without ever entering space. Specific simulations can test specific components of a real mission, but holistic simulation with all its uncontrolled variables is most likely to produce the kind of un-planned-for situations needed to really be sure that we are ready to explore Mars. As the years progress, and the Mars Society improves its facilities and equipment, the holistic simulations will improve as well. Hopefully, eventually the suits we use and the buildings we occupy will be nearly indistinguishable from actual Mars-ready equipment. Even if that does not happen, the work that FMARS and MDRS crews are doing on a relatively small budget and with volunteer scientists and engineers will have provided an invaluable dataset about how scientists relate to their facilities and equipment. Return to Daily Index Page
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