Category: Journalist Report

"Getting grounded" Journalist Report
Crew 245 Journalist report 13 April 2022
Sol: 03
Name of person filing the report: Dr. Benjamin Pothier

This is Sol 3 for our team and we have already reached our cruise speed in terms of carrying out and planning our experiments in the field. Despite the constraints of the Martian environment and the food and water restrictions, the crew has adapted well to our new normal. I personally plan to take my next shower in a couple of days and we all understand that every resource is precious here. It’s all about ISRU, or In-Situ Resource Utilization and I’m sure that we will all be more and more creative in the next couple of days with what we have at hand in order to enhance and optimize our performances, be it during cooking, DNA analysis or drone photogrammetry.

Everyone is important in our team because the success of our mission, from our comfort to plain survival, depends on each and every skill. If Buckminster Fuller spoke about the "Spaceship Earth" in 1969, our station is our Spaceship, a very grounded one, because the environment around us is hostile, and in Space, everything tries to kill you. We don’t go outside without our spacesuits and we need to plan and rationalize our use of each and every resource that is available to us.

I joined our Crew Scientist Simone and our Health and Safety officer Nadia during an Extra-Vehicular Activity this morning, documenting their process of soil sampling for an upcoming DNA analysis experiment. This afternoon our Commander Vittorio with our Crew Engineer Luca and our Executive Officer Luca installed a ground station antenna that should let us communicate with some satellites in the next couple of days.

I can’t wait to collaborate further with all those crew members on the several projects that we have planned. Civilization was always about collaboration on Earth, and it is the same in our small resilient community. We are slowly getting grounded on Mars and I can’t wait for the next sunrise.

Crew Journalist Over and out.

Crew 245 Journalist report 12 April 2022
Sol: 02
Name of person filling the report: Dr Benjamin Pothier

After the Tempest

Yesterday’s night was quite demanding for the crew as we had to face heavy winds and sand storms that made our habitat almost shake during the night. I think the comfort food that we prepared with Nadia, our Health and Safety Office, helped the crew to stay resilient during this quite unexpected tempest on Sol 1, even though we are very lucky to have such a professional crew of trained individuals who are definitely ready to welcome the unwelcoming.

It is therefore quite an honor to start this first journalist report just after the Tempest, as the Bard would say it.

We started our second day on the red planet with a delicious breakfast made of freeze dried food, and perfect coffee made the Italian way that kept us motivated and sharp during the day. Today was for me my first opportunity to go on EVA with our crew scientist Simone and our executive officer Paulo. The landscape around was beyond my expectations and I documented the team gathering soil samples for a DNA analysis experiment. We are all getting slowly acquaintained to the procedures of the station and the hazards of the planet, sharing with each other’s crew members past experiences that brought us to all end up on this outpost on Mars. I am already convinced that our differences will be our force as a group, considering that we at least also all share three things in common: professionalism, attention to details and a strong sense of humor.

We spent the afternoon working on our research and our health and safety officer Nadia taught us how to use the smart garment with integrated sensors that will record most of our physiological datas in real time during the whole mission including at night. the Astroskin was already tested on the ISS by the Canadian Space Agency so we are very lucky to be able to use it on this Mars mission.

I’m sure tomorrow will bring a fair share of excitement and novelty, and I will close this journalist report for today as I need to get to the kitchen to bring my special touch to tonight’s dinner, and once again earn the surname that the crew already gave me, "Chef Pothier", over and out.

(The last day on Mars) Journalist Report
Crew 227 Journalist Report 8 April 2022
Sol: 12
Name of the person filling the report : Sirga Drouet

Last day on Mars for the crew 227 : Tharsis.
This morning was the last EVA for Cyril, Jean, Julie, Ignacio and me.
One of the most beautiful EVA of our adventure. On the program ECG for Jean’s experience, 3D mapping for Cyril in the Candor Chasma. We started by climbing a rock to have a good view to choose the most optimal place to enter the canyon. Julie did an incredible climb for someone in a space suit ! You had to know your body exactly and have confidence in yourself. That’s just like Julie 😉

She quickly found an entrance thanks to her position. So we left in the direction of this area which had not yet been explored by our team. A magical place we entered very quickly and soon the strata of rock pillars stood in front of us. An oasis of wonderful landscape. We returned and then our life on this planet came to an end little by little. The tidying up began and the red vision of the outside will remain marked for life.

