Did we mention yesterday’s small emergency? Just before we were done with our EVA there was a blackout, stranding our crew on the lunar surface without any way to get back in for over an hour. Luckily, our SWAMP shelter was fully outfitted, and they could wait it out, while the Commander and the First Officer tried to figure out what was going on. What was going on were larger issues with the local infrastructure and we’ve managed them thanks to ground support.
Once power was back and the last EVA was completed the crew started to secure and pack the equipment provided by XR Lab PJAIT and partners from HASE research initiative, including various VR and XR headsets form Varjo, HTC and Oculus as well as 3D scanners and printers, robots, eye trackers, body trackers, BCI interfaces and psychophysiological measurement devices. It was definitely a very intense two weeks for our crew and equipment.
Of course, we’re writing about the emergency and packing, as we don’t want to think what’s coming up, which is today is touchdown day. We’d do anything to distract ourselves, we’re cleaning up, finishing reports, shuffling boxes, playing with some tech and in general feeling moody. We’ve also just completed last tests with our XR Lab newest AR headset Hololens 2 to extend previous VR and XR tests in the context of rapid prototyping new concepts for space suits. There were some comparative tests to do at the end of our trip, so we had the cognitive inhibition measures, saliva sample collection (during which we listened to the “Sad 60s” playlist on Spotify) and some tests in VR. But now it’s time to pack up everything into boxes and get ready to face the spotlight ‘cause the papers will want to know whose shirts we wear.
