The FMARS Chronicles 2000

WJ Clancey

These are my personal impressions while living and working inside the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) July 29-August 1, 2000. The hab was still under construction and no formal experiments were underway. These notes do not constitute either scientific data or conclusions. They provide one person's point of view on the spot, using an ethnographic approach, which may be of interest to outside observers. How the crew's experience is reported to the public from Mars is a key aspect of what we hope to learn by inhabiting FMARS over the field seasons to come.

revised August 14, 2000 for typos and a few clarifications

7/29 Saturday night

2030 Arrive in Hab: Marc Boucher, Charlie Cockell, Samson Ootoovak, and myself (Bob Nessen arrived at 2130; Pascal Lee after 2200)

2045 We prepare for our interaction with Mission Support (Denver team).

We troubleshoot florescent bulb flickering by changing bulbs, unplugging, etc.

Our view of Haughton crater is a treat. I could sit for hours by the SE window watching the shadows fleeing over the breccia. The orange Discovery tent tending the satellite dish in the south is disconcerting; on Mars a temporary shelter would be green.

Bob has added a shelf to his room.

Samson is trying an MRE (Meal: Ready-to-Eat). food appears to be on our minds

Upstairs is much brighter and cheerful. The NW window, which forms the main exit door below, is unobstructed here.

Marc asks Samson how his life and work at St. Mary's is going. With such a small group, I notice our conversations have shifted to more personal matters we hadn't thought to ask in the past month. In HMP base camp we have been living as a village of 50 to 70 people. That's too large to be the only social unit. We need smaller groups for living together, the equivalent of a family home. During the HMP we do get out as small groups on traverses, and have a fun time together, such as the picnic Charlie, Oz, Colleen, Samson and I enjoyed in the crater. But we eat dinner in cafeteria style and have no lounges where small groups can talk and relax. Last year we used the Mountain Hardware dome tent as a sitting area, both a mess tent (for 20 or fewer people) and a library for work and reading.

I appreciate being away from the large camp with a few friends. I am sketching how we will use these two floors. I imagine moving everything upstairs--all the food and cooking equipment, the laptops, and another table. That's where we will sleep, eat, read and write, and have meetings. Downstairs is for laboratory equipment, storage, and exercise. Against the S wall we could have a retractable screen and LCD projector for presentations and movies. Perhaps a crew on Mars will give presentations to each other, but broadcast to the Earth.

2248 We start to watch Arthur C. Clarke's "2010" on DVD.

Seeing Bowman (in the film) calling back home (years after his demise in 2001), I'm reminded that FMARS simulations should include regular contact with families back home by emailed audio and video.

Seeing the trip to Europa, I'm wondering whether FMARS crews should try to stay into September some year, despite the snow, to appreciate the isolation. It's far more convenient than Antarctica, and would provide extreme isolation for a small crew.

0115 On a brief EVA before retiring, I enjoy being alone. A vast field of rocks lies before me, long distant ridges of breccia in the east, a sliver of Lake Cornell to the north, slight layered clouds on the horizon. Isolation. We're just here ourselves in the silent cold Arctic light. Finally, it feels great to be away from the crowd. Here on Haynes Ridge, inside this hab, our smaller group of six has the chance for genuine conversations.

Just before sleeping, lying in the sleeping bag of my personal room, I hear a stiff breeze knocking a rope against the scaffolding. The Mars flag is whipping in the north wind. FMARS' steel cables sing like sirens, a chorus calling us to Mars.

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7/30 Sunday

0630 I'm awake early this first morning in the hab. I lie still listening to the wind. Already it is 54F (11C) outside; inside the hab has cooled just one degree since last night. I put on my Mars Society T shirt, polartec jacket, heavy socks, and tevas, then step outside. It is a violation of protocol, but too nice an Arctic-Mars day to wear gloves and a helmet. The air is mild in the sun. The crater is less clear than last night, with wispy cirrus high over the meandering Haughton valley. In the northwest, a line of high clouds indicates another approaching (and probably dry) cold front. Our good weather continues with but one rainstorm in the past 11 days.

