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Dr Pascal Lee, Director of HMP (NASA Ames, Mars Institute, SETI Institute), discusses the focus of his work this season at the HMP Research Station, helping NASA think about how to plan and implement long range and long duration pressurized rover traverses on the Moon and Mars.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Dr Stephen Braham, the Associate Director of HMP (Mars Institute) and Chief Field Engineer (Simon Fraser University), discusses communications and exploration systems support at the HMP Research Station.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Jesse Weaver, technician for the HMP, discusses his work this season maintaining the fleet of ATVs, the generators and the Mars-1 Humvee Rover.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Marwan Hussein, a systems engineer with OPTECH of Toronto, Canada, discusses 3D lidar imaging in analog environments such as the HMP Research Station.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Photo Sets: HMP RS - July 25, 2009 | HMP RS - July 26, 2009 | HMP RS - July 27, 2009 | HMP RS - July 28, 2009 | HMP RS - July 29, 2009
Research activities are still going strong and taking advantage of a much wished for sunny day. This exciting and productive HMP field season will be wrapping up research activities in the next couple of days and shutting down operations over the next week. Filming of the Mars-1 Humvee Rover with a Hamilton Sundstrand suitport and Planetary Concept Suit continues today with National Geographic, and also a BBC crew who has arrived today. Both film crews have use of a helicopter today.
Following are updates from the last few days on just some of the research activities that are wrapping up soon. This may be the last written update since [yours truly] Elaine Walker, Education and Public Outreach officer for the Mars Institute, will be flying out on the 31st. There will be more video reports, so stay tuned, and we will be looking ahead to the 2010 HMP field season.
NASA lunar geologic traverse simulations:
Dr Pascal Lee (Director, HMP / NASA Ames, Mars Institute, SETI Institute), Dr Mark Helper (Distinguished Senior Lecturer, University of Texas at Austin) and Dr Essam Heggy (Planetary Scientist, JPL) completed simulated lunar geological and geophysical traverses that are part of their studies of robotic follow-up to human exploration, and of the efficiencies of pressured rover and EVA exploration. During the final simulated EVA, Dr Heggy and Dr Lee successfully captured ground penetrating radar (GPR) images along a 50 m traverse at four different frequencies that span a Gigahertz range. The techniques employed resemble those that could be used for seismic surveys on the lunar surface. This final geophysical EVA traverse was preceded by a 24 hour rover traverse designed to collect (GPR) data while roving and, at specific sites, by EVA. Helper and Lee had earlier completed a similar traverse that focused on the geologic history of Haughton crater.
The CRUX (Drilling Automation for Mars Exploration) drill:
The CRUX drill team, Dr Brian Glass (Senior Scientist, Drilling Automation, NASA Ames) and Dr Sarah Thompson (NASA Ames), has completed their research and are writing up the results. This afternoon they will be breaking down the drill equipment and bringing it back from Drill Hill to the HMP Research Station to be shipped out. The CRUX drill has shown to be extremely robust and the team is pleased with the results.
Simulation and Telemedicine in space analogue environments:
The study into the capabilities of high fidelity simulation to study telemedicine in remote settings and space analogue environments (McMaster University / CSA) is winding down. To date they have completed 9 simulations of medical events, each with a different research question or demonstration of untested capability. Dr David Musson (Director, Center for Simulation based learning, McMaster Univ.) and his student, Bosco Law (MSc Student in Health Research Methodology), returned to McMaster University on July 24th and continue to support the project from down South, while Dr Musson's student, Matt Turnock (MSc Student in E-Health), remains on site at the HMP Research Station to train any last participants and to coordinate on site activity in the remaining days of the project.
Stress and coping in extreme environments:
The study of coping and stress in an extreme environment (McMaster University / Mars Institute) continues at the HMP Research Station. The number of participants was much higher than anticipated, and they would like to extend a very big thanks to everyone who took part in this study and made it a big success. Matt Turnock continues to supervise data collection on site.
