Mars Desert Research Station Research Articles

An annotated checklist of the lichen biodiversity at two Mars analog sites: The Mars Desert Research Station (Utah, USA) and The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (Nunavut, Canada) recorded during the Mars 160 Mission

During the Mars 160 Mission in 2016 and 2017, crews at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah, USA and the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) on Tallurutit (Devon Island), Nunavut, Canada, conducted a collections‑based survey of lichen biodiversity at each of these Martian planetary analogs. Here we present the results of these studies as two annotated checklists, including 35 lichen spe‑ cies from MDRS and 13 species from FMARS, alongside details on the distribution of these species, relevant taxonomic notes, and photos of each species as an identification aid. This work adds to our knowledge of the biodiversity of these unique sites and provides an important baseline for future analog research at these stations.

Mapping of Communication in Space Crews

(1) Background: Starting in 1993, the sociomapping method was used in the Czech Army to map communication. After initial pilot tests in military aviation, where we verified the reliability and validity of the basic subjective scales (for example, by correlations with physiological data), this method was utilized for communication mapping in the HUBES (Human Behavior in Extended Spaceflight) experiment conducted between 1994 and 1995, and since then has been repeatedly used in experiments simulating long-term space flights. (2) Methods: In this article, we summarize the key findings obtained through sociomapping in eight space experiments with crews including women, conducted between 2015 and 2023, including five experiments at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) and in three stages of the SIRIUS project (Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station). (3) Results: The median test-retest correlation for both the frequency and quality of communication was 0.64, ranging widely from −0.74 to 1. The quantity and quality of communication showed a moderately strong correlation (0.40). Control charts demonstrated diverse developmental trends in crew communication across the experiments. Sociomapping allowed for more detailed visualization of the structure and dynamics of communication throughout the missions, as well as the detection of subgrouping and isolation of individuals in the crews. (4) Conclusions: The experiments showed that scaled assessments of mutual communication in terms of both quantity (frequency) and quality are a reliable and valid tool that enables the capture of significant one-time fluctuations and/or long-term trends. The experiments highlighted the possibility of increased risk of significant fluctuations and gradual deterioration of communication in the second half of the mission, which, however, does not have to be the rule, especially in shorter isolations. Continuous monitoring of communication through simple rating scales allows for timely intervention and stabilization of communication.

Can Bulgarian Yogurt enhance astronauts’ performance during the Mars Missions?

Probiotics (pro-for and bio- health) from yogurt are one of the most effective means to stimulate and strengthen the immune system. They help balance and regulate the digestive system, as well as preserve and enrich the gut microbiome. Maintaining a healthy gut microbiome is crucial for human health and well-being, especially for astronauts living in confined and stressful environments, such as those on a mission to Mars. One way to promote gut microbiome diversity is through diet, and Bulgarian yogurt (kiselo mlyako in Bulgarian: киceлo млякo) made with Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus has shown positive effects on gut health. This paper explores the potential of regular production and consumption of gut-beneficial foods, such as yogurt, during space travel. It analyses whether the dietary limitations and challenges in providing varied and fresh food for astronauts could be addressed through the addition and daily consumption of Bulgarian yogurt. To investigate this, we conducted an experiment with a team of analog astronauts participating in a two-week analog mission in a closed, Mars-like environment at the Mars Desert Research Station in the Utah desert, the USA. In compliment to all recognized health effects of yogurt, the analog astronauts reported that it can be easily prepared and had a positive effect on their overall well-being and gut health. Our study demonstrated the feasibility of incorporating freshly made yogurt into the astronauts’ diet and its potential to significantly contribute to achieving good health and well-being, which is an important goal in the colonization of other planets, such as Mars.

Adequacy of in-mission training to treat tibial shaft fractures in mars analogue testing

Long bone fractures are a concern in long-duration exploration missions (LDEM) where crew autonomy will exceed the current Low Earth Orbit paradigm. Current crew selection assumptions require extensive complete training and competency testing prior to flight for off-nominal situations. Analogue astronauts (n = 6) can be quickly trained to address a single fracture pattern and then competently perform the repair procedure. An easy-to-use external fixation (EZExFix) was employed to repair artificial tibial shaft fractures during an inhabited mission at the Mars Desert Research Station (Utah, USA). Bone repair safety zones were respected (23/24), participants achieved 79.2% repair success, and median completion time was 50.04 min. Just-in-time training in-mission was sufficient to become autonomous without pre-mission medical/surgical/mechanical education, regardless of learning conditions (p > 0.05). Similar techniques could be used in LDEM to increase astronauts’ autonomy in traumatic injury treatment and lower skill competency requirements used in crew selection.

