What I will miss: Top 5 list

The end of the countdown is only five days away! It's definitely hard to believe. So much anticipation in the past month or so, and now the end is near. It's time to start packing up. Even though I've been anxiously counting down the days until our "re-entry back to Earth" I know there are many aspects of life on simulated Mars that I will sorely miss. Here's the top five list:

5. Unlimited food stuffs! Yes, our food is a bit strange, but it's virtually unlimited. We have a huge supply of all the staples and even though at different points in the mission we have run out of sugar, carrots, chicken, ground beef, and gluten free flour. Who cares, there's so many other options, no plain sugar, use the brown sugar, powdered sugar, or maple syrup, no carrots oh it's alright Martha's garden is about to birth some, no chicken or beef, ahh well we have ham, turkey, tofu, bacon, sausage, etc., no gluten-free flour then make a new combo with almond flour, buckwheat flour, rice flour, and xanthan gum. We never ran out of ideas for new meals to prepare either. We have eaten cuisines from all over the world from Martha's Ghanaian dishes to Sophie's Tex-Mex to Allen's Russian meals. We have cooked from-scratch so many baked goods and desserts that I never even considered making at home before. 

4. Cooking once per week. I'm spoiled. We have been eating so well for so many days in a row, and each of us on average has only had to cook once per week. It just tastes better when you aren't the one cooking it. All of us have treated each other to elaborate meals that we have slaved over for the entire afternoon. We have desserts several times per week. And our daily workout routine has kept our appetites up for the duration. After Tony kicks our butts in P90X, we are ready to devour some food. I can honestly say that boredom with food was never an issue here, which was a great surprise. Stay on the lookout for the "Fake Food on Fake Mars" cookbook! It's coming together nicely.. here's a brief summary: Martha has mastered croissants and scones and all things curry, I have bagels, pretzels, and pizza dough in my repertoire, Sophie makes some delicious homemade cheese and migas brunch that couldn't be any tastier, Neil somehow has managed to make gluten-free bread reliably work, Allen is the man when it comes to using magical binding agents to form cutlets or meatballs, and Zak is the king of barbeque and homemade mac n cheese and actually he's the master of anything that he cooks! 

3. Inside jokes :) I'm pretty sure that 99% of our jokes will not even be remotely funny to my family and friends. It's all about the context. The only population that has any hope at joining in on some of the dome humor are cult-like fans of P90X fitness program. Tony Horton, our honorary 7th crewmember, has added so many one-liners to our excel spreadsheet for joke tracking. Yes, we have been tracking our use of jokes and memes throughout the mission. Some of our jokes are purely entertainment, some are for diffusing conflict, some are for bonding, and some are motivational. Humor analysis, it's real science on fake mars! 

2. Slippers! I will never be the same. It has been such a beautiful thing to wake up, throw on my slippers and robe, grab some coffee and start working away. After a couple hours, then I commit to the day and actually get dressed in daytime clothing. It's so perfectly efficient. There's no commuting, no meetings or classes to attend across campus, no weather issues. I don't even have to worry about packing my lunch or remembering to bring gym clothes. Life in the dome is an efficiency-minded person's bliss.

1. Sense of belonging. This was an 8-month commitment, one team, one goal. No matter how stubbornly persistent I am, from my all-night workaholic nature to my Lenten promises to TEDx practice sessions, the crew has endured my revolving door of obsessions, and they have blessed me with their quirks too. We have a lovely and productive arrangement. There's a solace in certainty. I guess I got a taste of marriage, albeit a hexagon of relationships rather than a dyad. We have given each other loyalty and commitment, through the good and the bad, we belong to the crew. We give it our best and forget the rest.

Pretend Red World

Here's the simplest (and most entertaining) description of HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) that I've come across:

"We want to know how to keep people happy and safe in space. What foods will they like? How much sleep will they need? Can they stay friends, not go crazy, and work well together for the two to three years it will take to go to the Red World and come back again? To answer these questions, six people will live in a small space-like place. They can only eat space food, and can only go outside in space clothes. When they talk to friends at home, it will be slow, because of the time it takes for their words to move through space. Light is fast, but not that fast! It will be hard, but the team is very good. We expect that they will do a great job, and give us lots of facts about how to live and work in space."