UTIAS Robot and Lidar Teams:
Dr Tim Barfoot (PI, UTIAS) and his team has led their robot on several routes, including 5 kilometer-long autonomous traverses. He and his PhD student, Paul Furgale, took advantage of clear weather to collect celestial data with the robot in the Mars-like terrain near the HMP Research Station. Dr Mike Daly (Senior Engineer, MDA), Matthew Izawa (University of Western Ontario), Pat Carle (University of Toronoto) and Marwan Hussein (systems engineer, OPTECH) did lidar imaging and field geology at Lake Trinity inside the Haughton Structure. Laura Thomson (University of Western Ontario) and her team have had several traverses to Lake Orbiter and are processing the data collected.
Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse:
Dr Alain Berinstain (Director, Planetary and Space Exploration Astronomy, CSA) worked with Dr Stephen Braham (SFU / HMP Associate Director) on communications for the Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse and has closed the greenhouse for the season. His team will continue to communicate remotely and monitor the greenhouse over the next several months until the next HMP field season.
After Dinner Lectures:
HMP Participants become exponentially smarter as they absorb the informative after dinner lectures given by fellow participants. Dr Mark Helper, Distinguished Senior Lecturer from the Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, gave a talk on the evening of the 27th titled: Proterozoic Geology of the Shackleton Range, Antarctica: Implications for the S.W.E.A.T. Hypothesis. Canadian Museum of Nature researcher, Natalia Rybczynski, and her team visited the HMP Research Station and gave another lecture, this time with more information now that her exciting find has been published. Natalia and her team found a fossil last year in Haughton Crater that points to the missing link between seals and land mammals. She gave a talk at the HMP Research Station last season just after her find, and we are once again honored by her presence!
Photo Sets: HMP RS - July 25, 2009 | HMP RS - July 26, 2009 | HMP RS - July 27, 2009 | HMP RS - July 28, 2009 | HMP RS - July 29, 2009
Addy Overbeeke, a Spacesuit Engineer from Hamilton Sundstrand, discusses the Humvee-mounted suitport concept studied at HMP.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Dr Mark Helper, Distinguished Senior Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, discusses the NASA lunar geologic traverse simulations at Haughton Crater this HMP field season.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Dr Essam Heggy, a Planetary Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), discusses his research with ground penetrating radar this field season at the HMP Research Station.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Dr Tim Barfoot, from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) discusses the CSA-supported rover exploration project this field season at the HMP Research Station.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Dr. David Musson from McMaster University is the Director for the Center for Simulation Based Learning. He discusses a CSA-supported telemedicine resuscitation project with his students, Matt Turnock (MSc Student in E-Health) and Bosco Law (MSc Student in Health Research Methodology) at the Haughton-Mars Project Research Station.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 24, 2009
Five new arrivals flew in this morning, including Dr Alain Berinstain (Director, Planetary and Space Exploration Astronomy, CSA), Dr Mike Daly (Senior Engineer, MDA), Matthew Izawa (University of Western Ontario), Terry from Grise Fiord, and Michael Morrow and Jeff Thrasher from National Geographic, who will be filming HMP activities for the program Storm Worlds.
A 24 hour Mars-1 Humvee Rover traverse with the new suitport got underway this afternoon. The suitport was installed by the Hamilton Sundstrand team, Addy Overbeeke and Montira Satienpoch. Dr Mark Helper (Geologist, MMAMA) will be performing EVAs as an astronaut/field geologist who is unfamiliar with any prior work at Haughton crater, conducting a day-long traverse to learn as much as possible about the geology of the Haughton site. The traverse simulates, as closely as possible, the constraints of doing such work on the lunar surface, particularly in the times available for EVAs, for roving in a pressurized LER (Lunar Exploration Rover) and for doing field work in a space suit.
