Day: January 5, 2019

MDRS Crew 202, Journalist Report

Sol 6 – 01/04/2018

Name the space movie (or show) given the following quote. Answer at the end of the Report:

I sometimes catch myself looking up at the Moon, remembering the changes of fortune in our long voyage, thinking of the thousands of people who worked to bring the three of us home. I look up at the Moon and wonder, when will we be going back, and who will that be?

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Our morning went from 0 to 100 when we chose to start the day with an ab workout. The Engineer and Executive Officer have been betting on whether the other could hold a 5 minute plank which has evolved to various competitions of exercises. While their physical prowess is impressive, the aches and pains of my sore bones are looking forward to leading a meditation tomorrow instead of full blown P90X.

The Geologist (GEO), Health & Safety Officer (HSO), and Commander (CMD) went on the 5th Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) of our mission while the Executive Officer (EXO), Engineer (ENG), and I (Crew Journalist = JOU) stayed behind to work through our own projects and relax after going on the previous two EVAs. This was a big day for GEO and HSO since they haven’t left the Habitat in three days. Three days of living in a two-story Corn Silo. The only relief coming from the sun shining through the four windows in the living room, all no larger than a beach ball. Needless to say, they were excited to pretend to breathe the fresh air through their suits and touch the ground through their heavily padded hands and feet.

It is not the large parts of living on Earth you miss, such as the scenery or restaurants. It is the little things you miss as your brain teases you with cravings and wishes. An innocent thought popping up like “ice cream sounds nice”, and then quickly realizing there’s no possible way to concoct anything even related to ice cream from the dehydrated, shelf stable dust we’ve been given to live off of…. Or standing in a hot shower. Steam filling the room. The water gently rolling down your face without using a wash cloth to place it there…

…

Ok. I’m back. Daydreaming for a minute about that shower. And ice cream. Maybe both at the same time. It’s difficult to plan what to indulge in first once we get back to Earth. As a gentle reminder to the reader, myself, and the crew, it’s our 7th day on Mars, nearly a full week after leaving Earth. We ran out of fruit today. The canned spam is taunting us from the cupboards. Let us hope we never reach that point of desperation.

Speaking of food, our CMD and GEO have never had ramen. You know, the $0.29 plastic packaged sodium bomb that you lived off of in college because you blew what little money you had on Insomniac cookies the night before. So… after a long day of trekking in the Martian snow, boots soiled, and noses red, our EVA crew returned to nice warm pot of noodles in bouillon cubes. Their verdict was “It was better than I expected”. That’s essentially a 10/10 review for ramen.

The second floor of the habitat is always filled with laughter. It’s a good thing we live on a desolate planet because we would wake the whole neighborhood with the joy, conversation, and howling echoing through the walls. Even through the dehydrated food dirt and dreaming of creamier bites and cleaner days, the overall mood of Crew 202 is bright. It’s another wonderful day on the Red Planet as we enter day 2 without a major crisis. Yes, I did knock on the wood planked floors before sending this journal.

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Movie (or Show) Answer: Apollo 13