0823 The microwave won't start; I check the plug. Oh, the generator is off. Where is the fuel? Looking through the huge portals, I spot some plastic jugs. So my assumptions are laid bare-electricity is usually delivered to me. I am the consumer, so I have been taught by corporations. And now who will restart the generator?

0845 We're all awake, boiling water in the microwave one cup at a time, making coffee and oatmeal. Charlie testifies that the cold vanilla drink ('the breakfast of the space station') is mighty fine.

0900 Pascal is working on his email.

Charlie says goodbye until Wednesday, and egresses.

0930 Pascal reminds us about the GF64 red line around the Haughton Crater proper, marking Inuit Owned Land. We shall not trespass our neighbor's breccia.

1000 Marc and I begin rearranging the food and computers upstairs, leaving a "lab bench" downstairs.

1100 Larry Lemke and Carol Stoker appear with their gear. Carol begins sweeping the sawdust on the first floor.

1110 John Kunz and two Resolute assistants arrive upstairs to caulk and add bolts to the dome's ridges.

Noon I set up a powerbook on the new work/eating table upstairs, read my mail, and check the weather.

1230 Marc and I have lunch. We discuss the drama of building the hab. Were those who thought we should winterize the materials and wait a year wrong? Did construction without serious injury prove that the equipment and procedures were safe? Or were we tempting fate and simply lucky? Who was right? Maybe there is no definitive answer. These were value judgments--about concern for human safety, about accomplishing the objective of going to Mars, about being productive and taking chances. It wasn't just an engineering decision, but fraught with contextual issues and subjective uncertainties. Maybe there was no right calculation to be made--just interests and opinions that prevailed, grit and determination that (perhaps against the odds) avoided serious injury and finally succeeded. Maybe those who doubted and preferred to wait were right, too. In that world, I wouldn't be here now, but if completed next year the floor would have been honeycombed-fiberglass (instead of plywood) and the interior would be more Mars-realistic. We can ask what happened and whether we like the outcome, but not really "what was the right decision?"

1330 There is so much drilling and sawing, I cannot think. The floor is vibrating; it is too loud for Marc and me to talk.

1400 I test the Apple Airport wireless link; it works and I am now surfing the internet from my easy chair by the SE portal.

1430 All our carefully placed tables and cords must be moved out from the walls, so caulking can proceed between the dome and panels. How quickly our nest becomes disrupted, how tentative it now seems.

1500 I reheat my washcloth again in the microwave. The smell is somewhat less offensive, but it cleans well and I feel refreshed.

John Kunz arrives to review Greg's work along the dome. It could be a lot neater. I start washing the windows inside.

1530 Summer employees from the Noranda mining camp arrive by helicopter. The seven visitors come upstairs and tell us they've been out fishing. Their buddy died in an accident a few days ago, so they were flown to Resolute for some rest and recuperation. One guy seems interested to trade an 18 inch arctic char for a Mars Society hat. We are tempted but the deal never completes.

1615 Marc and I take the ATVs to Lake Cornell to take some pictures back to the hab. We're in T shirts in the bright sun; it's 59F (15C) with strong breezes from the northwest. The blue-green water entices, but the swim would be difficult in the 40F (5C) lake. We proceed to a ridge that overlooking the outer Haughton rim; the views are very fine.

1800 I set up a camera for a time lapse video of the upper floor. Bob films me as background for Discovery.

1830 I would like to relax alone to watch the news on TV with a beer.

1900 Pete Kinsman shows up looking for his partner from Hamilton, Dave Etter, who had driven the suit here twenty minutes earlier (and returned to base camp).

It is feeling cooler; I close the heavy vault-like doors downstairs.

1930 Marc and I eat and talk.

2100 Marc begins the Mission Support exercise with Denver.

2130 I try to take a self portrait by the portal, but the contrast between the landscape and hab inside is too extreme. Using a flash we capture a dark likeness of me and a washed image of the breccia. With our eyes shifting so quickly, the hab's inside and wide-ranging spaces of the crater are all of one piece. They can't be flattened on film.

