Journalist Report
Nicole Chan, Crew 290 Journalist
01.14.2024
Sol 7
The crew all enjoyed the slow morning today on our rest day. In preparation for today, while the crew had brainstormed some ways to relax and bond, they have also outlined some science tasks including some imaging, pH measurements and processing the soil samples through the microfluidic devices. So, after getting a very tasty breakfast of crepes with Nutella and peanut butter. Speaking of these sweet condiments, they (especially the Nutella) have been the go-to snack of many crew members, which has been driving down our stock. Currently, we are at half a jar of Nutella. At a few members’ dismay, our pantry monitor (self-assigned) Ben (aka Funk) will be enforcing a ration so that our crew won’t be “at each other’s throats” in the next few Sols when we run out of our staple source of sugar (and in my opinion, instant happiness). If anyone’s curious, our most sought after commodity (and the strongest instigator amongst the group) is the packets of Welch’s fruit snacks/gummies (Berries N’ Cherries flavor). I’m sure at times when it matters, the crew will be able to remain civilized and sort it out like the scientists that we are.
As the afternoon rolls around (along with the clouds on this sunny day of 12 degrees Celsius), the crew will be heading back to the Hab soon from the ScienceDome to get some lunch. Our lunch today was some delicious vegetable fried rice with some curry chicken seasoned with the cilantro that was harvested yester-sol by Funk. I personally look forward to having that meal again as leftovers. We set off to work around 1500 with Rebecca (Chopper) and myself (PODO) heading off to the ScienceDome to complete the daily pH measurements. We found new workarounds for the new pH meter and will develop new measurement procedures for the EVA crew to get more consistent readings in the field tomorrow. It was a productive day of science for sure.
The crew reconvened in the Hab for an evening of personal time and winding down for the night. Chopper and I returned to find Madelyn (Melon) and Anna (Roots) doing some sort of experiment. Roots explained that it’s part of her glove dexterity research and that it’ll be our turn to be tested in the next few days. I can’t wait to contribute some data.
We had an additional task tonight! Anja (Freebee) suggested that our evening activity be sharing personal stories through powerpoint talks, so we’re all preparing our own stories to share over the Funfetti cake that we made yesterday. With an EVA planned tomorrow, we’re ready to get back to work.
Photo of the Day: 290-01_14_2024 we’re getting tested.JPG