Also involved in the traverse planning and research this season is Dr Essam Heggy, a Planetary Scientist at JPL. Dr Heggy has brought some very high tech gear that will be used on the Mars-1 Humvee Rover traverses, including a Ground Penetrating Radar system and other instruments that can scan below the ground surface on different frequencies. Dr Stephen Braham (SFU / HMP Associate Director) spent the day supporting the Rover's communication needs, and the National Geographic team got some beautiful footage of the Rover and the "astronaut" EVAs.
Several other HMP activities are going on simultaneously. The CRUX drill team, Dr Brian Glass (Senior Scientist, Drilling Automation, NASA Ames) Dr Sarah Thompson (NASA Ames) reached their goal at Drill Hill today. Dr Tim Barfoot (PI, UTIAS) and his PhD student, Paul Furgale, did some celestial navigation with the robot today, heading towards Lake Orbiter. Dr Mike Daly, Matthew Izawa, Pat Carle (University of Toronoto) and Marwan Hussein (systems engineer, OPTECH) went to the hydrothermal vents this afternoon. Matt Turnock, an MSc Student in E-Health at McMaster University, is continuing to give medical training and conduct mock telemedicine scenarios with various HMP participants and remote doctors. Dr Alain Berinstain is hard at work in the greenhouse.
Canadian Museum of Nature researcher, Natalia Rybczynski, and her team are visiting the HMP Research Station today. Natalia and her team found a fossil last year in Haughton Crater that points to the missing link between seals and land mammals. She gave a talk at the HMP Research Station last season after her exciting find. We are honored by her presence!
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 24, 2009
Matt Turnock, an MSc Student in E-Health at McMaster University, discusses his research this season with the Center for Simulation Based Learning. The study is led by Dr David Musson (McMaster Univ / CSA).
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 23, 2009
The Hamilton Sundstrand team, Addy Overbeeke and Montira Satienpoch, supported the BBC film crew, providing them with shots of Dr Pascal Lee (Director, HMP / NASA Ames, Mars Institute, SETI Institute) wearing the space suit. BBC also filmed the Mars-1 Humvee Rover with the space suit attached to the simulated airlock. Addy and Montira completed the resizing modifications for Dr Mark Helper (Geologist, MMAMA) who is 6'4", and finished the latching mechanisms for the simulated pressurized bulkhead door on the Rover.
Dr Stephen Braham (SFU / HMP Associate Director) is setting up a repeater to allow network communication with Drill Hill. The Drilling Automation team, Dr Brian Glass an Dr Sarah Thompson (both of NASA Ames), bore a hole 1.5 meters with the CRUX drill.
Dr Tim Barfoot (PI, UTIAS) and his team continued their activities, taking the robot on a five kilometer route near the HMP Research Station, and collecting lidar and GPR data for a good part of the day near Lake Orbiter.
The staff at HMP is working hard supporting the Research Station's daily activities, managed by John Schutt (HMP Base Camp Manager), allowing the researchers to focus on their science. Camp cook, Mike Langenhan, cooked some simulated chicken and rosemary potatoes for a delicious analog dinner.
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 23, 2009
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 22, 2009
Five HMP participants departed on a twin otter flight today. We gave big thanks and said, "Until next time!" to Drs Robert Ferl and Anna-Lisa Paul (both faculty at the University of Florida), Tom Graham (Univ. of Guelph), Matt Bamsey (Univ. of Guelph / CSA) and Louis-Phillipe Durocher (Space System Engineer, CSA).
Jesse Weaver (field technician) prepared the Mars-1 Humvee Rover for the space suit team. Montira Satienpoch (Hamilton Sundstrand) sewed visors for the space suit helmet and Addy Overbeeke (Hamilton Sundstrand) is working on the space suit hatch on the back of the Rover. The space suit will be attached to the hatch in the same configuration as NASA's latest Lunar rover prototype.
Dr Essam Heggy (Planetary Scientist, JPL) and Dr Mark Helper (Geologist, MMAMA) started planning for the 24 hour traverse with simulated EVAs that will get underway tomorrow. Dr Helper is working with limited slope data to plan the traverses, having no inside scoop about actual terrain roughness collected last field season to add to the realism of the simulation.