An Easy-To-Use External Fixator for All Hostile Environments, from Space to War Medicine: Is It Meant for Everyone's Hands?

Long bone fractures in hostile environments pose unique challenges due to limited resources, restricted access to healthcare facilities, and absence of surgical expertise. While external fixation has shown promise, the availability of trained surgeons is limited, and the procedure may frighten unexperienced personnel. Therefore, an easy-to-use external fixator (EZExFix) that can be performed by nonsurgeon individuals could provide timely and life-saving treatment in hostile environments; however, its efficacy and accuracy remain to be demonstrated. This study tested the learning curve and surgical performance of nonsurgeon analog astronauts (n = 6) in managing tibial shaft fractures by the EZExFix during a simulated Mars inhabited mission, at the Mars Desert Research Station (Hanksville, UT, USA). The reduction was achievable in the different 3D axis, although rotational reductions were more challenging. Astronauts reached similar bone-to-bone contact compared to the surgical control, indicating potential for successful fracture healing. The learning curve was not significant within the limited timeframe of the study (N = 4 surgeries lasting <1 h), but the performance was similar to surgical control. The results of this study could have important implications for fracture treatment in challenging or hostile conditions on Earth, such as war or natural disaster zones, developing countries, or settings with limited resources.

Enabling astronaut self-scheduling using a robust advanced modelling and scheduling system: An assessment during a Mars analogue mission

Human long duration exploration missions (LDEMs) raise a number of technological challenges. This paper addresses the question of the crew autonomy: as the distances increase, the communication delays and constraints tend to prevent the astronauts from being monitored and supported by a real time ground control. Eventually, future planetary missions will necessarily require a form of astronaut self-scheduling. We study the usage of a computer decision-support tool by a crew of analog astronauts, during a Mars simulation mission conducted at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS, Mars Society) in Utah. The proposed tool, called Romie, belongs to the new category of Robust Advanced Modelling and Scheduling (RAMS) systems. It allows the crew members (i) to visually model their scientific objectives and constraints, (ii) to compute near-optimal operational schedules while taking uncertainty into account, (iii) to monitor the execution of past and current activities, and (iv) to modify scientific objectives/constraints w.r.t. unforeseen events and opportunistic science. In this study, we empirically measure how the astronauts, who are novice planners, perform at using such a tool when self-scheduling under the realistic assumptions of a simulated Martian planetary habitat.

Gender and leadership in space analogs: A study of MDRS commanders’ reports

Little is known about gender differences in leadership in space analog environments. Research from other domains show that women and men leaders seldom differ in agentic skills, but women tend to be more communal. I use social role theory to systematically explore gender differences in leadership in crews that participated in simulated missions in the Mars Desert Research Station in 2009–2016. I use Commanders’ reports (n = 824) and look for gender differences in communal and agentic aspects in the reports. I combine sentiment analysis, qualitative analysis, and proportional word frequencies to unobtrusively study leadership traits at the MDRS. Independent t-tests showed that female commanders are statistically significantly (p < .001) more positive in their reports than their male counterparts. Qualitative analysis showed that both male and female commanders are agentic, but male commanders talked more about maintenance issues, and did it in more negative tone in comparison to female commanders. Commanders of both genders were communal, but male commanders focused on crew cohesion in terms of team spirit, and women emphasized mutual support. Proportional word frequencies showed that commanders of both genders are agentic, but women tend to use more general terms and men use more specific terms in their reports. Female commanders used more communal words than male commanders. Overall, the results are in line with previous social role theory research and show that commanders of both genders are agentic (but with granular differences), and female commanders tend to be more communal. I discuss theoretical and practical implications of the results.