Thanks to:
Cyril Wain, Commander
Jean Jacobs, Executive Officer
Audrey Comein, Crew scientist
Julie Manon, Health and safety Officer
Ignacio Sánchez Casla, Crez Astronomer
Cheyenne Chamart, Green Hab Officer
Julien Meert, Crew Engineer
To have lived this exceptional experience together.
To have gone through the ordeals to get there.
To have discovered this world
To have cried, laughed, discussed, innovated, learned
To live it all
Thanks to MDRS and Cap Comm for supporting us
Without forgetting Mecktoub who is now free in the desert

I hope that through my stories I have succeeded in sharing this dream with you
Above all, never let go of what matters to you !
If your future is on Mars do not forget to put your starred scarf.

Sirga Drouet, Communication Officer

[Clear Sky] Journalist Report
Crew 227 Journalist Report 6 April 2022
Sol : 10
Name of the person filing the report: Sirga Drouet

Hello Earth, this is Mars on sol 10.

Imagine, putting on your scarf, and going out of a lighted room to the Observatory.

The moment when your eyes acclimatize to the brightness is incredible. In the beginning, a few lights, then the dark night turns into a Milky Way where the number of luminous points is incalculable, the shooting stars pass by, we are there to contemplate the universe which offers itself to us, suggests us a tiny part of its immensity. This vision gives us the desire to travel through space and not just stand there.

We are there to cultivate the silence without anything interfering and time is no longer a dimension in our eyes. This is the moment we experienced last night before giving way to sleep.

This morning the dawn came to tickle our sleeping eyes and the feeling that everything is possible in the first hours of the day takes us back.

But we have other projects that take us out of our dreams.

Today EVA walked to North Bridge for Julien’s last game against me. We climbed hills that changed color as the day goes by. This morning it was red then orange. As we climbed, the sun brightened them more and more and we were at the challenge point.

Thanks to our training we were faster, more efficient and confident. We went straight back home after this escapade. After lunch, everyone had their stuff. For my part I made cookies with my accomplice for the snack without saying that they were filled with insects, the team saw only fire and my stratagem worked wonderfully hehe.

The day passed at one of its speeds and it is already time for Cap Comm.

It’s always a pleasure to wake up in March and I hope that tomorrow will be fruitful.

See you soon
Sirga

Crew 227 Journalist Report 5 April 2022
Sol : 9
Name of the person filling the report : Sirga Drouet

To the Moon and beyond!

Yesterday evening on ground 8, a delicious Belgian dish revisited, small play of belote, evening discussion and small film not worth the trouble and finally the hypnosis session of Julien towards 2 am.
This morning, on the 9th day of our adventure, the wind was caressing the roof of our cabin and after a pancake breakfast, the EVA team left to get ready. The three people staying in the station as backup are Jean, Julie and myself, joined later by Audrey who will return earlier to prepare for the chirugical challenge that starts at 12 pm. The Moon mission is launched with the aim of using Cyril’s radar to study the dielectric properties of the ground, explore and use the drone if the external conditions allow it

Cheyenne tell me about your adventure after the radar mission on the way home 😉 :
Today’s EVA it was to the moon! After a while, we realized that we had missed the road on the left leading to it and that we were too far away ! So we went back on our steps. For my part, no worries, driving the rovers is a real pleasure ! Once arrived, we parked our vehicles and continued our exploration by foot. Soon, the brownish and reddish regolith of the Martian soil gave way to the more and more whitish and grayish lunar substrate. After having climbed a few hills and slopes, a magnificent landscape of plains and dunes with white tones was offered to us. What a privilege to discover so many stars during this interstellar expedition ! The wind was with us and it was sometimes difficult to hear each other through our radio communications. Nevertheless, we managed to take some pictures and videos. After enjoying the view one last time and collecting some soil, we headed back to the road. Just before returning, we climbed a small mountain, this time a Martian one. It was sporty and steep ! But once again, the sport was worth it : from the top, we had a breathtaking view of the valley and the MDRS. Can our comrades who stayed at the camp see us from here ? Once again, a few shots and we headed back to the mother house, it was already time to go back and in space timing is everything ! Hop hop hop, we were back to the rovers and 10 minutes later, in the pressurization SAS. It was a great EVA, one of the last ones considering our departure which is approaching day after day, but this deadline makes us enjoy these moments even more.