The Drill team, led by Dr Brian Glass (NASA Ames), continued their work with the CRUX drill inside of the Haughton impact structure. The robot team, led by Dr Tim Barfoot (PI, UTIAS) is busy with activities, including traversing to interesting terrain to collect GPR and lidar data, and working with the robot near the HMP Research Station. The robot drove 6 kilometers with no intervention today.
Dr David Musson (McMaster Univ / CSA) gave a stellar after dinner talk titled "The Right Stuff, The Wrong Stuff and No Stuff". He showed us data regarding different categories of people (students, astronauts, commercial pilots, etc) and how they differ on various personality tests. He postulated on which high scores may be applicable to future long duration flights.
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 22, 2009
Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute) introduces Dr Brian Glass and Dr Sarah Thompson, both from NASA Ames Research Center, who talk about their research in Drilling Automation for Mars Exploration with the CRUX drill this HMP field season.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Dr Anna-Lisa Paul, a faculty member at the University of Florida, talks about her work at the Haughton-Mars Project this season with her colleague, Dr Robert Ferl, also faculty at the University of Florida.
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 21, 2009
A twin otter arrived today with four new arrivals - Addy Overbeeke and Montira Satienpoch (both of Hamilton Sundstrand), Dr Mark Helper (University of Austin) and Dr Essam Heggy (Planetary Scientist, JPL). Addy and Montira will be attaching a spacesuit to the back of the Mars-1 Humvee Rover to mimic NASA's latest lunar rover prototype. Dr Helper and Dr Heggy will be involved in the Mars-1 Humvee traverses with the new spacesuit hatch.
Lots of activities are taking place simultaneously. Matt Bamsey (Univ. of Guelph / CSA) and Tom Graham (Univ. of Guelph) closed the greenhouse today and are preparing for their flight out tomorrow. Drs Robert Ferl and Anna-Lisa Paul (both faculty at the University of Florida) are also on their last day, and are packing up and preparing for their departure.
Paul Furgale (UTIAS) and Braden Stenning (UTIAS) did a 4 kilometer navigation with their robot near the HMP Research Station, to get a data set collection. Pat Carle (University of Toronoto) and Marwan Hussein (systems engineer, OPTECH) did some lidar scans today, north of tent city. Laura Thomson (University of Western Ontario) and Dr Tim Barfoot (PI, UTIAS) headed into the lake bed sediments, guided by Ben Audlaluk (from Grise Fiord).
Drs Brian Glass and Sarah Thompson (both from NASA Ames) drilled the first hole of the season with the CRUX drill. Matt Turnock (MSc Student in E-Health, McMaster Univ.) reminded us that today is saliva day, as he continues collecting data for the cortisol stress study.
Louis-Phillipe Durocher (Space System Engineer, CSA) gave an after dinner talk titled Repeatable Automated Deployment of Space Systems. He explained that the increasing complexity of software is a major cost driver for space missions, and talked about strategies to reduce that cost.
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 21, 2009
From the Office of the Chief Engineer
-by Dr. Stephen Braham (SFU / HMP Associate Director)
 |
| Ka-band (right) and C-band (middle) satellite terminals, the Planetary Uplink Facility (PUF) tent, and the regional medium-gain, high-power, antenna (right) for the long-range digital voice network. All sit on the Mars-like Maynard Hill near base camp, connected to camp by a road we call the Information Superhighway. copyright 2009 Mars Institute |
ICT is run by my team, the Exploration Systems Operations Centre (ExSOC) team, lead by Simon Fraser University (SFU), Vancouver, Canada, out of a lab I direct, the PolyLAB for Advanced Collaborative Networking, a unit of the SFU Telematics Research Laboratory (TRL). The latter is directed by my colleague Professor Peter Anderson. We work to understand ICT in critical environments, from disasters to human spaceflight.