Note that three of the words in the HI-SEAS acronym are not even on Up Goer Five's list of words to use for writing simple descriptions! Well done. Soon I'll have to try to describe my research with these simple words.. wish me luck!

Retirement

Since Mother’s day is in May, it seems like the perfect month for capturing my Mother’s perspective on the mission in a guest blog post. And don’t worry, I asked her to do this after Mother’s day, so I did not spoil the occasion by assigning her homework! Actually, even though I’m not a mother, this Mother’s day was an extra special day for me too. I woke up to an email from my Mom with old family photos and words about how she loves being our Mom. Such a lovely gesture. This month my Mom, Erika Dunn, is shining in many ways!

By the end of the week, Momma Dunn will be retired from the Highlands County Clerk of Courts. Everyone's favorite IT gal, hard-working and pleasant, she's one classy lady with an easy-going and optimistic attitude who is impossible to replace. Congratulations to Mrs. Erika T. Dunn, Retired! And my condolences to those who will miss her presence in the government offices. Here's a fun photo of the IT crew from this past Christmas (she's in the front left). I know she'll miss everyone but probably will be glad to leave behind ID10T and PEBCAK errors ;) 

And now some words from the one and only, Momma Dunn:

“I remember you watching me cook before you left on the 8-month mission. You were in the kitchen telling me how resourceful I was to you. I feel you have well surpassed my resourcefulness after your time cooking on this mission. I'm amazed at how you can make cheese and other from-scratch items. Those pretzel rolls looked yummy, can't wait for you to make them for us! In a sense your mission is discovering a new frontier by making a satisfying life with what limited resources are available. Even little Maura sees the adventure of your work in Hawaii. According to her, you’re a real astronaut and live in a turtle! :)

Even as a child you were always very inquisitive and wanting to learn. No need for toys when you were so adventurous in learning about your surroundings! You had the most fun when you could help with a "grown-up" task or play outside finding treasures. Like your first geology lesson with your Dad on one of our North Carolina vacations, you spent hours sifting through rocks in a stream behind Papa's cabin. Such a love for learning, even after a long day of school you'd go into your little reading room. There were so many days that I found you passed out in there with a book in hand.

As a family we've all missed your presence at the holidays and family events, like Kayla and Lee’s wedding. But it was truly a memorable and special toast that you gave at the reception using technology. Those photos of wonderful memories and your heartfelt words captivated us all, not a dry eye in the wedding crowd. As your video was shown on the projector screen, everyone could hear Maura shouting "That's Aunt Jocey!" She was so happy to see your face on the big screen. I was so proud and grateful that you took the time and made the day special even though you could not attend in person.

I can’t wait to greet you in Hawaii and finally give you a big hug and kiss in person. It will be very interesting to hear more stories about the mission. I love that you were able to play golf on simulated Mars. You showed how much you love the sport by writing out those equations to explain what it would be like to golf on Mars. Golf on Mars became a trending topic on ESPN, who would have thought?! But that is my Jocey, your mind never turns off, always exploring and wanting to do more, even when you should be resting your mind and body.

After your summer travels, I'm excited for when you'll meet us in North Carolina and make memories at our new family homestead. It will be relaxing to know you're home. It will take some getting accustomed to the normal, sometimes routine, life here on Earth and back to your research at Purdue.. but now that I’ll be retired, you will have some entertainment from teaching me to play golf!”

I have to say that Momma Dunn was more timely in turning in her homework compared to my Daddio ;) He did a guest post in February that can be found here in case you missed it. Only two weeks until my family will be here in Hawaii to celebrate Mom's retirement and my retirement from the HI-SEAS crew too! :)

Final Countdown

With only ONE month left to go, our theme song is finally singing true.. "It’s the FINAL countdown! Doo do doo doo, do do doo do doo!” The theme song for our mission, “Final Countdown” by Europe, first caught on during our halloween costume party / finally-able-to-watch-the-world-series party. Our mission support team was kind enough to record the final game of the World Series for us. However, for several days, there were problems with uploading such a large file, so we finally were able to watch the game on Halloween, which was the first holiday that we celebrated together in the dome.

