Overview:

The following constitute, in brief, the results and findings of Crew 61 during our rotation in the Mars Desert Research Station in April 2007. Crew 61 was the fifth crew sponsored by the NASA Spaceward Bound Program, and the final crew to inhabit the MDRS for the 2006/2007 field season. You are invited to visit http://quest.nasa.gov/projects/spacewardbound/ for more detailed information about the Spaceward Bound Program. This summary is organized corresponding to our motto: "Be Safe, Have Fun, Get It Done --- Crew 61!"

"Be Safe" - Emergency Preparedness and HSO Summary:

While personal safety was, of course, top priority in everything we did, the central theme of the mission was "Emergency Preparedness." Core to this theme were activities dealing with EVA emergencies, radiation-related emergency protocols, and an emergency air quantity/location study.

Our Health and Safety Officer, Pieter Jan Van Asbroeck, files this summary: "Allergies, cuts, and lack of sleep seemed to be the cause of most of the health issues faced on Crew 61. Morale and spirit stayed strong. A fire extinguisher that we brought was placed in the engineering area near the generator and fuel." In addition, ten emergency air masks (for simulation/drill purposes only) were placed in the crew quarters and other appropriate locations.

"Have Fun" - Morale, Visitors, and the Media:

Crew 61 was an international crew with ties to Belgium, Peru, Spain and the United States and varying academic and professional backgrounds. The crew included engineers from two NASA contractors (Jacobs Technology and Boeing) and students from universities in the United States and Belgium. The energy level was typically high; Spanish, English and Dutch were commonly spoken; and the crew found no lack of opportunities to share their diverse approaches on various topics. This rotation received a number of visitors, planned and unplanned (one day alone we had 21 non-crew here). We worked with a number of visitors from academia, including the NDX-1 team from the University of North Dakota, and two students from the State University of New York - Buffalo who tested their hardware and slept over in the Hab with us for a few nights. And during the Easter holiday weekend, we encountered dozens of tourists (many with children) and local ATV riders who saw the Hab and dropped by out of curiosity. Each one was a treat.

Our crew was also showered with attention from the media. Three crews (ABC-TV/Houston, Telemundo, and an independent documentary film producer) visited us for two days at the MDRS. ABC and Telemundo plan to air their stories in May. Belgium covered our mission in multiple formats (web, print, radio, and television), and articles appeared at Penn State University and Mars Daily. The visitors always seemed to provide the crew with a boost of energy, but other important factors that contributed to morale were the special meals we shared together (cooked mostly by Elizabeth), daily gifts from the Commander, and our Yuri's Night Celebration that rocked our conical-shaped MDRS roof! We also hope the dozen new DVD's we added to the library help the morale of future crews.

"Get It Done" - EVAs, Science, and Engineering:

EVA: Crew 61 featured an aggressive schedule of EVA's and EVA support activities. Alex Diaz (Executive Officer and EVA Coordinator) reports: "From an EVA perspective, this experience has once again confirmed for me that the most effective construction and operations in Mars will synergistically employ human-robot buddy systems. While robots may work best under highly predictable conditions, humans are able to adapt better to an unpredictable environment. That is why the human factor in space exploration is indispensable. Below is a list of the salient EVA and Human Factors objectives completed during our rotation:

1. Tested NDX-1 Prototype Planetary Spacesuit from the University of North Dakota. Crew Engineer Marcus Medley was invited to wear the suit, and enjoyed the experience thoroughly.
   
   
2. Tested EVA rescue procedures and equipment to transport immobile EVA crewmembers in the case of emergencies (i.e. rover accidents, solar storms, etc).
   
   
3. Designed and built Modified Emergency Stretcher for transporting injured EVA crewmember in the supine position.
   
   
4. Designed and built ATV Stretcher Stand for mounting Modified Emergency Stretcher on ATV.
   
   
5. Tested Walk-back procedures in the event of rover failures, and determined average walking speeds for MDRS suited crewmembers.
   
   
6. Tested EVA Tool used for sample collection developed by the State University of New York, Buffalo.
   
   
7. Tested EVA connector accessibility with NDX-1 pressurized gloves.
   
   
8. Conducted extensive, detailed inspection of MDRS suits to document their condition; weighed EVA suits and ancillary equipment; and tested MDRS PLSS battery duration.
   
   
9. Conducted Mars Analog Crew Performance preliminary study under guidance of Dr. Rygalov at the University of North Dakota.
   
   
10. Conducted Mars Analog Crew Logistics preliminary study.

"Despite our crew differences (i.e. personal, political, philosophical, etc.), which are expected with such a diverse crew, we were able to work great as a team and were extremely efficient. It was a genuine pleasure to work with such a competent and interesting group of individuals."

