Author: jburk

Title: Country Roads, take me home…

Author: Oscar Ivan Ojeda Ramirez

Extract from Commander’s log, Sol 1

We’re finally here. After months of preparation, planning, after rising expectations, we’ve made it. Those alien-like red hills, and geometric shapes of cylinders, hemispheres, and cubes, worthy of a Dali painting, are finally a real place, a place to call home. A whole mission is now ahead of us, a mission full of challenges and rewards, of personal and professional growth, and at the end of it, we expect to come back home to share what we learned, so that others may follow the path.

We venture into the unknown not just to discover it, "it", but most importantly to discover ourselves. Ourselves as individuals, as a crew, as a community, and in our particular case, as a nation, is it the first time a 100% Colombian crew takes the station.

Any doubts I might have had to be on this mission were cleared as soon as we made the turn and the habitat appeared on sight. At that moment it was clear to me that the efforts and sacrifices we are taking are going to be worth it.

And they won’t be few. Amongst others, we have for the better or the worst, the eyes of many people upon us, and we’ll have to perform to the best of our abilities, just to match what they expect from us. And living in a desert, far away from everyone, comes with a toll. But each one of us must not forget why we volunteered to be here, and that being here is the most important thing for our lives right now. We’ve had a history behind with most of the crewmembers and I trust each one of them as a perfect fit for their role within the crew.

Despite its beauty, Mars is definitely not the most welcoming place, it’s cold, it’s dry, and when it’s not dry, it’s muddy. Mars wants for many secrets to stay unveiled, and sometimes will put up a fight on that.

With 14 sols worth of challenges, lessons, laughter, probably tears, but for sure growth, on both a personal and professional point of view, we have to be up for it.

We are now on it together, and as a famous Aristotle quote goes, "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts". It was once a dream, now it is our reality, and soon it will be a memory. It better be a wonderful memory.

Per Aspera Ad Astra.

MDRS Crew 202, Journalist Report

Sol 14 – 01/12/2018

Name the space movie (or show) given the following quote. Answer at the end of the Report:

Mankind was born on Earth … it was never meant to die here.

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This mission began with six individuals who vaguely knew each other, tied together by a common alma mater. Each crew member from a different walk of life, a wide variety of backgrounds, and unique research goals. After two weeks of being locked in a corn silo with little to no interaction with the outside world, I can honestly say I love these people so Dodge Ram much!

Paraphrased from our Director, Martian time moves different than Earth time, and this statement could not be more true. Our time here feels much longer than the mere 14 days, and our outside lives still seem lightyears away. Today, it became a little more real that we would be returning home tomorrow as we drove into town, on a paved road, ordered food in a restaurant, and sat down for a meal someone outside of the crew had prepared for us. Our eyes bigger than our stomachs, we gorged on burgers, shakes, and fries and laughed the night away. Giggling at inside jokes you had to be there for. Enjoying each other’s company.

Reflecting on my time at MDRS, I could not have predicted all the wonderful things I would take away from this experience. As Crew Journalist, I could not be more fortunate to have the role of listening to everyone’s incredible story and translating it into written words, videos, or sketches.

I always believed there was a place in space for all backgrounds – the vast and creative arts, all types of engineering, the full spectrum of sciences – but hearing our Chemistry major describe discovering her place in space, how she is finding ,through this trip, that there are roles for people outside of just aerospace majors and how she is just as valuable as anyone else in the crew was incredibly inspiring and is a message I will carry with me through my own career in the space industry.

You have a microbiome and plants have a microbiome and environments have microbiomes and all these microbiomes interact and affect each other. Sometimes those effects are nice, and sometimes they carry pathogens. This is incredibly important to know for Mars!

Space exploration is more than just the amazing data we collect about the planet, it will also push our minds and bodies to new extremes. This stress could have a long-term impact on decision making, which could be the difference between life and death in deep space exploration. I was always told stress is bad for you, but now I know a little more about the science behind why it is bad for you!

Look up at the Night Sky. What do you see? With the naked eye, we see a portrait of stories from long ago, a shimmering display of lights in different depths, a beautiful Milky Way splitting the sky in two. It is at the MDRS observatory where we captured close up images of these blinking lights and discovered these stars were not stars at all, but gigantic galaxies, colorful nebulas, and complex celestial bodies. Billions and trillions of celestial wonders that will appear simply as stars to astronaut eyes from both Earth and Mars.

ROCKS. Wow. Have you taken time today to appreciate the rocks surrounding you? The boulders you step on every day and their magnificence and importance to science? While my head will always be in the stars, after this mission I will take more time to appreciate the amazing and unassuming wonders at my feet.

Most of all, the people. This last paragraph is just for Crew 202. Brett. Yust Yoking. 82 years to 3000. 5 minute planks. Atila this is Hab. You’re Welcome! Nutella. Engineering. TP, peeps, and naps. The most rewarding part of this adventure was getting to know you wonderful people. As our Crew Engineer said, “Well I guess we all just have to live in the same place now”. I will miss each and every one of you as we begin to part ways, and I will forever be laughing at things no one else will understand. You have all given me an incredible appreciation for your backgrounds, your science, and simply you as a human being. Don’t be strangers. Keep in touch. My door is always open. I wish you all the best when you return to your adventures on Earth! Yeehaw!

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Movie (or Show) Answer: Interstellar