Day: October 25, 2023

By Deb DeBerard

This morning we started with a wonderful breakfast of cereal. The favorites were Chocolate Frosted Flakes and Extra Raisin Raisin Bran. We followed this with a quick meeting to go over our day. The first EVA started at 10 am. Darin, Emily and Deb headed out to the rovers where we successfully started two rovers and managed to drive off to the south. We successfully passed through the rocks by the Kissing Camels (unlike the 40’ long camper we found on the other side), escaped the lightning sand and made it to our destination. At the first destination we quickly decided to collect all the good rocks so the other group wouldn’t have any. We searched the glorious wash finding lava rocks, conglomerates, other pretty stones and even a Devil’s Toenail before proceeding to the second site. At the second site it took us a moment to find the correct wash, then we collected all the agate petrified trees we could, leaving nothing for the next group. Return to the Hab was successful.

Upon return to the Hab we had a wonderful lunch of macaroni and cheese, veggie soup and fresh bread. Better than we eat at home! Then we sent Enrique, Jason and Loren out to meet their doom or return triumphant, loaded down with rocks of all shapes and sizes (except all the good ones that we had already taken.)

Back at the Hab, Emily and Deb experienced their first very short showers and got cleaned up for a virtual meeting with Shannon, the research scientist. We discussed the plans for Spaceward Bound, the classroom portion. The goal is to get the Spaceward Bound program into the classroom. As teachers we have many ideas, hopefully some of them will be good and help students who can’t make it to the Hab learn the ways of life on Mars. Then Deb and Emily planted some seeds in the greenhouse for future use.

The second team had a successful mission gathering rocks. Their rovers successfully made it to the planned locations unlike the day before. Their communication was stellar and they had amazing map reading. The wind was nice without being overwhelming. Jason, Enrique and Loren all successfully returned to the Hab with no near death experiences and they even got the rovers back. They were greeted by Wicket at their return and came through the airlocks excited to share their experiences.

The entire group reconvened to investigate rocks with Jen in the science lab. We all now have both Mars and analog rocks in our collections. We also have a lot of other rocks that are just plain cool and we like them. Once our rock collections were complete Darin and Deb figured out the rock id’s of a Utah rock puzzle that Shannon had left them. Enrique and Jason went on a quest for solar flares using the solar observatory. Others returned to the Hab to shower, relax or do some work.

The gang is now all gathered in the upper floor of the Hab while Enrique, Jason and Emily figure out how to make a delicious meal of rice, chickpeas and one little scoop of protein each(chicken). It is smelling good and quite appetizing. We only hope it will taste as good as it smells or we will all be fighting over the Chocolate Frosted Flakes. We look forward to hearing Jen’s story and a video meeting with Shannon tonight.