MDRS Crew 35, "The Pisces One Expedition", had a variety of scientific objectives, but because of broken equipment, refit and post-refit work, and the loss of two crewmembers in the middle of the mission, few of the objectives were achieved:

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Project M.O.S.S. - Musk Observatory Supernova Survey
Hugh S. Gregory

Overview: Use the Musk Observatory telescope to repeatedly photograph selected circumpolar galaxies on a regular basis and using the "blink comparison" testing technique, hunt for and discover new supernovae.

Status: On hold

Comments: As mentioned in the initial report, Commander Gregory's MOSS project was the first casualty: a previous crew had left the controls for the telescope exposed to the elements and the telescope was non-functional. New controls and circuit boards did not arrive during the mission and therefore the MOSS project is on hold. Had Commander Gregory been able to get Project MOSS up and running, he would have left behind a permanent research Project that every crew who followed us could have run and made a contribution to, even if only one to three nights per crew rotation.

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Advanced HVAC Systems Project
Kevin Saka

Overview: Examine the feasibility of developing new HVAC systems for tightly enclosed spaces like the habitat.

Status: Initial Data collected

Comments: Kevin Saka's HVAC project also had challenges. The sheer volume of refit work going on restricted both the physical access and time budget available to him to collect the data he needed to work on the project. However, as work on the refit wound down he did have time to perform some data collection, such as examining the construction of the HAB above the staterooms for potential access.

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Simulated Medical Emergencies
Hugh S. Gregory, Anthony Francis, Felipe Broering & Adam Rehnberg

Overview: Simulate an emergency involving a suited Mars-naut some distance from the HAB with a broken long bone injury that requires in-situ immobilising (splinting) and PEV return transport back to the HAB. A real-world test of developments in possible rescue and first aid procedures for injured Mars-nauts.

Status: Cancelled

Comments: Because of the volume of the refit work, Commander Gregory put the simulated medical emergency project on hold until after refit work was complete, when we planned to go into sim and train everyone in First Aid in an EVA suit and PEV Medivac techniques. However, in the short time remaining with a full crew we did not have the opportunity to both train up and perform the EVA Medical Emergency simulations. After Saka and Broering departed, Commander Gregory cancelled the Medical Emergency simulations on the grounds that it was unsafe with only two healthy crewmembers.

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Cognitive Performance Project
Felipe Broering

Overview: Test human performance over the two-week period in the habitat to determine whether it degrades due to close confinement.

Status: Cancelled

Comments: Felipe Broering's cognitive performance project used a software package to test human performance over time. I provided him with a computer and he successfully installed the software package; testing was scheduled to begin after we officially went into sim. However, in the short time remaining with a full crew after the visiting refit engineers departed, we did not have the opportunity to run subjects, and he was recalled to Brazil for unexpected personal business midway through the mission. Therefore this project was also cancelled.

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Information Assistance Project
Anthony Francis

Overview: Determine potential needs for an intelligent information assistance project for crew at the habitat.

Status: Initial data collected

Comments: Finally, my information assistance project was based on my previous experience developing intelligent information systems. It is all too easy to come up with a clever software idea that exercises a lot of machine intelligence but is not actually useful in practice, so it is crucial to collect adequate requirements prior to investing any effort developing a software assistant. Therefore, I divided my project into three components: first, I recorded the information needs --- the questions --- that crew members expressed to me and to each other as they worked in the habitat; second, I assisted several crewmembers by carrying a clipboard and digital camera, attempting to simulate the inputs and outputs of an intelligent information assistant; third, I interviewed several crewmembers to ask them what their ideal information assistant would be. As it turned out, the refit provided me with ample opportunity to interview a variety of subjects and to observe a wide range of information needs. However, I was not able to complete all interviews because of illnesses, and post-refit cleanup tasks. More EVA time would definitely have been helpful to broaden the scope of my data collection. Furthermore, the Remote Science Team delivered an assessment of my project midway through the mission questioning its value with respect to other ongoing projects, so the overall status of the project is currently up in the air.