This year, we are making more steps in the systems we have been building at HMP since 1999 - the most advanced and highest fidelity planetary analog ICT infrastructure anywhere in the world. Our team includes super-capable undergraduate student Starla Talbot, from SFU, and we're being helped greatly by Dr Sarah Thompson of NASA Ames, in yet another exciting collaboration with Dr Brian Glass (also NASA Ames).
We started off by deploying our 1 Gbps optical switched communications network throughout the HMP Research Station (our camp), fixing damage to fiber cable caused by animals roaming Devon Island over winter. After that, we bought up our Ka-band dish, which we operate as a collaboration between Telesat, SFU, CSA, and the Communications Research Centre (CRC). The Ka-band dish provides high-speed incoming data (several times faster than the average network connection at home) and a reasonable outgoing data throughput (a few times faster than a connection at home). It acts to provide "general" user networking - web and e-mail for the large number of participants here.
However, for analog mission-class spaceflight, and other critical, work, we need something a little more special. That's our C-band dish, with which we can test and use state of the art modulation and other satellite techniques, combined with spaceflight-related Internet protocols to achieve high-fidelity spaceflight-like communications. One important point is to maximize our ability to transmit data at high speed. Most consumer-type network connections, including our (still state of the art and very cool) Ka-band dish, have a focus on getting a high rate of incoming data, with a slower rate, and quality of service, of outgoing data. That's great for accessing the Internet. However, emergency and spaceflight comms have the exact opposite need! We go to another planet because we want to find out things. Most of the data flows back from the remote location, and not to it! Same goes for emergencies and telemedicine needs. We also need the network to have an extremely high quality of service - it must be super clean and well-behaved. C-band lets us do this, in increasingly innovative ways. This year, we'll deploy a new technology, enabled by the latest digital signal processing (DSP) techniques that lets us double our outgoing data flow, and possibly go further by improving our choices in how we transmit. This may open up the way for future remote deployments where we will transmit data at rates of sixty or more times faster than usual home network connections allow.
Why is this important? Well - NASA presently plans to operate networks for lunar missions with speeds in the 100-300 Mbps range. Many of the lessons for how to do this have been learned and demonstrated here at HMP, in particular how to move large amounts of data around at large range from the Base facility. This is very hard to achieve, for reasonable costs, at very remote sites via satellite communications, especially in Northern Canada. This greatly influences, and potentially restricts, how these sites can be used for analog mission-class work. The further North you go, the worse the problem, and the more expensive it gets to make a solution work. The higher we can get the outgoing data rate, the more we can use these sites for analog mission-class work that is compatible with NASA and other space agency requirements. We can also enhance capabilities at any analog site in the world by deploying ExSOC's extended capabilities. This year, we should reach the point where we can transmit extremely high-quality video in real time, bringing us closer to the multiple HD-quality video streams we need for a real analog mission deployment. All this is possible with our collaboration with CRC, where CRC acts as the "DSN" site for HMP, and SFU builds the lunar/planetary surface exploration solutions, with funding from a wide range of sources.
Now in our 11th year of SFU TRL advanced ICT at HMP, we have reached another milestone - we have phased out the last analog (as in not digital) communications system at HMP! All systems are now fully digital, including our long-range safety/voice communication network, allowing us to support traverses and EVA work out to 60km from base camp. This is integrated into our ICT infrastructure, including our long-range, tens of kms at tens of Mbps, and often out of line of sight, data comms system - PlanetNet, which moves into Version 4 this year. Presently, PlanetNet is feeding base camp the multiple data networks we use from our two dishes, but it will also be supporting remote field teams in the weeks to come, allowing end to end mission operations, including fully emulated lunar, Mars, and beyond delays in communications. We can easily move voice through the primary data network, and back to base, using emergency service/defense/security-grade interoperability solutions from TRL's great friends at Raytheon-JPS. This all works with our correspondingly emergency/defense/security-grade hand-held and vehicle-carried voice radio systems. We try to use the latest commercial solutions, to bring stable, affordable, but best of breed solutions to human spaceflight.