Radiation Simulation:
Irene Schneider, Crew Physicist and Radiation Specialist

During the simulation performed with Crew 61 we included for the first time the development and simulation of emergency radiation operational protocols. In addition I carried out a thought experiment in which careful monitoring of the individual dose radiation exposure for each crew member is performed.

The Detection System and Capabilities:

In the exercise I assumed that the Habitat is sufficiently well protected from radiation that no doses would have been received while inside. In order to carry out the thought experiment I assumed a detection system mainly composed of three parts:

• An in-situ radiation detector system capable of monitoring in real time gamma rays, neutrons of all relevant energies in human dosimetry, high energy protons to monitor solar storms and cosmic ray background.
• A detection system based on Earth which integrates an early warning system for Earth alert as well as alerts to a base on Mars. This early warning system would also include dedicated orbiting spacecraft around the Sun and providing detailed mapping of the development of CMEs (coronal mass ejections), solar flares, and such events of relevant to humans in space as well as electronic systems on board spacecraft.
• An early warning detection system in orbit around Mars providing real time measurements local to Mars relative location. The potential forecasting capabilities increase with a three dimensional detection array such as the one described above which would give high spatial and timing resolution of such events.

The Location of the Human Base on Mars:

In this exercise I have assumed that the base or habitat is located at the bottom of the Hellas Basin. This is the deepest location on Mars as well as one of the most interesting locations in terms of habitability and potential for life. The Hellas Basin is sufficiently close to the equator that its diurnal temperature cycle can raise above zero degrees Celsius during summer days and thus liquid water could potential exist in a transient state. In addition to this, water vapor clouds have been observed deep within the giant basin potentially signaling the presence of a weak hydrological cycle, which would be very useful to potential future human explorers. At the same time the fact that it is the deepest location on Mars implies that its atmospheric density is the highest at its bottom. Calculations imply that the atmospheric pressure at its bottom would exceed the 12mbar pressure which depending on temperature would allow the presence of liquid water for short periods of time. This physical state of water would be enhanced significantly with the presence of antifreeze compounds such as sulfate salts which deplete the freezing point of water. This thicker atmosphere would as well provide an additional attenuation of the constant GCR background (Galactic Cosmic Rays) which is always desirable.

The Dose Estimates:

In order to calculate estimates for the radiation dose exposure for each crew member I have used the NASA HZETRN code which is the code used by NASA to estimate radiation doses to astronauts.

The code provides with detailed estimates for the GCR background for Mars both in units of Rads or Sieverts and Rems (roentgen equivalent man, which pertain to humans).

The version which I have used for this exercise does not include however the calculation of the doses induced by solar storms, whoever, I have assumed the correspondent doses which have been documented to induce acute radiation sickness (~above 400 rad in humans) as well as an analogy to the solar event which took place in 1972 between the Apollo missions 16 and 17 which was fortunately missed by pure chance.

Once I obtained the daily and hourly doses from the GCR component I calculated the exposure to each crew member during their correspondent EVA activities. Then I added the total for each crew member. The numbers are included below:

Crew Name	Exposure (REM)
Chip	0.003
Alex	0.13
Irene	~4000
Elizabeth	~4000
Pieter Jan	0.04
Marcus	0.08

Total Dose received by each crew member in units of REM during the entire two-week mission:
For the doses induced by the solar storm simulated during the EVA in the exercise of the 12th April 2007, I assumed a dose of approximately 400 rad with a quality factor of 10 in order to account for high energy protons. This yields an approximate total dose of 4000rems as seen above. At this dose the most likely physiological consequences would have been the onset of the hemopoietic syndrome where changes in the blood are observed as well as sudden nausea, vomiting within several hours after exposure. The simulation assumed the victims falling into a state of unconsciousness minutes after the onset of the storm.

This may not be realistic since unconsciousness would ensue usually at doses above the 2000 rads, however all these health effects are highly dependent on the person and thus have rather relative thresholds. In our case, for the purposes of the simulation I assumed unconsciousness to serve the purposes of a worse care operational emergency scenario. However, both affected crew members in this simulation exercise are light very light weight, being Elizabeth Wolfe of a weight of 120 pounds and Irene Schneider of only 105 pounds. Thus the physiological effects could potentially be more dramatic due to the small size of the crew members.

Conclusions:

In a real mission where these doses would have been received by the astronauts, crew members Elizabeth and Irene would have had to be promptly banned from all future EVA excursions as well as from forming part of any operations. Furthermore they would have had to receive appropriate medical treatment and maintained in isolation to avoid any infections due to the ablation of the bone marrow specially during the most critical time period of the first month after the exposure. Thus both crew members would have become unable to operate further as active members of the mission.

