The first phase of Expedition One was successfully launched on Feb. 15th with the arrival of the crew at the Mars Desert Research Station. Two days of training ensued in the various systems of the habitat, the field equipment, and field science protocols. Despite not having the previous crew on hand to help familiarize my crew with current hab systems, training went well as we do have several experienced crewmembers who have been to MDRS before.

On Monday, February 17th, the ExOne research program was initiated with studies in scouting strategies, tool use, geologist-biologist- engineer work relationships, comparative spacesuit studies, data logging and information management, investigations into alternative methods of interaction with mission support, and crew psychology research. On Saturday, Feb. 22nd phase one ended in the evening with a 3-hour debrief after dinner, and finally with the excitment of the arrival of one of the two rovers we intend to test during the remainder of ExOne.

Expedition One is a carefully planned, but flexible, research program. For phases one and two, three biologists and three geologists comprised the Field Science Crew, while two human factors officers, two videographers, and four engineers comprised the Mission Systems Crew. Later phases will have a smaller complement as our research approaches a holistic mission science scenario. Despite having such a large crew, everyone found their time limited. The crew became very close quickly, which was probably the result of having spent 6 months over the internet working together to make our plans prior to arrival.

Phase One had 24 EVAs planned for a six-day period, with 2 EVAs every morning, and 2 EVAs every afternoon. With a field crew of six scientists, this allowed each of them to have one EVA per day, except every third day on which one would have two EVAs. Before research began, the joint Commanders of Rocky Persaud (Phase One and Two) and Shannon Rupert (Phase Three) decided to switch to a schedule of just 3 EVAs per day, to account for the learning period it took to become efficient at preparing for EVAs, as well as for the lack of the two Mars-analog rovers that were expected to arrive on the first weekend of the mission. It was foreseen that pre-planned EVAs could be made up during the more relaxed Phases 3 and 4. The modular nature of our EVAs allowed an easy adjustment to the new schedule, and the crew appreciated the extra time to process data after their EVAs and perform laboratory analysis. Of the 24 planned EVAs, the eight rover- dependent EVAs were cancelled or moved to later phases, leaving just 16 EVAs performed during the first week.

All EVAs were video-recorded by the two videographers, and work analysis and tool use analysis was performed by the human factors officers to measure the frequency and time of certain tasks and procedures. All this data will be analysed over the next several months. The human factors studies included the dexterity of the two types of spacesuits when pursuing different types of science goals; which types of data were recorded when specific science goals were pursued, and how often; and the mixing of personality types for efficient field work.

The scouting strategies that we investigated included variables such as the geologist/biologist pairings, mobility options such as pedestrian, ATV and rover mobility, terrain types, spacesuit dexterity requirements, and data-logging requirements. It was found to be more effective to have a geologist and biologist paired together to scout for sites, as they can work together and share their expertise, but when settling on a site for detailed study, it is better to use a geologist-geologist pair, or a biologist-biologist pair, but not mix the two disciplines. Geologists and biologists have fundamentally different ways of collecting data. While biologists have fixed protocols, making operational studies on them straight-forward, the nature of geological field work did not allow for immediate conclusions to be made about geology operations. In the coming months careful analysis of human factors data from the work measures studies, the EVA videos and the available datalogger records should reveal unanticipated insights. Several papers will result from analysis of the human factors and operational science data.

Phase Two was intended to focus more on science operations rather than exploration operations or tools. About 10 of the 24 preplanned Phase Two EVAs were successfully accomplished, as well as several additional "EarthSkin" EVAs that had not been planned prior to the launch of the expedition. The weather was a major contributor to the lack of opportunity for EVAs, negatively impacting the progress of research into science operations. No immediate conclusions about science operations can be made until the operational data can be assessed. We are catching up with the studies on science operations during Phase 3 and Phase 4, focusing on just science operations in relation to use of the two rover vehicles.

By the end of Expedition One, it is anticipated that we will have data for 38 of the 48 pre-planned operational EVAs. A shorter, two-week Expedition Two will likely be necessary in the future to obtain a more complete set of data.

The handover of command from Rocky Persaud to Shannon Rupert was accomplished on Sunday, March 2nd for the beginning of Phase Three. Two more exciting weeks of research for Expedition One is ahead of us.