Journalist Report – December 30th

Sol: 12

Author’s name: Helen Eifert, Crew Geologist

Title: Bob’s Burgers

Often in confined environments, groups find some type of unifying inside joke. It’s usually some reference that comes up during the time together that gets funnier the more time spent together. I’m going to use a reference to call this the “hi bob” tendency. In a TV series called “For All Mankind,” an astronaut crew of three spends three months on the moon. Throughout their isolation, they start greeting each other with “hi bob.” An inside joke that spawned from only having access to three episodes of the Bob Newhart show on station. We weren’t in short supply of movie references with the likes of Marc Levesque as commander; and luckily, MDRS had much more than 3 episodes available. We had quite a few movie nights as a result. One of which was Galaxy Quest, a parody of the Star Trek franchise. Shortly after, we found our own “hi bob” in a rendition of the thermian alien’s way of clapping. Visual provided below.

Crew 271 completed a successful mission to Mars, conducting important work, exciting research, and truly enjoying each other’s company. Despite the risk of throwing that all to the wind, this evening we made an ill advised attempt to beat the space snake game, Space Escape. I am happy to report that with the addition Guariniello, we did indeed manage to escape the scary snakes! Perfect timing as we “touched down” on Earth this morning, concluding our simulation on Mars. We had one last stroll up to North Ridge this morning, still continuing Levesque’s radio communication work beyond our formal mission close. With most of our gear packed and the station nearly cleaned and ready for departure, we enjoyed one final meal together at Stan’s (not Bob’s) Burger Shack in the nearest town of Hanksville, UT. One more sleep in home sweet hab and these six astronauts will head their separate ways.

A big thermian round of applause for MDRS Crew 271, the International Mars Analog Research Simulation (IMARS) mission, and our mission support on the ground. Eifert signing off, Happy New Year and Ad Ares.

Copyright © The Mars Society. All rights reserved. | Main Site