Brief Summary: EVA-7 - 'Debris' Retrieval and ATV Nav-training

Context: 'Debris' Retrieval and ATV Nav-training

Duration: 09:40 - 12:22

Weather: Cloudy; Wind NE 5-12KPH; 14C

Maximum distance from Hab: 1250m

Participants: Jim Russell, Julie Wardlow, Pete Collins

Equipment: Retainer straps, GPS, Digital Camera.

Route:
Phase 1: Walk to the object found in EVA4 and recover it back to Hab.
Phase 2: ATV navigation from Hab to 1Km north on 'Lowell highway'

Objectives - Work Done: This was a two phase EVA operation. Objective for Phase 1 was to navigate to the debris found in EVA4 and retrieve the material. Phase 2 was to utilize remainder of allotted time to practice ATV operations and navigation.

Phase 1: With Crew 27 getting experienced with EVA operations Phase one was a milk run. They used the new eTrex GPS and the original Garmin 12LX to get their skills honed in for our larger future missions. After quickly returning to the location of the debris they carried it back to the Hab and stored it. This left EVA4 Team-1 with a lot of time to practice their long-range navigation skills via ATV's.

Phase 2: Was navigation and driving skills test that was designed to use all equipment. (Radios, GSP's, Space Suites, ATV, and Maps). Good astronauts never stop training.

Jim Russell (Team 1): We went on EVA this morning. For this trip, it was 2 Brits (Julie and Peter) and a Yank (me). We went and retrieved a bit of debris that blew off the Green Hab last season. We tied it up and brought it back successfully. Then we did our ATV training. They had trouble starting their ATVs, because they forgot to use the choke. (CHOKE get it????) Anyway, they got their ATVs started. About a hundred meters out, we stopped to get our GPS bearing. We started off, but one of my mates (Peter) had a problem with his ATV, so he was just sitting still in my arm mirror. We turned around to assist Peter with his ATV.

It turns out that the transmission was stuck and it couldn't restart in its present position (between low and high). Anyway, I got aboard and was able to eventually gently shift the transmission all the way to Low and through to Reverse. I then place it into neutral and was able to restart the ATV. I gave Peter my ATV for his ATV.

...Anyway, we made it out to our training objective, 1 klick north (1 kilometer) from the hab and turned around. When we turned around I noticed an oil splotch on the ground where I had just been. Luckily we made it back to the hab.

I got off the ATV and noticed that the oil had splashed on my boot and was dripping from underneath. While maintaining sim, I tried to fix the ATV with Peter and Julie's help. Well, after removing a few covers, I couldn't find the exact source of the leak, but surmised that it was beyond our capability to fix. We took a few pictures of the open engine and decompressed for 20 minutes from our mission.

While in the air lock, I tried to drink a spot of water and had the bite valve come off. So now I have water starting to pour on me... luckily I just flipped over the bucket I had been sitting on and directed the hose into there. However, now I had lost my seat.... 10 minutes later... so I have been standing for a while now... I notice a little chipmunk just outside our Hab... A chipmunk here with a Styrofoam peanut in its mouth? The chipmunk then stops halfway up the observatory hill and it looks like it sees me through the rear air lock window. So for 5 minutes I have a staring contest with a chipmunk...the decompression was soon over, so I considered it a tie:)

Julie Wardlow (Team1): Today's EVA was a very different experience from the last one, it was a lot cooler making walking easier and I managed to rig the spacesuit helmet in a more comfortable position. Despite the milder weather the walk to the position of the 'shiny object' was still hard and walking in the suits with a fixed airflow makes going up hills hard - the suit provides the same amount of oxygen despite your requirements. It is also hard to operate equipment such as the GPS and camera with the gloves on and it is difficult to see the camera screen through the suit visor, which is why many pictures are not central.

Once the 'shiny object' was retrieved and placed in a secure location by the Hab we undertook some ATV training in order to familiarize ourselves with using the ATVs whilst wearing the suits. The first problem was that we had to turn the radios from being voice activated to 'push-to-talk' mode, this required punching a sequence of the smaller buttons on the radios, which with the gloves is a challenge - for a real Mars mission equipment would need to be designed with larger, easier to press buttons. The second problem was that one of the ATVs was reluctant to start, although eventually we managed to coax it to life by using the choke. As problems always come in threes we shouldn't have been surprised when the gear stick on one of the other ATVs got stuck and required a lot of persuasion in order to be freed. It was later discovered that this ATV was leaking a significant amount of oil and needs maintenance.

I found that the experience of riding ATVs with the spacesuits on is very different to normal riding. As the suits completely seal you in a microenvironment you do not feel the wind in your face or hear it rushing past your ears, making it a lot harder to judge your speed. Although the suits are not rigid structures you cannot twist your body to look behind you as this just results in viewing the inside of the back of the helmet, and it is for this reason that we Velcro mirrors to our wrists but these are very scratched and are hard to align whilst you are traveling so are not very useful until you stop, which is not too much of a problem as long as you are aware of your other team members. However, I did find it very hard to reverse the ATV as your whole body needs to be twisted in order to see where you are going, this is not only hard to do but it also means you naturally steer the way you are looking.

Despite the problems faced on this short ATV ride it was a very good training tool and definitely worth doing.

Lessons Learned:

1. Using the choke to start the ATV's is necessary
2. Reversing while looking through your wrist reflector should be done with care
3. GPS units can be very fickle
4. Macaroni and cheese mixed with tuna is really good with a side of potatoes and onions cooked in olive oil.