Walking on ‘‘Mars’’: Gendered Group Processes in Space Analog Missions

Most research on mixed-gender teams in space analog environments focuses on individual-level variation and overlooks structural causes of inequality. Status characteristics theory posits how socially recognized traits, such as gender, contribute to the formation of informal hierarchies by denoting perceived levels of competence to group members. We investigated gender as a status characteristic in groups in space analog environments. We used data from the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) and hypothesized that women crew members are less likely than men to be selected to participate in simulated extravehicular activities during a Mars simulation at the MDRS. We used reports and biographies from 30 randomly selected crews (n = 177) posted on the MDRS website to construct our dataset and multilevel generalized regression models to test our hypothesis. Women crew members were 6% less likely to participate in simulated extravehicular activities than men, controlling for crew role, education, and other factors. Our study shows that gender acts as a status characteristic and influences group decisions in crews in space analogs. These results highlight the need for more studies on interactional inequalities in preparation for a long-term human spaceflight.

Hydrogels Improve Plant Growth in Mars Analog Conditions

Sustainable human settlement on Mars will require in situ resource utilization (ISRU), the collection and utilization of Mars-based resources, including notably water and a substrate for food production. Plants will be fundamental components of future human missions to Mars, and the question of whether Mars soils can support plant growth is still open. Moreover, plant cultivation may suffer from the lack of in situ liquid water, which might constitute one of the biggest challenges for ISRU-based food production on Mars. Enhancing the crop yield with less water input and improving water utilization by plants are thus chief concern for sustainable ISRU food production. Hydrogels are polymers able to absorb large quantity of water and to increase soil water retention, plant establishment and growth. This work reports on the short-term assessment of plant growth in Mars soil analogs supplemented with hydrogels. Soil analogs consisted of sand and clay-rich material, with low organic matter content and alkaline pH. Soils were supplemented with 10% (w/w) potting medium and were sampled in Utah desert, in the vicinity of the Mars Desert Research Station, surrounded by soils sharing similarities in mineralogical and chemical composition to Martian soils. Height and dry biomass of spearmint (Mentha spicata) were compared under various irrigation frequencies, and seed germination of radish (Raphanus sativus) were monitored. Under limited irrigation, results indicate that the soil analogs were less capable of supporting plant growth as a comparison to potting medium. The effects of hydrogel supplementation were significant under limited irrigation and led to spearmint heights increased by 3 and 6% in clay- and sand-containing soils, respectively. Similarly, hydrogel supplementation resulted in spearmint mass increased by 110% in clay-containing soils and 78% in sand-containing soils. Additionally, while radish seeds failed to germinate in soil analogs, hydrogel supplementation allows for the germination of 27% of seeds, indicating that hydrogels might help loosening dense media with low water retention. Collectively, the results suggest that supplementation with hydrogel and plant growth substrate could help plants cope with limited irrigation and poor alkaline Mars soil analogs, and are discussed in the context of strategies for ISRU-based off-world colonization.

Correlation analysis of sleep quality, mood and teleoperation performance in the MDRS206 analog mission

Human space exploration and the development of the new space industry demands specific studies on long-term human space missions. Spending an extended duration of time in an isolated and confined environment could degrade the cognitive state and performance of the operators within a crew. In the context of Mars exploration or a Lunar base, professional tasks such as teleoperation will be performed, and therefore their outcome might be impacted by the crew’s cognitive state. Previous studies have shown evidence of the impact that stressors associated to confinement have on behavioural patterns and sleep quality. This investigation links then the aforementioned stressors to task performance. Hence, in order to investigate whether teleoperation task performance might be impacted by the crew’s mental state in a confined and isolated setting, a correlational study was run on data acquired from the Crew 206 of the Mars Desert Research Station (mdrs) (mdrs) in the Utah Desert. The participants were French students (n=5, Mean Age=21, σ=0.707) who underwent a confinement period of 3 weeks. Over these weeks, they performed 7 teleoperation tasks. The task consisted in the guidance of a rover for a sample collection on the lunar surface. Operator performance was measured by recording the completion time and the frequency of errors. The participants’ sleep data were measured with the Dreem headband, a portable Electroencephalogram (eeg) (eeg). Only the sleep data from the night before each session were considered. Also, operator cardiac activity was measured during the teleoperation task using a Faros 360 electrocardiography system. Lastly, operator mood was assessed just before performing the task using a shortened version of the Positive and Negative Affects (panas) questionnaire. A Spearman correlation run on these data revealed several statistical correlations that uncover links between professional task performance, sleep quality and mood in a confined and isolated setting. Amongst them are notably significant correlations between sleep duration and task completion time (ρ=0.6197, p<0.01), the reported feeling of confinement with the negative affect component of the mood (ρ=0.5797, p<0.01), the negative affect component and several sleep quality parameters (ρ=0.4686 or 0.4944,p<0.01). In addition to paving the way towards a better assessment of the impact of confinement and isolation on professional tasks, linking these parameters with specific personality traits could help in the selection of candidates for future human missions, thus increasing mission safety and reliability.