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Remote Science Team Requests

Overview: EVA to Candor Chasm to search and document possible halophyte sites

Status: Cancelled

Comments: This request came late in the mission when the crew was down to three and one crewman was too ill to move around the cabin. Therefore, Commander Gregory cancelled this EVA on safety reasons.

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Lessons Learned on Crew 35

All in all, Crew 35 was very disappointed in the amount of science we were able to get done. We suggest the following lessons learned:

1. Call for proposals must be delivered in advance. Originally several of Crew 35, including myself, were attending purely as support Mars-naut volunteers with no science mission planned. However, shortly before the mission, Crew 35 received a call to submit science proposals --- I actually received the message requesting submissions after the deadline for submissions had actually passed. Fortunately I had previously been discussing science projects with both Paul Graham and Hugh Gregory prior to the mission and was able to quickly submit a suggested project, but clearly this is not optimal. It should have been made clear in the call for volunteers that individual science projects were welcomed, and the official call for proposals should have been delivered shortly after we were selected as crew. For example, Commander Gregory's initial invite to join MDRS Crew 35 was as the Crew Astronomer, which enabled him to put together the highest-quality science proposal and to perform preplanning that ultimately led to his selection as Mission Commander.
   
   
2. Feedback must be given in a timely fashion. I received peer review feedback on my mission project halfway through the mission. While this feedback was extremely helpful, I had already begun collecting data on my initial project plan. While I realise Crew 35's situation was unusual, it would have been better to receive this feedback prior to the mission start.
   
   
3. A full crew complement is crucial. Crew 35 was missing a geologist from the get go. While we understand that this was unavoidable because no one was available, it definitely detracted from the mission, as later illnesses, crew losses and refit tasks ate up the time of all the available crew.
   
   
4. Science objectives need to be delivered in advance. We received an RST call for an EVA to Candor Chasm in the middle of the mission. While we heartily appreciated the assignment, by that time we were down to two healthy crewmen and could not do the work safely. An earlier request would have made it possible to schedule the EVA earlier, while there was a healthy 5 person crew available.
   
   
5. Equipment should be checked out prior to arrival. We have already mentioned the issue with the telescope and the MOSS project. On a similar note, we were lucky that I brought a spare laptop for the purpose of supporting Commander Graham's reports and Dr. Broering's science project (even though Dr. Broering did not get to complete his project). Any science project should draw up a list of on-site needed equipment and send that to the previous crews for an inventory so that the equipment can be verified and/or repaired prior to mission start.
   
   
6. Refit tasks must be complete before science starts. While we greatly appreciated the work done by the refit team - especially the toilet - a clean HAB is a prerequisite for clean science. Crew 35 assisted the two visiting refit engineers for the four days they were there and each of us put in several person days in after they left doing cleaning --- sometimes co-coordinated as a crew, sometimes on our own initiative. While some cleanup is to be expected on a Mars habitat, at some point cleaning passed expected maintenance and approached pathological dysfunction. Commander Gregory found this out trying to break caked mud off of the lower deck aft airlock floor with a sledgehammer. I found this out trying to clean the tool area, where the disorganisation actively impeded both cleanup and other work, which in turn contributed to the disorganisation, requiring cleanup of its own, draining time for other work, in a vicious cycle.

This last point has come up repeatedly from several crewmembers during the drafting of this report, so it is worth repeating: Whenever possible, refit tasks should be completed before science crews arrive to begin work. When not possible, crews should be alerted to the magnitude of the work awaiting them on arrival so that they have the proper expectations. All of us had the expectation that we would be doing a lot of hard work with no pay, but the amount of refit and janitorial work we had to do was so great that we almost HAD to do it, regardless of whether or not we were asked to, simply because it was not possible to do our work --- as noted above, sometimes it was not even possible to do refit work without doing cleanup first. When this level of work is necessary, it needs to be made clear to the incoming crews so that they are aware that there will be a reduced science schedule that they will need to prioritize accordingly.

Despite these caveats, we all had a lot of fun, and came away with many science ideas that we hope to contribute to the MDRS in future. See you next on the Pisces Two Expedition.

Ad Ares!
Dr. Anthony G. Francis, Jr., MDRS Crew 35 Scientist, Chef and Computer Monkey