Brief Summary: There were two related EVA tasks conducted today.

EVA Support Task-3:

Context: UND NDX-1 Average Walking Speed
Duration: 05:00 - 07:30
Weather: Clear (dawn)
Maximum distance traveled from Hab: 680m
Route: NDX-1 suit subject (Fabio Sau) headed north on Lowell Highway.
Equipment: NDX-1 Spacesuit and supporting equipment (i.e. ATV, compressor, and generator), video camera, digital camera, GPS, radios, and notepad/pen.

Participants: EVA Support Task-3 (Alex Diaz, Marcus Medley, Pieter Jan Van Asbroeck and Chip Shepherd), and NDX-1 Crew (Pablo De Leon, Ana De Leon and Fabio Sau).

Objectives - Work Done: Assisted NDX-1 team with pressurized suit walking demonstrations. Objective was to find an average walking speed. EVA started at 6:19 AM, and plan was to walk north on Lowell Highway; this route was chosen because it is relatively flat. However, 11m 33 sec into the walk (at 6:31 AM), the EVA had to be aborted due to suit compressor problems. An attempt to repair the problem on site was attempted (by replacing generator), but that proved fruitless. The farthest location reached was UTM 12S 0518737E 4250825N; distance of 680m from Hab. According to GPS measurements, NDX-1 suit subject's moving average speed was 3.5 km/hr. The compressor problem has been fixed by University of North Dakota personnel and we will continue with this test tomorrow.

Lessons Learned:

• Starting early is very important to avoid overheating of pressurized suited crew.
• Walkback data collection using the GPS units was successful.

EVA-2:

Context: MDRS Suited Crew Average Walking Speed
Duration: 04:55 - 07:06
Weather: Clear and Sunny
Maximum distance traveled from Hab: 5.165 km
Equipment: GPS, maps, radios, and notepad/pen.
Route: EVA Team-2 headed north on Lowell Highway.

Participants: EVA Team-1 (Alex Diaz, Marcus Medley, and Irene Schneider); HABComm (Chip Shepherd and Elizabeth Wolfe); Suit Techs (Chip Shepherd, Elizabeth Wolfe, and Pieter Jan Van Asbroeck)

Objectives - Work Done: This was a continuation of EVA-1. Objective was to find an average walking speed for Emergency Walkback Procedures. This average speed will be used to determine EVA distances, which will be important in the case MDRS suited crewmembers have to walk back to the HAB in case of an emergency (i.e. ATV failure, no communication, etc). EVA crew walked north on Lowell Highway for 1 hour, rested for 11 minutes, and walked back to the Hab. This route was chosen because it is relatively flat. The farthest location reached was UTM 12S 0517868E 4254250N. According to GPS measurements, our moving average speed to this location was 5.1 km/hr, and 5.2 km/hr on the way back. Total distance walked was 10.33 km.

Lessons Learned:

• Walking long distances with the MDRS spacesuits is challenging, but manageable.
• There were no major problems with the suits and they were relatively comfortable. There were some minor issues associated with the position of one of the helmets, however, we will make sure this is addressed for next EVA.
• The weather was cooler today and the heat was not a major factor because we left later in the day.
• Walkback data collection using the GPS units was very successful.