Additions to the "Martian Flora": new botanical records from the Mars Desert Research Station, Utah.

The Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) is a Mars-simulation campus set in a Martian planetary analogue in southern Utah. Despite a long history of astrobiology research, collections-based taxonomic inventories of the macro-level biodiversity around the station are relatively new. This study serves to add to the initial vascular plant list published for the station in 2016, where 39 species were recorded for MDRS. Here we report 40 new species, two new taxa recorded only to genus and two species re-identified from our 2016 fieldwork, bringing the total number of taxa in the "Martian" flora to 79 species and two taxa recorded to genus.

The Application of Low-Cost, Close-Range Photogrammetry in Dentistry

The search for extant life has long been an interest since people have been able to successfully explore other worlds. However, on space missions, experiments must be performed autonomously, with limited resources, and a carefully selected suite of instruments. Instruments are additionally constrained by weight, reliability, and size which limits use of many modern advanced systems. The Queen’s Space Engineering Team (QSET) is proposing the design of a portable (12” x 12” x 12”) instrument to identify signs supporting extant life aboard a mobile rover platform during exploration missions. The instrument will receive soil samples collected by the rover, analyse the composition to identify key molecules, and transmit data back to a ground station. This system relies on colorimetric measurements using a UV-VIS spectrometer and features a solvent recycle system to minimize weight and waste. This project is part of a larger environment characterisation module to be mounted on a Mars rover system designed for competition at the University Rover Challenge (URC) at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah. As of this date, each subsystem has successfully passed performance testing and the entire instrument is entering its system-level prototyping stage.

Preparing for planetary surface exploration by measuring habitat dust intrusion with filter tests during an analogue Mars mission

As humans venture deeper into space more issues related to operations will become apparent. While the perils of dust particles may not be widely recognized, it is one of the major issues astronauts will face on the surface of the Moon and Mars. Dust particles present a problem for both astronaut health and equipment as revealed during the Apollo era lunar surface missions. Dust particles cling to spacesuits and field gear, which upon ingress would begin circulating throughout the spacecraft or habitat. An astronaut's health is compromised by the dust particle's potential to embed in the lungs and cause respiratory illnesses. The extreme abrasiveness and granularity of the particles make it near impossible to completely shield a spacecraft or habitat from dust related damage. NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC) collaborated with Crew 188 at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah to measure how much dust entered the habitat during a series of extravehicular activities (EVAs), or surface excursions. A NASA GRC developed multistage filter system, coined the Scroll Filter System, was tested, for its effectiveness in removing dust that entered the airlock and habitat after the EVAs. An optical particle counter measured the ambient airlock particulates five times including: before the start of operations; after the crew left for EVA; in the middle of the EVA with the settled air; before the crew entered the airlock after EVA; and finally, after the crew simulated re-pressurization and suit brushing off in the airlock. Data was also collected in several of the working environment locations around MDRS and outside the habitat in the wind. Data collected from this research will help establish filter equipment for life support systems and prescribed operations for astronaut transition from a planetary surface into a desired clean habitat. Measurements may aid in updating a baseline expected dust load for a surface habitat and further facilitate the mitigation of astronaut's exposure to dust particles on the surface of celestial bodies.

Design of a Portable Soil Analysis Instrument for Remote Teleoperated Rover Platforms

The search for extant life has long been an interest since people have been able to successfully explore other worlds. However, on space missions, experiments must be performed autonomously, with limited resources, and a carefully selected suite of instruments. Instruments are additionally constrained by weight, reliability, and size which limits use of many modern advanced systems. The Queen’s Space Engineering Team (QSET) is proposing the design of a portable (12” x 12” x 12”) instrument to identify signs supporting extant life aboard a mobile rover platform during exploration missions. The instrument will receive soil samples collected by the rover, analyse the composition to identify key molecules, and transmit data back to a ground station. This system relies on colorimetric measurements using a UV-VIS spectrometer and features a solvent recycle system to minimize weight and waste. This project is part of a larger environment characterisation module to be mounted on a Mars rover system designed for competition at the University Rover Challenge (URC) at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah. As of this date, each subsystem has successfully passed performance testing and the entire instrument is entering its system-level prototyping stage.

