Postcards from Mars

By Luna Powell

Given feedback from Kai, Sean Gellenbeck, and Anastasiya Stepanova whom have collectively attended four habitat analogs (MDRS, HI-SEAS, SIRIUS, Devon Island), we determined that the team members staying in SAM will benefit from their own private space to sleep, decompress, and work. This may seem obvious, but there are analogs (and real-life environments) in which private space is not afforded such as lava tube and submarine analogs, and the International Space Station.

We narrowed our brainstorming and initial designs to an enclosed sleeping module. While Kai was attending conferences around the U.S. mid May to early June, John Z and I turned our attention to creating an enclosed, private sleeping quarters prototype for future SAM crew members. We drew it out, purchased the materials, and built the prototype.

The idea was simple: an enclosed, insulated, sturdy, module with personal storage, bed, ventilation, and plenty of privacy. There will be 4 placed at the end of the 40ft shipping container, stacked and arranged with a sufficient amount of storage space as well as a place to sit on top, to create a vertical component to the shared common space for reading, resting, or working with a laptop.

Using ecoboard, backerboard, 2x4s, insulation foam, a substantial application of construction adhesive, and a bit of trial and error, the prototype took shape. The box itself sits around 87″ long, 33″ wide, and 47″ tall granting the person inside plenty of room to lie down, sit up, move front to back and sleep comfortably.

The team still has a plethora of ideas about how to set up a fan system, close off the opening, insert shelving, and much more. But with the close of construction for the summer, these ideas will have to be addressed in October when everyone returns.

In the final days before the Analog Astronaut Conference 2022, hosted at Biosphere 2, the SAM construction and fabrication team worked tirelessly, from sunrise to sunset to get as much of SAM ready as possible for the more than 100 attendees. While most of the effort was on the task list for Phase II, some undertakings were temporary, a light treatment of a room or space to provide visitors a glimpse of what will come.

After several weeks research, locating vendors, confirming inventory, tracking and motivating shipment, Dick and Linda Staats (Kai’s parents) delivered 320 sq-ft of all natural, VOC-free cork flooring to SAM at Biosphere 2 … and just in time to install with the close of Phase II construction before the Analog Astronaut Conference 2022.

John Z., Kai, Luna, Anastasiya, and John Adams worked to install the backer board and cork tiles over the course of four days, assuring each step was conducted with integrity. Each product selected, from the glue between the backer board and original aluminum rails of the 40′ shipping container, the backer board itself, and the cork (which was simply set down, not glued) were selected for their low- or no-VOC characteristics. Visiting teams to SAM will breathe easy in an environment far healthier than the average American home, and not far from what very well could be a Martian habitat.

What’s more, the flooring is simply beautiful, warm, and welcoming.

After more than 30 years the Test Module is once again living!

Thank you Dr. Giacomelli for your patient guidance to the assembly and operation of our new research system, and to Bill Nichols for your careful management of the transplant and fertilizer adjustments. Already, we can see the lettuce growing!

As in the spring of 2021, we are in another race to the finish with just 10 days until the Analog Astronaut Conference hosted by Biosphere 2. We have completed all major Phase II construction and are now moving to the interior space, installing flooring, shelving, kitchen and bathroom appliances, lights and a small SIMOC-enabled sensor array.

The effort is intense, 15-18 hours a day, with John Z., Luna, Bill, and Kai while Greg and Grant complete the effort to integrate a sensor array into the new SIMOC ‘Live’ interface. It’s an exciting, exhausting time!

The short list of TODOs includes:
– complete the exterior priming of SAM AIR and the adjacent wall
– lay the sub-floor and cork flooring in the 40′ container
– build 2 racks with shelving in the 20′ container
– move the CO2 scrubber into the 20′ container and build a workbench on the second rack
– complete the hydroponics and get the lettuce transported
– build a soil bed and transplant the Cascabel tomatoes
– complete the TM east wall electrical wiring
– install (without plumbing, for now) the toilet, shower, and sink
– install the skylight-window in the 40′ container
– sand and prime the airlock floor
– roll-out carpet in the walk zones
– continue landscaping under Luna’s leadership
– install the stainless steel kitchen appliances

Thank you James for providing us with the expert work of Charlie and Steven from the University of Arizona Facilities Metal Shop. They performed a minor miracle with their work today, both ends of the 20′ shipping container / SAM workshop now one step closer to being pressure ready.

We are becoming regulars are Superior Steel, Tucson, where every shape and size of factory steel can be found. It is a commodity that we take for granted, as we use steel products each and every day. Yet the tremendous volume of steel manufactured, distributed, purchased, and fabricated is astounding. Learning to work with steel is both a science and an art. At SAM we are working to build a research facility that will serve for a generation, and at the same time explore fabrication techniques that inform our understanding of how to live in a pressurized vessel.