2140 I move my easy chair to the NW portal and sit like a cat with the sun in my face. I fill out the weekly "habitability" survey from Johnson Space Center. My responses are unambiguous this week-all good spirits, no bad vibrations.

2145 Darlene Lim, Carol Stoker, and Larry Lemke arrive and move into their rooms.

We begin a conversation around the work table upstairs, which lasts until 1245am. Our discussion covers what we hope to accomplish, the protocols we will follow, and broader issues of analog studies, planning, and design.

0100 I wander around outside a half hour taking photos in the cheerful orange morning light. From below Haynes Ridge I spot an angle that hides the remaining construction materials. A surrealistic view presents itself: FMARS supported by the huge and broken slabs of the ancient sea bottom. The hab stands erect, solidly rising above the wildly tossed rock.

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7/31 Monday

0830 My thermometer reads 53F outside, 60F in my room; I'm the first to rise this morning.

0900 We're all preparing breakfast--oatmeal and tacos with jelly.

0920 We sit together at the table; a sign that our crew will work well together.

0925 Larry, Bob, and I sit with coffee in hand, while the others clean utensils and prepare more food.

Marc mentions reading about the 2003 Mars mission on his PC; we discuss the politics and capabilities of universities working with NASA. Once again the topic is the problem of large-scale engineering, such as Boston's "big dig." Can people with vision manage organization complexity? How do strategy and tactics come together on multi-billion dollar projects?

0950 Shifting back to our present concerns, we discuss our plans for today. Darlene and Carol will try out the space suit. Using email, we arrange for additional supplies from base camp.

0955 We discuss the interior plan again. What can be learned from the tradeoffs managed this year between allowing habitation, building the interior, and creating a final design? (We are seated the same as last night, with Larry and I having swapped places.) We outline some constraints for the interior design based on our short experience already: components should be reconfigurable by the crew, a crane on the roof to lift up large items is useful; more consideration for safety is required (fire exit, smoke alarms, rope ladder).

1000 The hab construction crew arrives and begins work on roof and downstairs.

1020 The meeting breaks up; we handle personal hygiene and dishes

Marc is sending a request to base camp and working on his Mars Society journal.

Darlene is washing.

Larry is brushing his teeth.

I am moving my chair and powerbook to the SE window to be in the sun.

1050 Lots of hammering, moving stuff around. Noise makes work impossible.

1114 It's way too noisy to write. Larry is coming up the ladder. Carol is talking to Marc about her planned traverse. Darlene and Bob are hungry again. They talk about food and exercise. There's a Resolute kid on the roof working. John Kunz is drilling somewhere. Then Carol asks if the space food waffles are any good. I aver that they hold butter and syrup well, so they are good. Unfortunately we have few condiments.

Having a quiet place to work is important. People need to treat certain areas as being like a library, as Marc and I would now like to view the upstairs floor. Can't everyone see that Marc and I are trying to write? Of course, the fact is that the hab is still a construction site.

1146 Andy Lieberman of Discovery sticks his head in the hatch to talk to Bob. They go downstairs to not violate protocol. Eventually, eight people who are not part of the crew will come upstairs during the day. We determine that after the crew arrives on Mars, visitors should not be allowed in the first week.

1200 Microsoft Word crashes and I lose ten minutes of painstaking work.

1220 I finish the first draft of my notes about the hab construction drama. Everyone in the crew is now inside and seated around the table.

I film Carol, Darlene, and Larry planning a traverse, as they relate aerial photos to maps. Bob films us all for Discovery.

1300 We discuss politics and technology over lunch.

1340 John Kunz comes upstairs again to check the crack in one portal.

1410 I observe that Larry, Darlene, Carol, and Bob have been nest building most of the day--steps in the room to reach an upper bunk, shelves, exercise equipment, railings, etc. Perhaps Marc and I aren't so engaged because we did this yesterday?

1420 Marc observes that one net story on FMARS is especially unfair. I suggest not complaining, but presenting our own emotionally biased sound bites. We shouldn't fight the genre, but relate our point of view in the same tone: "Phoenix! FMARS rises from the ashes! Courage in the Arctic--Fearless crew saves the day!"