Assuming that this was the only radiation event of this magnitude and that these two crew members would have been the only ones affected in such way, only four would have remain operational. It is possible to still carry out the mission with only four members however operations in and out the base would have been drastically altered.

The rest of the members would have received acceptable radiation doses as to be able to carry out all operations. According to current radiation exposure regulations an astronaut should not exceed the dose of 25 rem in one year while on the ISS. Thus the rest of the crew members would have been well within the dose limits for this particular two week mission while on the surface of Mars.

Special note must be made to the fact that this simulation exercise does not take into account radiation doses received while on transit from Earth to Mars or Mars to Earth.

Geology and Astronomy:
Elizabeth Wolfe

Geology did not go as planned, but was productive nonetheless. Our main limitations were related to transportation, as we had only one working ATV. Because of this, geology was restricted to Lowell highway and was more or less randomly chosen. Objects of interest include Devil's Toenails, petrified wood, evaporates, Tank Wash cutting into the Salty Rivermember, and the large pond west of Lowell Highway. Although no "real" science was carried out, I still had an immensely interesting time from a geological perspective simply being in this area and the crew seemed satisfied with my basic explanations and rock identifications as the extent of our geology.

Astronomy was quite successful. Again not scientifically groundbreaking, but interesting and amusing in its own right for the crew. Due to weather, only two nights featured acceptable viewing. During the first opportunity, a few days into the mission, most objects were washed out due to the full moon. Despite this, Saturn and the Orion Nebula were quite amazing and the crew agreed. The second opportunity was late into the mission, but was spectacular! Three to four hours were spent in the calm, clear, moonless night. Countless objects were observed (TOUR is indispensable). Clusters tended to be the most popular, followed by double stars and then "fuzzy blobs" (galaxies and nebulae). Saturn was again viewed and lost none of its former glory. Alex and I were also lucky enough to catch Jupiter and Pluto as they rose, and the show was grand!

GreenHab:
Pieter Jan Van Asbroeck, HSO and Crew Biologist

Maintenance of the GreenHab was focused on keeping the plants alive. Temperatures inside the GreenHab varied from 61 degrees Fahrenheit to 118 degrees, with the fan and heaters running as necessary. The plants in the beginning required water at least once or twice a day, but closer to the end of the rotation it seemed that we overwatered them. Dried out leaves were pruned every couple of days and the plants were rotated about once a week. The plants closer to the wall of the GreenHab were driest. Crops were harvested on several days to supplement crew meals.

Engineering:
Marcus Medley, Crew Engineer:

Crew 61 experienced a number of unexpected situations with power, water, and GreenHab systems. Each was handled in turn, often with the aid of the Engineering Support Team, although in one notable case the crew performed their own water re-supply (local support was temporarily unavailable due to an illness in the family).

As the crew engineer I quickly came to realize that the smooth operation of most, if not all, of the HAB's systems falls directly on my shoulders. Although much of what I was supposed to do was maintain these systems, most of them were in some form of crippling condition. In order to ease the workload for myself, I attempted to fix the problems that directly affected me as the engineer. One of these was the pump that would normally transfer gray water into the greenHAB. I fixed the motor, which had melted brushes, and installed it. This worked for all of two days, then it started giving me trouble. I was troubleshooting it off and on during the entire mission. Although a new generator was received, this rotation was plagued with power issues. The main issue was that the Xantex would often reject the power that the generator was sending.

I was in charge of helping out on other projects, too, such as mobilizing the NDX-1 suit test. That went well, and I was able to get the compressor and generator to work properly while secured to a trailer pulled by the ATV. Also during the rotation I fixed the ATV with a thorough spark plug cleansing, oversaw a freshwater resupply for the HAB, and helped design a stretcher that would allow a person wearing a surface suit to be carried on their back rather than on their face or side. I also developed a method of securing the backpack such that it would aid in supporting the injured person rather than pulling down on the shoulders and mid-section of the individual. And I designed and developed a device that would allow a person to be transported on an ATV with this modified stretcher. These were all original ideas and we plan to apply for patents.

With all the power issues and the very early NDX-1 suit test, I didn't have much time for HAB upgrades. And the upgrades that I did manage to attempt, regretfully ended in failure. Overall though, I did manage to keep the HAB in working order for me and the rest of the crew to enjoy.

In Conclusion:

Crew 61 is grateful to the NASA Spaceward Bound Program for sponsoring our mission, to the Mars Society for building and maintaining this wonderful station, and the cadre of people in Mission Support, the Remote Science Team, the Engineering Team, and especially Local Support, who all are equally a part of the Spaceward Bound V mission.

We're Safe, Had Fun, Got It Done - CREW 61!!!

Chip Shepherd
Commander, Crew 61
Over and Out