[Astronomos ] Journalist Report
Crew 245 Journalist report 17 April 2022
Sol: 07
Name of person filling the report: Dr. Benjamin Pothier
On sol 7 we woke up earlier than usual so that we could conduct an extravehicular activity a bit far away from our habitat. We watched the sunrise from the main window of the hab while enjoying our breakfast and a nice Italian coffee before exiting the station.
The mood of the whole crew was great on this Easter morning even here on Mars far away from the cradle of Earth’s civilization.
We certainly have developed our own vernacular habits, rules, and private jokes, but the experiments we have to conduct and our sparse contacts with the Mission Control Center keep us rooted in our very earthly origins.
I certainly haven’t met any Martians here but human beings who decided to risk their life to expand the human knowledge of the universe. The afternoon EVA crew just came back and they installed a camera outside the station so that I will hopefully have some time-lapse of the station tomorrow morning. I also plan to take some photos of the sunrise from the bay windows of the science lab and we’ll see tomorrow morning how it went.
We have our own celebration of Easter tonight and I am happy to treat the crew with some French delicacies after yesterday’s Canadian treats from Nadia, Paolo’s pesto di pistacchi siciliano with Vittorio’s orecchiette pasta, and today’s lunchtime Simone’s Pasta alla carbonara. We all enjoy those special meals on a daily basis until the end of the mission will still be made of freeze-dried products. Despite the restrictions we have to go through, the mood of the crew is usually light and our level of performance high.
For this specific mission, we don’t have a dedicated crew astronomer, but that’s probably because each and every member of our crew are at the same time very grounded while our hearts and minds are looking toward the stars. I’m sure that the Poet would agree with me and quote Plato on Sol 7 :
"For it is obvious to everybody, I think, that this study [of astronomy] compels the soul to look upward and leads it away from things here to higher things."
—
Benjamin Pothier