1530 Darlene, Carol, Bob, and Larry out head on an EVA. We are in voice contact over two-way radios.

1540 Marc and I remove Bob's rail, having found that one 2x4 is unstable and prevents holding onto the top of the ladder. We realize the humor in doing this as soon as he leaves; having said nothing during his improvised construction. Bob comes back in moments later and acknowledges the problem.

1550 A subgroup finally departs on an EVA, which they call EVA1. They have taped Darlene's gloves to her coat so she won't remove them again.

1618 EVA1 radios that they are 600m out. They have assessed the snow field in the south and moved towards the Lowell Canal.

1625 EVA1 radios that they are anticipating signal loss as they leave the line of sight of the hab.

I can hear someone tightening bolts on the roof; the fiberglass crackles.

1645 Pete and Dave come upstairs. Pete's looking for his green long johns. He asks us to sign his flag. Dave sees the crater map and takes it to photograph.

1654 Dave returns speaking loudly to Pete, unaware that we haven't had 5 minutes peace all day.

1655 EVA1 is at the third way point in the Lowell Canal.

1722 Very loud tools are being thrown around downstairs; tools are banging against the roof.

1800 I finish transcribing notes after struggling to concentrate since 130 pm.

One obvious use of the hab is for training astronauts. Certainly a crew should live together in a habitat like this before they travel to Mars.

1806 Darlene is hammering in her room.

I notice that my camera equipment and computer case are in public space; Carol has left her backpack on the floor. The others appear to keep everything in their room. My coffee cup is still on the table from this morning.

1820 I begin a time lapse video, capturing 320x240 pixels every 3 seconds direct to disk using Adobe Premiere. I experimented with video extensively during HMP-99 and found surprising patterns in people's movement and use of space. What patterns will we observe here in the use of the table, galley area, and private quarters? How will people move chairs around? Where will conversations occur? Where will people prefer to read?

1830 Darlene's headphones are a bit loud; I think Carol notices, too; but nobody complains. We've each played music for each other at various times (from our laptop computers). Perhaps FMARS should have a central stereo system with speakers throughout?

1834 Larry is shaving downstairs in the room with the sink. Marc and Carol are at the table. Darlene is in the easy chair in front of her door. Bob was by his door, but is now apparently in his bed. I'm in my easy chair by the camera in front of the SE window.

I begin an initial list of activities involving the central table: eating, review video and digital photos, plan traverses, talk while working, type memos, design web pages, read email, look at maps.

1840 Larry is hammering in his room.

1845 Carol asks about ordering aerial photos and Darlene shouts an answer from her room.

The mobility of laptops has infringed upon our living rooms back on Earth. With wireless links we can now fax and print from an easy chair. How will we handle this problem in the hab? "Work" space for "knowledge workers" used to be located in an office building. Is it reasonable to define the hab downstairs as "work" and upstairs as "living" when we can't find such boundaries in our home lives? Perhaps "dirty" and "clean" are more useful distinctions.

1850 I heat my wash rag and freshen up in my room with the door closed.

1855 Carol and Marc are reviewing the Denver team's checklist of requirements for the "mission support" exercise.

1915 The crew is preparing dinner. Bob emails webcam information to Andy. Carol is writing her commander report for Denver. The temperatures are now 52.7F (11.5C) outside and 70.3F (21.3C) inside.

2000 Base camp has sent arctic char, garlic mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables, cheerfully delivered by Sékou Crawford. Despite having eaten already (except Carol, who now recharacterizes her work period as "wise waiting"), we dig in and sample the food--a very nice combination. The fresh poached char is wonderful. Mark Webb, the chef of base camp, has perhaps been the most important role during the expedition.

2030 Darlene writes her report. I send my transcribed notes to Marc.

I've been eating like a vacuum all day--berry peanut butter on saltine crackers (after lunch), tapioca pudding, an MRE brownie, a bag of nuts and raisins, my daily Mars bar, and so on.

