Commander Report – April 11th

Mission Commander report – Crew 192 Report SOL 3

This morning I made a modification to the scheduled EVA for health and comfort of the crew. I started an EVA ~30 minutes early intentionally to avoid the heat of the day which was (late information) projected to be hotter than expected. Please do not be upset with the crew. I assumed that I had the skill and ability to make minor modifications from leading multiple missions to myriad overseas destinations with significant consequence of failure. I did so fully understanding the EVAs and other non-critical mission parameters given my role and understanding all the reasons for the established rules such as crews possibly encountering those not in SIM. I know this now to be wrong and will adjust the EVA times to account for increased temperatures by scheduling earlier in the AM and later in the PM. I had no intention of making an already tenuous situation with the society worse by my actions… I apologize for my error and will ensure it does not happen again. Please accept my humble apologies. The crew is beginning to feel a “combative / oppressive dynamic” developing between external sources on our overall team and the society into which we may be being thrust. It is not our intention to be combative or disruptive …we intend only to maximize our learning and scientific potential while here. We have an will continue to build bridges while here and work towards peace.

Please understand that EVERY piece of correspondence that leaves this sight is reviewed and approved by me and altered with my …as well as every other crew member’s input as would be the case on Mars and in any other mission. There is no one man show on this team…please consider that when questioning why my name is not on a specific report.

On a lighter note we had Martian matinee today …using the time hot midday time to catch up on a movie because the evenings have been filled with planning.

LEARNED: The heat of the day is beginning to oppress our EVAs (cut morning EVA short due to temperature) so we will schedule EVAs earlier and later to coincide with cooler points of the day. Additionally, the weather is less predictable than initially thought.

IMPRESSED: I was impressed with the skill of Blue 04 (Victoria) who has been the go between and on all email correspondence and has been dealing with an internet speed just faster than glacial as well as minimal data capacity and still manages to upload myriad required reports. BZ Blue 04!

POA&M: Tomorrow the weather is supposed to turn to exceptionally high winds. High winds have started tonight. We have done a “batten the hatches down” EVA to look around the HAB in anticipation of the pending increased wind. Many items were removed from the HAB as requested by staff on site and should be removed before winds increase. We are planning a training and cleaning day tomorrow with EVAs very close to home.

~Dituri Sends (Blue 00)

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