We're looking forward to an exciting rest of season! Keep watching for more cool news from the bleeding edge of analog Exploration Systems research and support.
Starla Talbot, field assistant for Dr Stephen Braham (SFU / HMP Associate Director), fixes the Mars-1 Humvee Rover antenna.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 20, 2009
Camp cook, Mike Langenhan, assisted by Dan Green this field season, baked this special cake commemorating the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11.
© 2009 Mars Institute
Elaine Walker, the Education and Public Outreach Officer for the Mars Institute, speaks of the Apollo Anniversary and Haughton-Mars Project activities, including the automated CRUX drill.
Stay tuned for more on the CRUX drill, with folks from NASA Ames Research Center, coming soon!
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2008 Mars Institute
See: marsonearth.org
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 20, 2009
A Lunar time delay was implemented in today's medical scenario. Dr Robert Ferl and Dr Anna-Lisa Paul, both faculty at the University of Florida, took part in this tricky medical scenario, saving the life of the high-tech robotic patient, in Lunar-delayed communications with the remote doctor. Dr David Musson (MD/PhD, McMaster Univ. CSA), Bosco Law and Matt Turnock (both MSc students at McMaster Univ.) and Marcel Pigeon (physician assistant, DND) stood by and observed. There were two additional medical scenarios today as well.
Today may have been the busiest day of the season so far. There was a whirlwind of activities. A few separate traverses took place. Two traverses were to Drill Hill, led by Dr Brian Glass and Dr Sarah Thompson (both from NASA Ames). Tommy Sulluviniq (Deputy Field Camp Manager, Resolute Bay) and Ben Audlaluk (from Grise Fiord) helped to set up the drill tent. The drill was unpacked and set into place in the drill tent, ready for the second traverse after lunch when testing began. Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute) joined them to take some video and interview the scientists. The Drs went back to Drill Hill after lunch with Jesse Weaver (field technician) and Ben Audlaluk (from Grise Fiord).
A traverse to House Rock, named after an Apollo rock, included Dr Tim Barfoot (PI, UTIAS), Braden Stenning (UTIAS), Laura Thomson (University of Western Ontario) and Ben Audlaluk (from Grise Fiord). The UTIAS team, Dr Tim Barfoot, Paul Furgale and Braden Stennin, took their robot on long range traverse. Pat Carle (University of Toronoto) and Marwan Hussein (systems engineer, OPTECH) did some lidar scans.
The Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse team is closing up the greenhouse for the season. Dr Stephen Braham (SFU / HMP Associate Director) has the C-Band going at twice the speed and his field assistant, Starla Talbot, assembled another wifi tower for the HMP camp. Stephen and Starla have also deployed two web cams - one in the office tent, and one outdoors pointing at the Mars-1 Humvee Rover so the world can watch as it gets the new space suit door attached.
Camp cook, Mike Langenhan, and his assistant, Dan Green, baked a wonderful Apollo 11 Anniversary cake that we enjoyed after dinner. HMP participants shared Apollo 11 memories, Dr Pascal Lee cut the first piece of cake, and we sang a Happy Birthday Apollo song. After the Apollo celebration, Dr Robert Ferl introduced his colleague, Dr Anna-Lisa Paul (both from the University of Florida) for her talk on the logistics of launching a remote experiment to the ISS. She also talked about their work looking at gene expression responses in Arabidopsis plants to environmental changes.
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 20, 2009
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 19, 2009
A twin otter flight came in this morning with several new participants. Research activities, namely NASA activities, will be ramping up in this third quarter of the season. Starting on the 20th, which is the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11, our HMP activities will get the prominent spot on NASA's Analog website!
We welcomed incoming HMP participants, Dr Tim Barfoot, Paul Furgale, Braden Stenning and Pat Carle (all from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies), Laura Thomson (University of Western Ontario) and Marwan Hussein (systems engineer, OPTECH). They will be working together on various aspects with a rover equipped with lidar and other capabilities.