2100 Carol finds the file she sent to Marc didn't arrive. Marc doesn't have a compatible disk drive and Carol lacks a cable to connect her powerbook to the ethernet hub. Over the next day, Carol will several times hand me a cartridge, which I will use to mail her files wirelessly across the room to the Airport base station on the table inches from Marc, out to our station on the nearby ridge, to a satellite, perhaps to Ottawa, and back through the dish and hub to Marc's PC. Our hardware is not compatible, but through wireless networking, we all connect.

2200 Carol, Mark, and Darlene sit around the table through the next hour. I read email from my easy chair (gloating that I brought the wireless connection). We mention our EVA plans for the next day.

Our circular room has four distinct spaces--our private quarters (half the floor), the table at the SW portal, the galley table, and the large open space between the table and private quarters. This open space is peripheral to the activities around the table. Here people retreat to read and work alone. Yet they of course hear everything and may chime in (just as Carol spoke up from her bunk). Here we find a combination of essential elements in well-known successful designs of living space--central and peripheral spaces, movable chairs (several people have used a second chair as a foot rest when sitting against the wall), doors that may close for privacy (or be left open to extend the peripheral space), and a relatively large open area that is adaptable to different purposes (preparing food, conversation, packing, making things). There's also plenty of space for our personal daypacks to be strewn about--which we find convenient for carrying books, cameras, notebooks, and pens.

2230 Carol is caulking gaps in the plywood floor downstairs. (Humored by this, I grab my video camera for an impromptu interview. She explains that she promised to do this task; but I ask, at 1130 pm? Bob makes a wry remark about Carol's obvious dedication.)

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8/1 Tuesday

0740 Again no power. I refuel the generator (after groping to find the choke)--no instructions are printed on the generator, only French and English cautioning about fire danger. Now I have the generator running, but there is still no power.

0800 Bob is outside, first talking with Andy on the walkie-talkie, and now helping with the generator. He suggests that the first power strip is suspect.

0810 Larry is outside; he removes the first power strip and we have power.

How appropriate that our first full day in the hab we are already maintaining and troubleshooting our power system--and half the crew got involved.

0815 I start the time lapse camera so I can capture the morning's activities on the top floor.

0830 Darlene is waiting to use the sink as I exit the room downstairs.

While I have been gone, Larry has removed my pot of heating water from the stove and substituted his personal coffee maker. Bob then fills the pot with cold water and I am left standing with a bowl of dry oatmeal. The time has been too short to learn about each other's routines and how to coordinate our cooking.

I revert to heating my water in the microwave. Bob suggests that I put the cup in the middle of the turntable. Yesterday I had suggested to Marc that he put his cup on the outer edge. We naturally help each other in this way. Virtually strangers, we are observing and advising, developing a shared understanding of how things work and how to be efficient.

0845 We are finally all sitting together over breakfast.

Lines of sight inside the hab are important; sitting sideways on my seat to face Carol at the head of the table, I look squarely into Darelene's open room. Open doors also block the light from the NW and SE portals. The doors need to close automatically, so we're not looking at each other's stuff. But we must also be able to prop the doors open, so we can mix private space and peripheral participation.

0858 We go outside with backpacks and gloves to stage our entry into the hab for the Discovery Channel. We joke about how to dress and what image to convey. I mention how I was impressed by Kelly Snook's and Viktor Stolc's high-fashion appearance (all in black and white) as they walked together in camp last week. Darlene explained that they shopped together.

Standing outside with the heavy Sony video camera on his shoulder--seemingly half the length of his body--Bob asks us to march in from the south and stay together. The trick is to look happy and alert, while watching your feet all the way to not trip on the sharp rocks. After take one, we repeat the entry with Bob inside shooting us stepping through the hatch and climbing the ladder.

0915 Bob and Larry go out to get more fuel and to retrieve a printout from base camp (which Marc had cleverly printed from the hab--again, over the tundra, out the dish, into orbit, through Ottawa, and back to base camp, 3/4 mile away)

0948 Sandy, a worker from Resolute, arrives upstairs with a fan and louvered cover, to be installed in the now boarded NE portal. He leaves the fan squarely in the middle of the floor, where it sits all day, until I move it about 10 pm to shoot a panorama of the room.