As we were waiting for the file to download, I started playing the “Final Countdown” song, which is part of the movie Hot Rod’s soundtrack. The file took longer than expected to download, and we ended up listening to the song over and over; when the song restarted each time is was an ironic act of hilarity, so rather than waiting impatiently, we were all happily singing “doo do doo” until at last, the game successfully downloaded!

Since then, our theme song has debuted quite often. It's sometimes blasted on the speakers when it’s time to begin our NASA behavioral tasks in the afternoons, or to gather up the troops for dinner. Of course, we also played this song as part of our countdown for ringing in the new year. However, in one month, we will sing "do do doo do doo" together with more meaning than ever, as it will truly be the final countdown to our mission end.

On June 13th, we will exit the HI-SEAS habitat, affectionally called the “dome” and rejoin our Earthling friends and colleagues. After eight months of dome life, we will collide with our loved ones and stuff our faces with fresh fruits. I’m feeling peachy, and other crew members are craving fresh pineapple, watermelon, and raspberries. We are anxious to reunite with our friends and favorite foods. But that’s not all… 

The US Army Golden Knights jump team is planning to take us tandem skydiving as a simulated re-entry back to Earth! What an extreme transition, from being confined to this 1000-square-foot dome to free falling into a vast landscape!!! And if that’s not exciting enough, our 7th crew member who motivates us to workout everyday, Tony Horton, founder of P90X fitness program and his fiancé Shawna will also be jumping back to Earth with us! We feel beyond amazed that this is happening and are so incredibly grateful for this opportunity. As Tony would say, this is the countdown to epic sky-diving X!!

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/video-footage-captures-skydive-13000-feet-26755752

Ironically, the first time I watched the Hot Rod movie, which made the “Final Countdown” song into a favorite of mine, I was with some of my Army friends from the ROTC program at Embry-Riddle. One of these friends from college, Capt. Darren Ekey, came up with the idea for this simulated re-entry back to Earth. The crew and I were so enthusiastic about the idea, but remained in disbelief about such an amazing prospect. Well now the plans have come together, and it’s starting to sink in. 

For our 1-month countdown to mission end, the dramatic nature of Europe’s “Final Countdown” song actually seems more appropriate than ironic for once. 

"We're leaving together,
But still it's farewell.
And maybe we'll come back
To earth, who can tell?
I guess there is no one to blame
We're leaving ground (leaving ground)
Will things ever be the same again?

It's the final countdown.
The final countdown" - Europe

We owe a big thanks to Ekey and mission support for planning this epic celebration of HI-SEAS mission III completion. June 13th will truly be making dreams come true, as we jump from the sky together as a crew, along with some of our amazing colleagues on mission support, Tony Horton, who we consider as our 7th crewmember, and of course, the Army paratroopers who have made this all possible. Hooah!

Immeasurable Heart

A heartbeat is the vital sign of blood pumping through our vasculature; but not only that, a beating heart is the opportunity to experience life and achieve goals. The figure of speech "having heart” describes a person's will to win, strength to endure, or compassion for helping others succeed. Here at HI-SEAS, the crew is pushing toward the finish line with immeasurable heart: one team, one goal. 

The countdown clock is winding down, only six weeks until the mission ends on June 13th. I’m feeling a bit sappy for this post. But I’ll also compare some heart rate data from workouts, so it's quant-friendly too. I’m thinking about a poem that I wrote a longtime ago called “Immeasurable Heart” that was expressing how people rise up to meet challenges. The symbolic "heart" is a desire within a person or the motivation of a team, that can be a boundless, mysterious force.

Certainly, Hollywood embraces the unpredictability of human nature. In movies and TV shows, plot twists from evolving personalities are often what inspire hope in the audience, or provoke fear. Some classic stories of transformation that come to mind.. the dysfunctional team that finds purpose, defies the laws of probability, and manages to win the championship.. the seemingly loyal friend who succumbs to temptation, betrays for personal gain, and becomes the despicable villain.. or the rich, powerful bully who experiences empathy, reforms selfish behavior, and becomes a compassionate person. Though outlandish, I think there’s some underlying truth to these “change of heart” scenarios, in that we are dynamic, sentient beings with capacity for change. 