Thank you Cheyenne for this story !

On the way back, the anatomy and mechanics team fought outside for the place of the best surgeon. Last match for Cyril assistant and Ignacio operator. Unfortunately for the anatomy team, Audrey who was an operator fell several times like a turtle back on its shell… I might as well tell you : Ouch for the anatomy team. Well the mechanical team still used a wheelbarrow to compensate the weight of the space suits if they were on all fours on the ground. Very stressful fight in addition to the wind that tried to steal every object made of papers.
You should have seen the scene, a real musical : Audrey on her back not knowing how to get up, the boys sweating to puncture the leg and create a "Gruyère", Julie running after the sheet and the bags, it was only missing that the people remaining inside started to sing "Oh happy Day" and the movie was in the box…

After all these emotions we tasted a soup unknown to any Belgian sitting at the table. A cheese and potato soup ?! Accompanied by a bread with insects, I still don’t know which of these two foods is the most bizarre ^^".

This afternoon the wind blows stronger and stronger and since 4 pm we have no electricity… We are still orphans of power … no electricity means no more gas stove, no more water pump, no more heating. We still have a glass of water and a coffee for 8…
For the moment still no electricity it is 6.40pm.
If you are reading this Journalist Report it means that we are not dead of thirst.
We all hope you will read it.

Farewell. I’m just kidding, we’ll find a solution 😉

[Time is passing so fast] Journalist Report
Crew 227 Journalist Report 4 April 2022
Sol : 8
Name of the person filling the report : Sirga Drouet

Sol 8 of our life on Mars.
A cold night for the inhabitants of the Hab and a premature awakening by a gadget beeping like crazy every 5 seconds. I turned to my neighbor and quickly realized that I was going to have to get out of bed to turn off whatever had woken me up. However, I was lucky enough to be accompanied by the rising sun that pierced the red hills and gradually illuminated our community, a calm and silent moment (luckily no one was snoring). I learned in the morning that several people were awake and didn’t have the courage to turn off the sound that was roasting our poor ears, great I had been fooled like a rabbit !
The day looks hot without a cloud on the horizon and an EVA without rover for a game in exploration condition. The tension rises at the idea of this duel.

Team mechanics versus team "Others", we set off with Julie and the two teams in search of a flat spot on the heights of Mars to carry out the great challenge.
You have to realize the magnitude of this match : on the ground on all fours on the Martian sand, with our helmets on, it was impossible to get close to each other to make a good reduction of the shin, it was impossible to discuss orally and it was difficult to do so with walkie-talkies, otherwise it was a mess as far as communication was concerned, because we were all connected and we didn’t understand each other. It was mentally and physically tiring but we did our best and the fact that we had prepared beforehand as a team helped a lot. We know the steps and the difficult movements of each one which guides us in the manipulation. In the end, we did pretty well, less than 50 minutes of operation and we counted only one dead and the other patient will return to earth…
Thank God that Julie is still in good shape ^^.
We were in a beautiful place a few hundred meters from the station.
We had a sight on big full broken in the distance by mountains higher than skyscrapers. Once the game finished to have a 360 degrees view we climbed North Ridge a mound which overhangs the panorama and which is in front of the station. After a few feet slipping in the sand, deep breaths and a few drops of sweat we were on top ! A breathtaking view, all the reliefs of Mars in front of us, a range of colors, unknown stones and above all the smile on our happy and red faces. Fortunately we had good boots and no sandals, the steep descent could have turned into a sledding race on combination, instead we positioned ourselves on our boots to crouch so as not to lose our balance on the slope ! I admit it to you I smile to the image of this situation a little bit embarrassing and ridiculous but let us not take risks. Safety first !

I have an announcement to make ! Cyril’s experiment finally starts !!!! A 3D model in perspective and a superb drone shot of our EVA. Honestly, it looks like a drone from the Wall-e cartoon as its behavior fluctuates. It was complicated but after the rain the weather is not ?

This afternoon, back to the daily activities. The Anatomy team, since Audrey started her challenges, is dangerously catching up with the mechanical team in the surgery tournaments.
Let’s make a little tour of the Cheyenne plants. The radishes grow earlier than expected and grow with the days in the compost substrate but the Martian substrate does not seem to please them … They germinate slowly, we observe in some pot of radish and a microgreen the radicle. Tadam the culture takes more time but it works. I will keep you informed of their growth. It will be easy to guess when they will show their cotyledons Cheyenne will probably be jumping for joy everywhere.