We discuss Kurt Micheels' design, in which private boxes (which Zubrin calls "coffins") are stacked bunk style around the perimeter of the room. How would that mixture of private and public space compare to what we are enjoying?

1000 Larry refuels the generator.

1020 Darlene and Larry come back upstairs; Carol appears ready to go out.

Chris Salvino, base camp medic, is caulking the vertical spaces between panels upstairs. A caulking gun falls loudly to the floor.

Everyone but Marc and I are eager to go on EVA. I strongly prefer to stay inside every morning, exercising in the afternoon.

1030 We attempt to raise base camp on the radio to discuss Carol and Larry's departure to Resolute. Using the walkie-talkies we must always be conscious of range (are we too far?), line of sight (is the person we want to speak to in view?), and battery power (a weak one may receive, but not transmit adequately).

I finally clean up my breakfast dishes. I wonder whether we should keep work off our eating table? Should we agree to clear it of laptops during meals? It's nice to be able to move our personal laptops around.

I'm reminded of Steelcase's personal work areas, which were designed in the early 90s to replace cubicles for "knowledge workers." The idea is that in the space of four standard cubicles, one could have four private rooms, with large curved doors that roll open, allowing you to move your chair out to a central area to meet around a table. That kind of design might be suitable in the hab, too.

1040 Darlene, Carol, and Larry depart for base camp to arrange their flights to Resolute.

1041 Larry returns to the upper floor to retrieve some Tang in a bag, cached in his room. (Later Bob will bring out green tea and packets of oatmeal, which he gladly shares.)

1045 Darlene is calling downstairs for Carol, who then comes up the ladder looking for gloves.

All outdoor clothing should be stored downstairs. We have a kind of open closet in the EVA entry hatch, but it is mostly full of construction materials today.

1049 Carol returns and retrieves an alternate set of gloves.

1050 Marc and I hear heavy hammering on the first floor.

1102 Bob returns for his fanny pack.

Preparing to go out takes a long time. If the packs are dirty and stored downstairs, we will need something like a dumbwaiter to move our stuff up and down. Is it realistic to suppose that things we will use outdoors will be kept on the first floor and never needed upstairs? Certainly this works for gloves, but what about cameras, notebooks, etc.? We need to study what items are moved between the floors.

1118 The team (EVA1) reports by radio that they are on their way to Exploration Office Valley (near the airstrip), and that they will then proceed to Lake Cornell.

1125 I begin to document the layout of the top floor in a scale drawing (using Canvas).

1130 EVA1 reports they are at the edge of Exploration Office Valley.

1149 Seeing that the area around the hab is now clear of debris (a group of people having cleaned up the site all morning), Marc goes out to take panorama shots of the hab. Moments later, a helicopter arrives with Andy hanging out of the window, motioning frantically for Marc to get back inside. The downdraft appears to nearly blow Marc away.

1200 The helicopter is buzzing the hab round and round, as the Discovery team films the hab from every angle.

1231 EVA1 reports they are finishing their work at Cornell and returning to the hab (they had been held back by the helicopter and extended their traverse).

1240 Larry, Carol, and Darlene return. We discuss Larry and Carol's plans to depart for Resolute before dinner, ending our shared occupation of the hab. Darlene says, "Mars must wait for us."

We warm up the fish (last night's arctic char) for lunch. The char and slightly charred potatoes taste even better than last night.

1330 I complete my drawing of the hab's upper deck.

Knowing that this is our last time together, the crew begins to discuss what we have learned. I take detailed notes, which I will present at the Mars Society meeting and consolidate into a report.

1453 We wrap up our meeting. It feels like a great success. Our brief stay together (short of two days) has provided enough interaction to highlight opportunities for the scientific study of life and work in and around the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station.

1500 I turn off the time lapse so John Kunz can work on the emergency exit (SE) portal.

Larry and Carol pack. We take group pictures and they leave. Our "formal sim" is over.
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