Author: a.jaskulska

From the very morning the crew started to make plans for the next EVA, together with a contingency plan, in case things don’t go as planned. Their rovers, Leo and Tiger may join them for this mission as HabCom would like to have eyes on the astronauts as they rework the network to have an additional dust sensor for their SWAMP shelter. During lunch they’ve discussed the potential of BCI for habitats like this and during EVA, when one has limited mobility due to the constraints of the suits. After lunch we prepared for an outreach event with a group of seniors from our LivingLab Kobo, when our Engineer had a tour of our habitat with them, among other things, showing them our pods in the sleeping quarters.

Today was the crew’s first EVA to the surface of the Sverdrup Crater. Our Mission XR Officer acted as the HabCom Lead while the XO took the role of HabCom Support. While the crew was out on the surface of the Moon, working on the S.W.A.M.P shelter outer door, the HabCom coordinated their efforts. The whole EVA took multiple hours and was an exhausting experience that made the crew really appreciate the hard work that astronauts and their ground support teams do. Even small tasks easily achieved on Earth are a challenge when you are wearing a heavy suit and thick protective gloves, which do not allow for feeling in your fingertips. This is one of the challenges that are yet unsolved when it comes to working in space suits. On this day the crew ate only freeze-dried food, which made them really crave snacks in the evening. This EVA did not involve robots, as the crew was testing IP based comms, using a mumble client, and wanted to focus on that solely.

The crew has been busy with preparations for the first EVA on the Moon. While they were waiting for the Prusa 3D printers to finish on the new collar for their BORP suit the Commander was sewing on the old collar they welded back together to the suit. It should hold for this mission, but very likely not the next one. They have also had a short introduction on 3D printing by the Mission Engineer, who encouraged them to come to him with ideas for projects. The crew has also continued the VR experiments with VIVE and had a little fun with the Pistol Whip game on the personal Oculus their XO brought with her. Meanwhile, the Media officer was taking great pictures of the crew and documenting the engineering that goes on behind the scenes.

Landing location in the Sverdrup crater means a great opportunity for exploration. As the crew is planning a very ambitious excursion into the S.W.A.M.P shelter on the Moon, there was a lot of engineering involved. In-between the crew engaged in tests evaluating their mental capacity while in ICE conditions, first in a 2D test evaluating cognitive inhibition, and then preparations were made to test the same thing in VR, with VIVE Pro Eye and additional markers, in an especially prepared 3D environment resembling the conditions known from Earth. They’ve also created a 26-item long resupply list for the first drop ship, mostly containing parts to upgrade their equipment.

Today was a busy day for the crew as they’ve discussed the goals for their EVA missions, XR projects, and the resupply. First time cooking in space was a bit of a challenge too! They’ve also proposed their landing location to Mission Control and are awaiting a go-ahead. Their Robomaster robot buddy equipped with a camera got a new name, and it’s now called Tiger. 

The XR Alpha crew waved goodbye to Earth and are already on their way to the Moon. Before the lights out order they’ve managed to plan how to put base stations for VIVE Pro Eye in the atrium – to effectively turn it into a VR-ready space.

Our Alpha XR Mission starts on April 27, 2022.
Over the following weeks we will post more mission updates.