On Audrey’s side the exposed bacteria seem to have a 100 to 1000 times lower growth rate than the unexposed bacteria. On the exposed AB side, some have no impact on their efficiency but others are significantly less efficient.
More news in a few days when the analysis will have progressed 😉
Julien for his part is starting to catch up on his analysis of the sleep patterns and is becoming more and more efficient at recognizing the different phases.

Tonight it’s applesauce, freeze-dried chicken and mashed potatoes with a touch of insects. The time passes so quickly, we leave the station in 5 days and it seems like we arrived only a few days ago. I feel like singing : Hey hey hey, I’m one vacation, every single day cause I love my occupation !
On that note, I’m going to prepare the meal right now

See you tomorrow!
Sirga

Crew 227 Journalist Report 3 April 2022
Sol : 7
Name of the person filling the report : Sirga Drouet

Today we got up early but slept late, for some of us, after a surprise game until 11 pm. Team mechanics against team the "Others" Ignacio against me the astronauts will be able to return on earth, good news even if Ignacio remains the best of the apprentice surgeons although we all evolve!

This morning breakfast of quality, good pancakes with syrup, bleuberries and even chocolate!
We ate in two seconds our good meal because a very precise goal and a mission para commando to realize was of setting.
Return to Tharsis canyon, to go as far as possible in three hours by counting the way in rover. We clearly made the fastest preparation of EVA since we are here. At 9:16 am sharp we were in front of the tricky canyon entrance. Euphorically we set off, plunging into what would turn into a wall of rock. The walk was fast, I admit it was clearly military for me with my little legs. We went two and a half times faster than the day before ! The team was composed of Julie, Jean, Cyril, me and Cheyenne. The easiest way to advance was to go along the ridge to have a better view.

We were higher and higher, we felt so ridiculous in front of these strata which are and will be there before and maybe after the humanity. A funny feeling, it pushes us to question ourselves on our place in this world and on our so small trace in the rocks in front of us. We stayed there a moment to contemplate from the top of the 40 meters the river dry in the bottom of the valley. Some shots of drone and in spite of the fact that we were in 2/3 of our objective it did not remain us enough time and the half-turn arrived.
To finish this canyon we would have to run at each negative drop, make a quick hello at the origin and run back without forgetting our 10 Kilograms of space suit. We are proud of what we have accomplished so far and maybe the origin of our goal will remain forever blank. An ideal to be reached like the utopia of making humanity live on Mars. But I am sure that the echoes of our hopes will plausibly solve terrestrial problems useful to our future.
The secret in this adventure is to not give up and despite the many failures to stay united and face the challenge.
The return journey was less sportive but the sun was shining and the thirst was felt. On the way back we got the antibiotics from Audrey who was exposed.

Once back, the routine : The decompression chamber, undress and eat. Today no insects of the day to take a break, everyone seems to be in heaven ahaha.
The afternoon activities started and Audrey’s first surgical match took place, against me, she did very well for a first.
Then a little manipulation of Audrey’s bacteria and Cheyenne’s plants are growing wonderfully !

During this time it was the church in the Hab to pray of Saint-Computer because an accident happened… We almost lost the computer of Ignacio because of an attack of coffee. We were three reconverted in monk while Father Cyril with his hands of electrical engineer handled the multimeter to try to find the cause of the murder. The machine was making big beeps, which is very worrying in the microscopic computer world… Finally, our prayers were partly heard and the only collateral damage was to remove the battery.
A good day passed, tonight card tournaments are on the program to blow.

Tharsis Canyon Journalist Report
Crew 227 Journalist Report 2 April 2022
Sol: 6
Name of the person filing the report: Sirga Drouet
Good evening everyone and welcome to a new adventure of the Tharsis Crew!

Yesterday night after freeze-dried vegetable spaghetti, a discussion about a fun nickname: TCC, Tharsis Cool Crew (an abbreviation that reminds me of the earth), a belote game between girls and the boys at the dishes (a very 2022 situation), Julien hypnotized us!