Wor(l)d‐Building: Simulation and Metaphor at the Mars Desert Research Station

Using the framework of Critical Metaphor Analysis (Charteris‐Black 2004), this paper analyzes metaphorical production at an analog research campus—the Mars Desert Research Station. This analogy to the potential reality of human existence on Mars offers an opportunity to study language use as speakers “make sense” of their experiences in a simulated physical and social unknown. This process is key to understanding how metaphor functions to “wor(l)d‐build” by facilitating the cognitive processes that bridge human imagination and emergent reality. This research demonstrates that metaphor is not always about physical experience, but can be shaped by imagination. Subtle shifts in conceptions and expression, such as those prevalent in this study, are symptomatic of larger processes of knowing and potentially inhibiting knowledge about experience.

Failure modes and criticality analysis of the preliminary design phase of the Mars Desert Research Station considering human factors

This work presents an extension to the traditional FMECA (Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis) method to include the effects of human factors concerning accessibility/repairability, probability of contact and degree of contact. The authors refer to this extension to the traditional FMECA as the Human Design Approach (HDA). All data used in this study was collected during the stay of two of the authors at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the Utah desert, USA. The MDRS is a laboratory for carrying out research in order to understand and investigate the difficulties of how to live and work on another planet. The results show that following the HDA can enhance the safety and reliability of the MDRS. There is still a significant amount of research required concerning reliability analysis of the space habitat in terms of the selection of optimum designs, the modification of systems, as well as access, inspection and maintenance strategies, human factors and environmental impacts. This preliminary study will assist the design engineers with the selection of an optimum configuration for space habitats and can be extended to any case where humans can influence function of an environment.

How to prevent mind-wandering during an EVA ? Presentation of a mind-wandering detection method using ECG technology in a Mars-analog environment

The purpose of this study is to detect mind-wandering in an Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) context during a long supervision task. Detection is realized using an electro-cardiogram and measures of heart rate variability. Experienced by everyone, mind-wandering depicts the state of mind where thoughts are not related to the current action. Its deleterious aspect regarding performance suggests a need to take mind-wandering seriously as an impediment to manned space missions' safety. Previous research confirmed the hypothesis according to which several physiological responses can be used to track down mind-wandering. ECG recordings are both easy to obtain and analyze, statistically related to mind-wandering, and easy to record during extra-vehicular activities. Data analyzed in this paper have been recorded during a Mars-analog mission (MDRS 164), from February 20 to March 6, 2016 at the Mars Desert Research Station (Utah). During various cognitive tasks, the subject had his ECG and awareness levels monitored at the same time to see if a correlation between these two measures can be used in a Mars-mission environment. At different time intervals, the subject was interrupted using the thought probe method to inquire about his thoughts. Heart Rate Variability (HRV, which power in high frequencies is related to the parasympathetic system and is expected to vary with mind-wandering) was then computed from recorded data, and its statistical changes during on-task and off-task thoughts were assessed. Although data revealed no significant differences nor coherent trends in HRV-related metrics between the two conditions, results are paving the way towards a better understanding of ECG-recordings and their use during space-analog missions.

Conducting Rock Mass Rating for tunnel construction on Mars

Mars analogue missions provide researchers, scientists, and engineers the opportunity to establish protocols prior to sending human explorers to another planet. This paper investigated the complexity of a team of simulation astronauts conducting a Rock Mass Rating task during Analogue Mars missions. This study was conducted at the Mars Desert Research Station in Hanksville, UT, during field season 2015/2016 and with crews 167,168, and 169. During the experiment, three-person teams completed a Rock Mass Rating task during a three hour Extra Vehicular Activity on day six of their two-week simulation mission. This geological test is used during design and construction of excavations in rock on Earth. On Mars, this test could be conducted by astronauts to determine suitable rock layers for tunnel construction which would provide explorers a permanent habitat and radiation shielding while living for long periods of time on the surface. The Rock Mass Rating system derives quantitative data for engineering designs that can easily be communicated between engineers and geologists. Conclusions from this research demonstrated that it is feasible for astronauts to conduct the Rock Mass Rating task in a Mars simulated environment. However, it was also concluded that Rock Mass Rating task orientation and training will be required to ensure that accurate results are obtained.

