EVA #2 Report


Time:
15:00 - 18:00


Crew Members:
All (John Thaler, Anna Grinberg, Perry Edmundson, Michele Faragalli,
Nasim Kaveh, Cheryl Ann Wartman, Kerry Cupit and Arthur Guest)


Site Location:
100m north-northeast of mile marker 113 on Highway 24, Utah.


Transit Mode:
Pedestrian EVA


Objectives:
Crew cross-training in biology and geology.
GPS operation and map reading techniques.


Lessons Learned:
Cheryl and John introduced a few analytical methods useful in desert
plant biology to catalogue and rate population intensities. Namely,
how to take a species population intensity by both the transect and
quadrant methods. We learned how much variability exist in plant
populations over small areas, and we noted how some plants tend to
cluster in some localities more than others.

Kerry gave a field lesson in geology and described a series of events
and processes that affected this area throughout history. We learned
about continental drift over the last 500 million years and the
formation of the actual Dakota sandstone. We also discussed what clast
size can tell us about a rock, we successfully identified a coal layer
and the major unconformity.

John gave a tutorial to each crew member on how to read maps and use
the GPS equipment, and we learned how to locate ourselves on a
topographical map.

EVA-2 was conducted out of sim in order to most effectively train
personnel in biologic and geologic concepts. EVA-2 was successful and
the crew all felt they learned a lot.