He placed himself in the community while we were all snuggled up in our bed. Then he started his declamation which put us in a state of drowsiness. His voice was more and more distant and Ignacio was snoring more and more loudly, an indication that Julien had done his session well. I promise I didn’t push Ignacio from the room 😉

Today was a very exciting day! Cheyenne, me, Ignacio, Julien, and Audrey had the quest to find the big canyon I told you about on Sol 2. The one we want to call Tharsis canyon. This time all the elements are in our favor. We drink a big glass of water, put on our space suits, and went into the airlock of decompression.

This moment is always long… Especially on the return when we are hungry! In short, we are in the airlock we go out, we put on our rovers and zouuu we left towards the big exploration!

We had a little difficulty finding the entrance of the canyon but after a catch of height to have a better vision of the zone we quickly located the furrows that the river dug through the thousands of years.

Wow, it is there I said to myself! We left with a decided step towards the cut rocks, with the adventure companions, we left towards the horizon! After a good hour of walk, we were still at the end of a full with some rocks on the edges of the dry bed of the river but still no trace of the big walls of the canyon which we had seen in the distance… However, we walked fast and determined steps!

We thus took the decision to go up and to skirt the crest and further, to jump over the small cracks, to skirt again, and then PAF the moment so much awaited we were all at the top of the canyon. In front of us was an audience of rocks that jostled for a place in the precipice. We were there, very small to look at this spectacle which seemed to us petrified and yet very alive.

Then suddenly Julien (the timekeeper) said to us: guys it remains 60min to return to the rovers whereas we took 1h20 to arrive until here! Alalalala the return was sporting!

We were like in a movie to run to throw the bags, to encourage everybody, to cut the path of the outward journey to optimize the return, a movie I tell you! Finally, we arrived in time to be able to return to the Hab without overheating the rovers and remain careful on the return.

On our way back, like explorers, we explained our adventure to those who stayed in the Hab, we pointed out on the map the path we had taken and how far we had gone in the canyon. Except that after the debate we realized that well, in fact not so far as that! We made 1/3 of the canyon, it is already a feat for tracking! The EVA of tomorrow is planned to be military to beat the score of today, we shall also make a 3D mapping with the drone for the experience of Cyril (we cross the fingers so that it works).

At 4 pm we allowed ourselves a little Saturday madness to celebrate the birthday of Jean (a little late). We ate a brownie, everybody was in the angels, a real delight!
The fact of not having access to the outside world brings us very close, we spend hours talking and laughing without seeing the time pass.

I forgot to specify that yesterday evening Ignacio took us with the telescope a superb picture, between the fails, the nebula Cat eye. Julien and Ignacio planted some plants which point to the end of their nose, we hope to be able to eat them to feel again the taste of the fresh.

This evening in the program delights I foresee us a gratin with insects mmmh!

We think hard to the earth, Spotify did not follow us on Mars it did not follow the crew and I find myself to be the DJ of the orphans of the music.

We are living an incredible experience and we are at half of our life on Mars. We still have a lot to learn but I’m sure we’ll come back grown-up, with a head full of achievements.

Sunny day on the Hab – Journalist Report
Crew 227 Journalist Report 1st April 2022
Sol: 5
Name of the person filling the report : Sirga Drouet

Dear earthling, this is the Journalist Report from Sol 5 on Mars!

Last night before going to sleep Julie had a little scare! Julien, the clever one, put a creepy doll’s head in her room as a joke ! She turned on her lamp and jumped as Julien shouted : April fools!!!! Good old Juju. We start to feel what it implies to be alone but in correspondence with the Cape Comm to ensure us an optimal safety. Being far from everyone is sometimes synonymous with a very bad satellite connection and constrains us in our window of contact with you, our planet…

Today the sun brought us some good news, Ignacio was able to use the Musk Solar Observatory. We couldn’t hear each other anymore, he was so happy and enthusiastic to see our star. After breakfast, fortunately, he left faster than lightning!

So Ignacio, how does it feel to see the sun so close?
Ignacio : At first I knew it was the sun, I saw a red dot. I thought I was looking in the wrong place, but after a quick reflection and a better adjustment, TADAM the sun in all its splendor!

And what can you see on the sun?
Ignacio : Today I saw the chromosphere that corresponds to the "surface" of the sun and the prominence that are gases ejected into space. It’s quite incredible to be able to observe this live!