The extreme nature of this mission has changed all of us in some ways. Necessarily, we have had to become more patient and accommodating in order to live in this environment. We also have had to adapt to limited modes of entertainment and exercise, so I've definitely watched more movies than ever before. In general, I feel more centered and in touch with myself, maybe because of the lack of social media and text messaging or because of the daily surveys and journaling. I'm not sure how else my personality may have changed but reuniting with the real world will most likely reveal some differences.

I promised some data to offset the talk about how we feel inside and stuff like that ;) So here’s some actual measurements of my heart's performance. I've been recording workout data with Hexoskin biometric shirts, which monitor cardiac and respiratory function along with the cadence and acceleration of movements. The figure below is Hexoskin biometrics data with added labels for each of the six circuits during the P90X plyometrics workout video. 

With the daily motivation of the crew (especially Martha and Zak) and thanks to P90X fitness program, I’m in better shape compared to when I started the mission. The tables below are comparing my performance while working out to the same P90X plyometrics video in November 2014 and recently in mid-April.

November 2014:

April 2015:

These Hexoksin data show that I have increased the intensity of my movements (more steps per minute and higher acceleration) while maintaining similar cardiac and respiratory output (heart and breathing rates are at the same level). In summary, Tony Horton is the man! We’ll be doing P90X3 workouts until mission end, pushing play and working hard with our 7th crew member! :)

FUNdraising

Purdue Day of Giving – an annual university-wide effort to build a better, stronger, more affordable Purdue – is next Wednesday, April 29th. There are several contests and competitions that make this FUNdraising effort into a truly FUN event. Get involved, promote the event on social media, and watch your favorite Purdue units climb the leaderboard! Click HERE to learn more.

I’m giving from “Mars” but don't be intimidated if you’re aiming for the "Donation from Person Living Furthest from Campus" challenge from 7-8pm (EDT) on April 29th, as simulated Mars is only 4200 miles away on the slopes of Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. However, I will be keeping an eye on the "Most Unique Photo with Purdue Day of Giving Logo” challenge from 11am - noon (EDT), as recently I went out on EVA to create the photo below. Boiler up!

Purdue Day of Giving flag on simulated Mars (Photo Credit: Neil Scheibelhut)

In the spirit of Purdue Day of Giving, I'm donating to two outstanding schools at Purdue, as I am forever grateful to the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering for giving me the chance to begin graduate school at Purdue and to the School of Industrial Engineering for enabling me to extend my stay at Purdue for doctoral studies!

My Purdue story begins in the summer of 2009, after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. I was still eager to keep studying and jumped at the opportunity to begin graduate school at Purdue, also known as the cradle of astronauts! After 21 years of Florida sunshine, I packed up all my belongings and embarked on the road trip to Indiana. 

The view out my window changed from Florida orange groves to the wide open fields of Georgia, then I stopped for a couple nights to recharge in the Smoky mountains of North Carolina. On the road again, I snapped some photos of the rolling hills of Tennessee, passed through the horse farms of Kentucky, and I couldn’t miss the corn fields of Indiana! The sight of the Purdue billboards on I-65 confirmed that at last I had arrived!

During my master's studies in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, I furthered the development of biological scaffold for the repair and replacement of vascularized tissue under the advisement of Dr. Eric Nauman in the Human Injury Repair and Replacement Technologies (HIRRT) lab. It was “good stuff” as Eric would say! For my doctoral studies in the School of Industrial Engineering, I am developing data analytics for automated detection of health and stress states via wearable devices, such as Jawbone UP wristbands. By leveraging data to promote health and human performance, I aspire to improve the health of astronaut crews in space as well as citizens on Earth!

The 8-month mission here on simulated Mars is quickly coming to a close. I must say that I am increasingly excited to get back to West LaLa! I can't wait to be on-campus in August and soak in the freshness that comes with the beginning of a new academic year. I look forward to reuniting with my colleagues and waving at some new faces on the "Hello Walk" :) I will never again take that sidewalk for granted! After 8 months of confinement with only five other people, it'll be refreshing to see hundreds of Boilermakers on campus!

