Day: October 26, 2023

By Loren Scott

8am – Breakfast

9am – The crew finished up the gypsum experimentin the dome lab. The conclusions formed were that in the oven, the gypsum calcified to the point of becoming plaster of paris. The team hypothesized that the H2O trapped in the rock was released as steam causing a chemical reaction. As for the gypsum in the water, we found that it became more clear and glass-like. Both experiments also found that somewhere between 5-10% of the mass was lost. Again, we thought that the water was released into the water and that what was left was slowly dissolving in the water.

10:30 – After the experiment, the crew ended the SIM.

11am – The crew took a hike to look for rocks. The crew saw dinosaur bones embedded into the stone east of the hab as well as some good petrified wood and baryte roses. Then we went up the bluff behind the hab to the Gryphaea bed.

1pm – Lunch and hike debrief.