On our side, we took the time to clean the Hab and to do some stretching for some of us in order to stay in shape

This noon I had a surprise! Most of the team preferred the insect meal, an omelette ! Amazing, real pioneers!

This afternoon Julie also concocted a surprise for us, maybe to get back at Julien! A surgery battle that was not in our planning. The goal : to be in the stress of the unexpected. Julien against Cyril. However, despite the additional stress, both teams improved. I am happy to announce that none of the patients died! Youhouuuu ! Apparently Julien did better than Cyril but we won’t go into that because they are already arguing about who did better than the other. Ahh the boys and the competition…

We begin to enter in a small routine but every day is always different, we learn to tame our environment.

Everyone is doing well, it’s not today that a mutiny or a group problem could happen. We all love each other very much, how sweet ! I would still like to kick Ignacio if he starts snoring near my ear again it might be for tonight! I feel that if I do that I am going to be scolded by Julien because I risk disturbing the sleep of my room neighbor… Besides tonight we are hypnotized, I am excited to see Julien’s power!

See you tomorrow!
Sirga !

Crew 227 Journalist Report 29th March 2022
Sol: 2
Name of the person filling the report : Sirga Drouet

Stormy Day

Good evening dear Earthlings ! Here are the pioneers of Mars.

Last night the atmosphere was wild, so much conversation was going on. We were discussing the organization, our discoveries, our feelings, our needs, in short our new life that has just begun. With all this talk, we were so excited about exploring that we decided to visit a big canyon that we could see on a map made by our predecessors but not yet visited by man ; so we would be the first to walk in this place !!!! Wow you understood it is a super motivating activity!

We then let ourselves be manipulated by the agile hands of Julien to put a polysomnograph on us which analyzes our sleep. Cyril, me, Cheyenne and Ignacio are his "funny guinea pigs" because we look like sausages every night because of a net that we have to put on our head to hold the electrodes. The only thing that woke us up in the middle of the night is the bread machine after judgment, its sentence is to send it to the science dome for sure.

However, with our big dreams of exploration we perhaps forgot the fact that the wind was always present and that this morning by waking up big clouds full of water were waiting for us… Moreover our weather forecast reminded us that going out in EVA was a false good idea because of the risks of showers…
No problem, we are going to go ahead with our planning and to advance in the experiments to realize in the station.

So after a good breakfast in my way, Julie trained us for the theoretical and practical parts on her enriching experience which consists in teaching us how to put an external fixator on an open fracture of the tibia bone.

After putting on a scarf, we were divided into teams of two to play matches between teams to evaluate our speed of learning. In the afternoon the first match started with the team "others" Sirga-Jean against the team "anatomy" Audrey-Julien then Sirga-Jean against Cyril-Ignacio (team "mechanics").

To make a long story short, repairing an open bill on a leg requires good muscular arms, it’s crazy how muscles have strength even on a synthetic leg. I won’t tell you what a mess it was, but in any case, the patients finally died… Oops, it’s not today that we’ll be able to save our astronaut friends in space. Fortunately we have two weeks on Mars to learn and Julie is in great shape to keep us alive in case of problems.

Before his game Cyril calibrated his radar to be able to use it during the next EVAs with his antenna that he put on the Spirit rover yesterday.
Ignacio started to repair some broken objects with his 3D printer, a guaranteed quality part.

On his side Cheyenne spent all day among his plants to put them in pots and start to observe their growths in Martian substrate collected yesterday too.
As I write this I am listening to Troubleman by Electric Guest which makes me think of all the things we are learning, especially through our mistakes and the fact that our morale is at its highest to continue to discover this world.

I would like to mention a detail that happened during the last surgery match : A storm passed over our Hab and the landscape was completely transformed!
It was a mixture of an almost black and threatening sky streaked by lightning and buzzing with thunder, then the sun came to caress the mountains giving them a peaceful face while the storm continued to growl, a strange mixture…
Good news tomorrow it is the good one ! We leave in expedition (except if the storm and the wind decide to turn back). We shall go to deposit the bacteria of Audrey in the desert then we shall go to explore youhouuu!
We can wait for tomorrow and our day filled with sensations calms down little by little. Tonight the bread machine leaves us and that’s better! We will be very happy to be just in the company of our polysomnographers.

See you soon for the continuation of our great epic!