Cultural ethology as a new approach of interplanetary crew's behavior

From an evolutionary perspective, during short-term and medium-term orbital flights, human beings developed new spatial and motor behaviors to compensate for the lack of terrestrial gravity. Past space ethological studies have shown adaptive strategies to the tri-dimensional environment, with the goal of optimizing relationships between the astronaut and unusual sensorial-motor conditions. During a long-term interplanetary journey, crewmembers will have to develop new individual and social behaviors to adapt, far from earth, to isolation and confinement and as a result to extreme conditions of living and working together. Recent space psychological studies pointed out that heterogeneity is a feature of interplanetary crews, based on personality, gender mixing, internationality and diversity of backgrounds. Intercultural issues could arise between space voyagers. As a new approach we propose to emphasize the behavioral strategies of human groups' adaptation to this new multicultural dimension of the environment. MethodologyPotential outcomes of applying ethological methods to the study of culture-specific human behaviors are investigated. Ethological and anthropological tools are used, based on observations and descriptions of individuals acting in a micro-society with their rules for living, their work habits and their specific customs and values. We focus the present study on interpersonal communications and organizations in diverse space simulation experiments and analogous environments (Mars-500 experiment, Mars Desert Research Station - MDRS, Tara-Arctic expedition and Concordia South pole station). ResultsDuring the Mars-500 experiment, the crewmembers (RU, EU, CH) were differently involved in the activities of daily living. At MDRS in the Desert of Utah, the crewmembers (FR, US, AU, DK) communicated differently in verbal discussions. During the Tara drift in the pack ice, the crewmembers (FR, MC, EE, NZ, NO) were differently positioned in the collective space. At Concordia station, the crewmembers (IT, FR) were grouped preferentially according to their living habits. The results show that cultural heterogeneity has different effects on interpersonal communications and organizations. When considering the isolated and confined crews like an evolving micro-society in unexplored environments, our preliminary analysis raises new questions as to the phylogenetic and epigenetic bases to which cultural ethology linked to anthropology may help to answer. ConclusionCultural values, in addition to social values and personal values, have to be taken into consideration for future space exploration.

Versatile Soil Sampling System Capable of Collecting, Transporting, Storing and Preliminary Onboard Analysis for Mars Rover Analogue

Presented paper focuses on design process of Soil Sample Retrieval System for simple on-board analysis of collected material and cashing it for further examination. System is created to be mounted on mobile robotic platforms to provide a tool suitable for sampling scientifically interesting sites in remote and even hazardous for human environments [1,2,4].Considered solution will be thoroughly tested during University Rover Challenge 2016 aiding #next team efforts to proof life existence in mock-up Mars surface setting located nearby Mars Desert Research Station, Hanksville Utah. This procedure is one of challenge’s task that proves scientific usefulness of a built rover. It requires collection of unaltered sub-surface soil sample, preliminary examination and cashing it on-board for further analysis.The device needs to be capable of collecting sub-surface soil samples, then transporting gathered material to cash and experiment containers also embedded onto platform [3]. It uses a drilling technique similar to one used to crush concrete and hard rocks.Powder created during sampling is further transported via system of tubes powered with vacuum. In order to create under pressure system was equipped with high-efficient turbine capable of producing up to 45 kg of suction force. This new approach has never been used before during such competition. We believe it will provide much needed advantage during this task over other competitors.The system allows an equal distribution of collected soil into designated containers. They are fitted out with desired scientific equipment. In considered exemplary model there are three containers. One being equipped with pH sensor, second-a humidity sensor and third one for cashing unaltered sample for further laboratory experimentations. It can also be equipped with additional sensors such as black light emitter with CCD sensor to determine cyanobacteria presence.The paper consists of three parts. First one focuses on problem analysis [2,3], system design and preliminary tests description. Second one describes device manufacturing and tests. Last part consists of results analysis with a critical validation of presented solution and recommendations for further development.