Also arriving today was Dr Brian Glass (Senior Scientist, Drilling Automation, NASA Ames). He and Dr Sarah Thompson (NASA Ames) will be experimenting with the automated CRUX drill, to gain more knowledge in drilling automation for Mars exploration.
Dr. Brian Glass and Dr. Sarah Thompson traversed to Drill Hill to review the site for this season and asses where to install the CRUX drill. Tommy Sulluviniq (Deputy Field Camp Manager, Resolute Bay) and Ben Audlaluk (from Grise Fiord) came along to help, and [yours truly] Elaine Walker (EPO, Mars Institute) came along to get some video footage and interview the scientists.
The lidar team, Pat Carle (University of Toronoto) and Marwan Hussein (systems engineer, OPTECH), took several lidar scans near the HMP camp in order to understand the capabilities of the systems depending on the material of the ground.
Jesse Weaver (field technician) helped Dr. Pascal Lee (Director, HMP / NASA Ames, Mars Institute, SETI Institute) attach some new decals to the Mars-1 Humvee Rover.
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 19, 2009
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 18, 2009
Dr. Sarah Thompson (NASA Ames) supervised a traverse in the Mars-1 Humvee Rover to bring the CRUX drill and other equipment to Drill Hill. Along on the traverse to help position the drilling crate were Bosco Law (MSc Student in Health Research Methodology, McMaster Univ.), Jesse Weaver (field technician), Ben Audlaluk (from Grise Fiord) and Tommy Sulluviniq (Resolute Bay).
Starla Talbot, field assistant for Dr. Stephen Braham (SFU / HMP Associate Director), swapped out an antenna on the Mars-1 Humvee Rover. Starla has also been helping Dr. Braham prepare the webcams that will be going up soon, assisting new HMP participants with their internet connections, along with other technical duties.
A mock emergency medical scenario was conducted in the medical tent, led by David Musson (MD/PhD, McMaster Univ. / Director, Center for Simulation based learning, CSA). David observed while a remote doctor led [yours truly] Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute) and Jesse Weaver (field technician) through life saving procedures on Simm Man, the high tech robotic patient, who had a leg torn off in an accident.
Drs. Robert Ferl and Anna-Lisa Paul (faculty, University of Florida) finished the battery box for the Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse, and Louis-Phillipe Durocher (Space System Engineer, CSA) took inventory. Matt Bamsey (CSA / Univ. of Guelph), with Anna-Lisa, gave a very thorough tour of the greenhouse systems this morning to several HMP participants.
Dan Green (assistant camp cook) gave an after dinner lecture titled Giordano Bruno: A Revolution in European Cosmology. His talk was informative and entertaining. Dan is not just an assistant cook. He has been accepted into the PhD program in Anthropology at Harvard University.
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 18, 2009
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 17, 2009
There was a meeting of the HMP Core Team members this morning, planning ahead as we enter the third quarter of the season. The busiest times are fast approaching, and we look forward to a very productive next couple of weeks.
A twin otter flight came in today with the CRUX drill, fuel and propane. Research scientists from NASA Ames Research Center will be working with the automated CRUX drill over the remainder of the season, continuing to make advances in space-drilling technologies.
The Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse team Matt Bamsey and Tom Graham, both from the University of Guelph, are wrapping up this season's work with the plant growth systems and connecting the new battery bank today. Drs. Robert Ferl and Anna-Lisa Paul, both faculty at University of Florida, planted the Fall tray with very specific soil samples they collected this season.
The medical team gave a few HMP participants a crash course in advanced skills with emergency medical scenarios using guidance from their remote chief instructors. This is part of their ongoing research in telemedicine. Yours truly got training! It was a unique experience with the realistic robotic patient used by McMaster's Centre for Simulation Based Learning, complete with audible breathing, a physical pulse and a bone protruding from an upper leg.
Today is saliva day! Many of the HMP participants this field season are taking part in a study by McMaster University student, Matt Turnock, about the correlation between stress and Cortisol levels. Thankfully, saliva day is only twice a week. Matt also gave an entertaining and informative talk this evening that he called "A Crash Course in Telemedicine and Hi Fidelity Patient Simulation."
