AustroMars Mission Sol 4:
"How many experiments can an A(u)stronaut conduct in 24 hours?"

Ever wondered how many different activities one can pack into 24 hours? Would you be surprised if I tell you that it can easily be more than 20? If you don't believe me then I invite you to have a look at the AustroMars flight plan. This document outlays in 15 minutes slots how each crew member of AustroMars should spend his day. For our Mission Specialist for Life Sciences, Markus Spiss, for example, the day started already at 6:00 and is supposed to finish around 22:30. At 6:45 the first medical data gathering was due (to please our flight surgeon), at 7:15 the FAMOS experiment – to measure sleepiness – followed. After some tab washing, Markus was sent on the second LiMa EVA, together with Christoph Kandler, the Mission Specialist for planetary Sciences, and Alexander Soucek, the First Officer, who acted this time as EVA commander. Christian Hutsteiner, our Flight Engineer, was the HabCom and had an interesting task, as this EVA was a long-range one, leading the group more than 8 km away from the Habitat. The duration was accordingly, all in all the EVA team spent 3 hours 45 minutes outside. LiMa or Life on Mars is set to optimise the procedures for finding and processing potential life bearing samples. This experiment therefore includes an extensive contamination protocol to enable the highest levels of planetary protection.

Coming back from the EVA, it was time for another FAMOS session for Markus, Christoph and Alexander, the latter two topped this even by another sleepiness experiment based on pupil measurements via a pupillomyograph.

After lunch Markus and Alexander were ordered to conserve and process the biological samples obtained during the LiMa EVA, followed by another FAMOS measurement (and the pupillomyograph for Alexander). The afternoon was finally concluded for Markus by its Greenhab duties, which involves taking care of the plants, measuring pH values of the recycled water, etc. Now, at the time, when I write my report, Markus and Gernot Grömer, the AustroMars Health and Safety Officer, are archiving the MedMars for a later scientific examination at the university and the medical university of Innsbruck and several medical laboratories all over in Austria.

Before Markus goes to dinner he – as well as the complete crew – has to do a saliva sample and once dinner is finished, another medical data gathering is due. Still there is more to come: reports have to be filed and the CogHealth screening is to be undertaken. For sure the nicest slot in the flight plan of today is the movie, foreseen at 20:45. But then the day is still not over, as there is another FAMOS run before Markus goes to bed. Oh, and I forgot that he still has to do the “traditional” urine sampling as well, like the rest of the crew.

While I have deliberately pointed out Markus' daily agenda, the ones of the other crew members are nearly as packed, only the focus is a little bit different. So was my morning centred a bit more on public outreach activities, when I did the usual video broadcast for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation – this time together with Gernot, the HSO. Afterwards there were three more video sessions, one for later presentations and then two more for Yuri's Night, a world-wide party event, set up to celebrate the first manned space flight of Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961.

Of course I am aware that the flight plan is carefully designed by several persons in the AustroMars Mission Control Center in Salzburg, and that is tries to satisfy both the scientists, the engineers, the media, the public – and – the crew. Not an easy task if 17 scientific experiments out of more than 10 disciplines need to be conducted in nothing more than 14 days.

If I wouldn't know the people in the MCC better, I would feel uncomfortable looking at this package, but so I am confident that the people on the other side of the control loop will make their best efforts to ease up our life as much as possible, even if we are a(u)stronauts and supposed to function under a hell of stress in a day which would have to last for at least 26 hours to pack all the intended experiments in…

Signing off for today

Norbert Frischauf
Commander, MDRS Crew 48 "AustroMars"