EVA-13 Report:
Gernot Gröemer Reporting

EVA Name: Exploration management

Objectives: Test of feasibility of building components a radiation shelter from soil

EVA Commander: Gernot Gröemer
EVA Navigator: Christoph Kandler
EVA Crew: Gröemer, Kandler
Hab Comm: Norbert Frischauf

Planned Route: southwest of Hab along Lowell Highway

Timeline:
Don Suits: 08:30-09:20
Enter Airlock: 09:26
Egress: 09:36
Ingress: 11:39
Enter Hab: 11:49

New Waypoints Established by EVA Crew: none

Samples: one surface sample taken

• Sample Number: 13-1 A,B,C,D,E
  
• GPS-Coordinates: O 518898 N 14248673
  
• Time: 10:30
  
• Photos: 3

Narrative: This EVA was dedicated to exploration: in case of a radiation alarm, the crew might need a highly protective area, which could be composed of local soil to shield from the particle radiation. So our EVA took us along the southwest-route along Lowell Highway about 2,5 kilometres from the station. There we dug a hole with a shovel to see if the ability to move is severly impeded by the analogue space suits and filled several sand bags which can be piled up to create an additional outer wall at the Habitat. This worked out quite well as it has been also conducted by other crews previously.

The filling of a sandbag took typically 5 minutes each. We weighted one of the filled bags and came up with an total mass of 46 kg, which was the borderline weight, one person could lift in the spacesuit. The excavation speed was about 10 minutes for a hole of a size of 50 x 100 x 20 cm. Digging below 20 cm depth was virtually impossible: It had rained the night before and the soil was hard as argillaceous soil. So piling up a wall of say 2 meters height and 50 cm depth around the MDRS (given two astronauts working on the task) would take at least 80 manhours, in addition to that one has to take into account limited air supply, breaks (15 min break every 2 hrs) and time to pile up material (1 hr every 3 hrs of filling sandbags), plus arranging for all the bags (2 hrs), it will take about at least one work week for two people working exclusively on such a low-height, low-depth radiation protection.

The physical exhaustion was surprisingly low, as out heart rates did not exceed 150 for most of the time for the two of us, even under high workload, although we did not test the procedure for a longer time. Given the weakened muscles when the crew will arrive on Mars, the time requirement will have to be expanded.

After the construction work, we decided to take a walk onto a nearby hill in a distance of approximately 250 m and a height of 25 m according to the GPS unit to put a higher physical load on our bodies to check the CO2 values in the expiratory airstream with our capnometer.

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EVA-14 Report:
Alexander Soucek, Norbert Frischauf and Christoph Kandler Reporting

EVA Name: GeoMars

Objectives: Acquire some geological samples at the following three waypoints: WPT 322 (UTM NAT27 14249250m N, 518000m E); WPT 231 (UTM NAT27 14254563m N, 517102m E) ; WPT 031 (UTM NAT27 14254106m N, 516925m E)

EVA Commander: N. Frischauf
EVA Navigator: C. Kandler
Hab Comm: A. Soucek

Planned Route: MDRS to WPT 322 – MDRS – WPT 231 – WPT 031 - MDRS

Timeline:
Don Suits: 14:00
Enter Airlock: 14:25
Egress: 14:35
Ingress: 16:15
Enter Hab: 16:25

New Waypoints Established by EVA Crew: One, UTM NAT27 12S: 14253989m N, 516999m E, Height: 1389m MSL; named "Carina's Quarry"

Samples:

• Sample Number: 14-1 / 14-2 / 14-3 // 14-4 / 14-5 / 14-6 / 14-7 / 14-8 GPS-Coordinates: 14249250m N, 518002m E / 14249241m N, 518002m E / 14249300m N, 518007m E // 14254108m N, 516925m E / 14254110m N, 516895m E / 14254076m N, 516932m E / 14254065m N, 516956m E / 14253989m N, 516999m E
• Time: 15:15 / 15:20 / 15:30 // 16:15 / 16:15 / 16:30 / 16:37 / 16:45
• Photos: 2 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 2

Narrative: Christoph and I started our EVA by activating the AustroMars Rover, afterwards leaving for the first waypoint (WPT 322). Here we took 2 samples on top of a hill, exactly at the pre-defined coordinates. Seeing an interesting eroded area with big sandstones nearby, we decided to move there and take another sample of one of these stones. Afterwards we moved northwards on Lovell Highway and moved westerly on Brahe Road until Waypoint Number 2. Due to the late arrival at this spot, we skipped waypoint number 2 (WPT 231), as we will come by this location more often in the next few days – also our geological principle investigators (back in Austria) had given waypoint number 3 a much priority.

Driving southbound we came to waypoint 3 (WPT 031) and because this was such an interesting geological area we took several samples there, such as molluscs and different sandstones. According to the PIs' wish, we conducted a drill with a depth of 55cm and packed the drilling core samples afterwards. Because the feaures at a spot nearby were very special; brash lying beside of molluscs, sandstones, gypsum and selenite cristalls, sometimes extremely clear separated from each other in a creek, we decided to establish a new waypoint, as we will most likely come back to that spot again. The waypoint was called "Carina's Quarry", because of the stones and the brash and also because the commander's daughter, named Carina, was celebrating her 8th birthday as of today.

Although we could have spent hours at that location – it was extremely interesting – we had to go back to the MDRS, which we reached at 17:10.