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 17, 2009
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 16, 2009
The HMP Research Station is busy with activities. Dr. Stephen Braham (SFU / HMP Associate Director), with the help of Starla Talbot (SFU / field assistant), got a radio working in the Mars-1 Humvee Rover with a 60 kilometer range each way. Robert Ferl and Anna-Lisa Paul, both faculty at the University of Florida, traversed to Gemini Hills to collect breccia, similar to the breccia used in one of last year's studies in the Arthur Clarke Mars Green house, in order to repeat the study. Chris Iles (Network Systems Integration, CRC) and Dr. Leo Hartman (Computer Scientist, CSA) finished installing and securing the battery bank for the greenhouse. Telemedicine mock scenarios are underway in the medical tent, complete with a very high tech mannequin.
After dinner, Leo Dr. Leo Hartman, a computer scientist with the System Engineering Directorate at CSA, Chris Iles with the Communications Research Center of Canada, and John Klatte, a technician with AM General, were awarded this season's HMP patches for their participation since they are flying out today.
The twin otter flight came in after dinner with two incoming participants. Tommy Sulliviniq (from Resolute) is returning, and medical officer, Marcel Pigeon (Department of National Defence, Canada), has arrived as well. Also on the flight was food, propane, diesel and clean laundry. We said goodbye to Leo, Chris and John.
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 16, 2009
John Klatte, a technician with AM General, and Jesse Weaver (HMP field technician) gave the Mars-1 Humvee Rover some upgrades, including heavy duty springs and new steering components. The Humvee was lifted with inflatable jacks from ARB. Our sincere thanks go to John Klatte for his skilled and efficient work.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, Mars Institute)
copyright 2009 Mars Institute
Dr. Leo Hartman is a computer scientist with the Canadian Space Agency. He provides system engineering support for the HMP's Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse, is also interested in developing autonomous control and communications infrastructure, and has helped install a new bank of batteries.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, Mars Institute)
copyright 2009 Mars Institute
Chris Iles of the Communications Research Center of Canada (CRC) discusses Canadian Space Agency research in the HMP's Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse.
Video by Elaine Walker (EPO, HMP, Mars Institute)
Copyright 2009 Mars Institute
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 15, 2009
John Klatte, a technician with AM General, and Jesse Weaver (HMP field technician), gave the Mars-1 Humvee Rover some upgrades, including heavy duty springs and new steering components. It was completed this evening! The Humvee was lifted with inflatable jacks from ARB. Our sincere thanks go to John Klatte for his skilled and efficient work.
Robert Ferl and Anna-Lisa Paul if the University of Florida, along with Louis-Phillipe Durocher (CSA) and Ben Audlaluk (from Grise Fiord) traversed to Drill Hill this morning. Robert and Anna-Lisa took samples vertically at various depths, to see how different soil compositions affect plant growth.
Camp cook, Mike Langenhan, prepared a wonderful salmon dinner this evening with help from assistant cook, Dan Green. Dan is more than just an assistant cook. He has been accepted to Harvard for a PhD program in Anthropology. After dinner, Dr. Leo Hartman (Computer Scientist, System Engineering Directorate, CSA) gave a power point presentation in the mess tent titled: An Integrated Approach to Resource and Fault Management.
Tent ties are being strengthened in preparation for expected high winds this evening.
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 15, 2009
A twin otter flew in after dinner with new arrivals David Musson (MD/PhD, Director, Center for Simulation based learning, CSA), Bosco Law (MSC Student in Health Research Methodology) and [yours truly] Elaine Walker, Education and Public Outreach Officer for the HMP. Now that Elaine is here, daily updates will commence for the remainder of the HMP season.
HMP Research activities are well underway and the participants are taking full advantage of the beautiful, sunny and relatively warm weather.
Photo Set: HMP RS - July 14, 2009
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