FLASHLINE-16 Daily Report 11-07-2024

Author: Michael Andrews – Crew Logistics

We are anticipating today to be our last full day at the Devon Island and our research station. Although this report may be short, the day was full of uneventful yet necessary tasks to prepare the habitat for the winter. It is an odd experience to pack up the station, knowing that it will be untouched for about 11 months, many of which will be freezing and in the dark.

After waking up and learning that weather would prevent us from departing today, the team slept in a bit before starting the day. The tasks that we tackled throughout the day include:

• ATV Prep: we needed to lift all of our vehicles to prevent their wheels from cracking, which required collecting the right shape and size rocks to stack underneath the vehicles. Next, we added fuel stabilizer to each vehicle. Finally, we tarped 4 of our 5 vehicles to protect them from the elements.
• Generator Prep: the generators required similar treatment to our ATVs. They were placed under the shed in reverse order of priority, and all other generator-related supplies were stowed for the winter.
• Outside Inventory: it wasn’t feasible to catalog all items that are stored underneath the station, but we have taken pictures of the ground to catalog and determine retention remotely.
• Leveling Activities: Commander Cinelli and HSO Swarmer completed their measurements of the hab’s orientation, and I tightened all turnbuckles that secure the structure. Preliminary review of the data shows that the station is only tilting a few degrees, which indicates no significant change from past missions’ perceptions.
• Daily Reports: the team got gradually behind on some of our documentation as the simulation days were busy, but we have submitted them all now. It’s surprising how much journaling is needed here to capture our progress.
• Science Lab Organization: the last area of the habitat to be tidied up is the science lab. CSO Nicholson put in some work to organize like items and dispose of anything that had expired or was no longer needed.

We retired early that night after making a few art murals with the limited supplies we had for the next crew.
We are optimistic that we will be able to make our flights back home tomorrow, but there are a lot of connections and opportunities for Arctic weather to delay or cancel departures. We will have to see and remain flexible, a trait the team has honed over the last two weeks.