Green Spacesuit

I’m happy to report that golf fans here on simulated Mars are increasing in number!  With the recent adventure of hitting golf balls in our spacesuits (see last post) and our watching the Masters Tournament this weekend, the entire crew has developed a burgeoning interest and baseline understanding of golf.

The Masters, the first major PGA tournament of the year, is played at Augusta National golf club, a prestigious, private golf course with only 300 members; the club is invitation only, with members including Bill Gates and Condoleezza Rice. Each of these members receives a green sport coat with the club logo. This iconic green jacket is also awarded to the champion of the Masters tournament each year. Perhaps, golf champions on Mars should be awarded with a green spacesuit!

Jordan Spieth, 2015 Masters Champion (Photo: Jamie Squire/ Getty Images)

One of the signature sections of Augusta National is known as “Amen corner” which is a stretch of three holes that have been the stage for much drama over the years. This corner of the course begins with Number 11 “White Dogwood,” the longest and most difficult Par 4 on the course. It's 505 yards from the starting tee to the middle of the green, whereas the other Par 4 holes are on average about 440 yards. The 2015 Masters champion, Jordan Spieth, has an average drive distance of about 295 yards, so after an average drive, he’d have a 210-yard approach shot into the 11th green.. how would this differ on Mars?

Since Augusta National is seated on land that was formerly a plant nursery, each hole has a name that reflects the plant life decorating the hole. I can only imagine a red, desert-like landscape for a Martian golf course, so the calculations below should be further refined to account for differences in the distance that a ball rolls on carefully manicured grass versus hitting the dust-covered, rocky surface of Mars.  However, if 295-yard drives on Earth would carry 635 yards on Mars, here's the Martian equivalent of Augusta National:

The physics of golf is actually simpler on Mars. Without an atmosphere, Mars has just 1% of Earth's air density. Thus, aerodynamic forces such as lift and drag are trivial on Mars with magnitudes less than 10e-6. Simple projectile motion equations that only consider gravity are appropriate for computing the trajectory of a golf ball on Mars.  Opposed by only about 1/3 of Earth's gravity, every Mars explorer could hit the ball further than PGA tour players on Earth!

The club head speed of a tour player swinging a driver ranges from 100-150 mph. On Earth and Mars alike, momentum and kinetic energy are transferred from the golf club to the less massive golf ball, resulting in an initial velocity for the golf ball that is higher than the velocity of the golf club.  Most of the energy sets the ball into motion, but some of this kinetic energy is lost as the club hits the golf ball; this is accounted for by the coefficient of restitution (which USGA rules dictate should be less than 0.83).  An expression for the initial velocity of the golf ball is found by combining and simplifying the conservation of energy and momentum equations:

If we assume that velocity of the club head is 55.8 m/sec (125 mph), mass of the golf ball is .0459 kg, and mass of the club head is 0.195 kg, then the initial velocity of the golf ball is 82.7 m/sec (185 mph).

The projectile motion of the golf ball can be calculated based on the initial velocity of the ball and the launch angle.  A standard driver has a loft angle of about 9 degrees; however, the driver connects to the ball on the upswing of the pendulum motion of a golf swing adding about 3 degrees of loft. After combining the kinematics equations for both the x and y directions, the distance traveled by a golf ball on Mars is given by:

With an initial golf ball velocity of 82.7 m/sec and launch angle of 12 degrees, the distance traveled by a golf ball on Mars would be 748 meters or 818 yards!  

Let’s compare to the golf ball that I recently hit on simulated Mars (see last post).  I was restrained by my spacesuit and only hit my 7-iron about 90 yards, instead of the usual 135 yards when freely swinging.  Using simple projectile motion to analyze the corresponding differences in club head speed, I lost about 6.8 m/s (15.2 mph) from swinging in a spacesuit. Even with the handicap of a spacesuit, a tour player on Mars would hit 635-yard drives!  Better yell FORE!

Watch my swing in a spacesuit at https://youtu.be/B2Bm1miYTi8