Difference between revisions of "Red Dawn 2008"

Revision as of 17:26, 11 March 2010

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Red Dawn 2008
Year	2007-08
Mission Destination	Mars
Mission Dates	26-02-2008 to 3-01-08
Habitat Commander	Nevin Hotson
Mission Control Commander	Jeff Gao
Simulator Commander	Bryce Storey

The 2008 Mission to Mars, or Mission Red Dawn, was the first mission run using the Engineering Closet and the new, smaller Hotlab. Other changes for this mission included:

• A new version of the Orbit software implementing solid rocket boosters (SRBs) for terrestrial liftoff and a reusable parachute for atmospheric reentry.
• A new, more comfortable EVA suit.

The Astronauts Daisy Wong, Maclean Rouble, Matt Farkas-Dyck,Nevin Hotson, Anthony Xing, and Ben Paul

Experiments

Experiments were performed on the following subjects:

• effects of fatigue on mental ability
• effects of music on mental ability and heart rate
• effects of distracting stimuli on mental ability
• effects of longterm exposure to the Martian environment on the Viking I lander

Additionally, due to the emergency situation of the loss of 30% of the Habitat's water stores, an attempt was made to build a Sabatier reactor to produce additional water using the Martian atmosphere. This experiment was a partial success, as water was produced but could not be retrieved due to extreme weather conditions.

Notable Events

• CJOH showed up without RSVPing several hours before launch, and some of the preparations were featured in a news segment on 26 February.
• Launch was only two hours behind schedule, which is believed to be a record for recent OCESS missions.
• All power to the main engines was briefly lost during the initial insertion to Earth orbit; however, the auxiliary power bus functioned properly, and a safe orbit was achieved.
• A total of five scheduled EVAs were performed, as well as several additional EVAs to repair damage and set up the Sabatier reactor.
• A powerful storm on the last night briefly incapacitated Cdr Hotson and Lt Rouble while they were on EVA to collect the water produced by the Sabatier reactor; however, Lt Cdr Xing was able to retrieve them safely.
• Landing at the OCESS facilities in Ottawa was at approximately 1415 EST; initial reentry was over Chicago, which was judged not to be an optimal landing site.

See Also

• The Spacesim website page on this mission