Crew 235 Journalist Report 05May2021
Authors: Thomas Quayle and Randall Gibson, Crew Journalist
Sol 3: Generally Speaking, It Goes Like This
Morning began with a brisk wind and another species of Rodentia captured. The crew has been remarkably passive about the recurring nature of the event. What began as a mixed curiosity has evolved into a morning routine, complete with EVA procedures, and smiles.
However, the first order of the day: coffee and another round of lively discussion surrounded the breakfast table. Today’s topic was the politics of Earth. We are hopeful they will come to solve their problems in time. The morning fair consisted of sausage and eggs. It has been great to enjoy the variety of meals that each of the crew members has been willing to jump in and prepare.
Little did the crew suspect that the quiet morning would not remain so for long. Even the most well-planned EVA cannot account for everything a crew can prepare for or expect. Their mission was to search for specific geologic samples in a region that was located nearly twice as far as the previous day’s activities.
More than an hour had passed from when the first EVA team had departed when a call came over the radio, “Hab, Hab!..”. The other half of the crew at the Hab quickly responded and was informed that the EVA was being aborted. Within minutes of the radio communique, the EVA team had arrived.
Thankfully no one had been injured, but a malfunction in the power pack of the Commander’s spacesuit (redacted) had occurred that seriously affected the ability for air to be recirculated. While it is not yet known where the malfunction took place or how it was missed, the event has impacted our EVA assessments for the duration of our mission. Each team will now have to continue with one crew member volunteering to abstain from participation. In the end, the second EVA team was able to successfully manage the completion of objectives scheduled for the day.
After the second EVA returned to the Hab, the crew reconvened as a single group to rest and clean the remains of lunch until the next event of the day. Shannon led a crew discussion on the assembly of Estes Rockets and the pitfalls to consider when introducing the topic to students. Each member of the crew was able to construct their own prototype, which should be available for launch tomorrow.
The crew then joined Shannon in the Science Dome to compare the samples that had been collected across multiple EVA’s. In the last significant event of the day, the astronomy box was retrieved from the outpost. This was the final component required to activate the solar observatory, which the crew is looking forward to using tomorrow.
As a social component, the crew finalized a Lego build that had been started the previous day. The genders and position of the Lego figures were debated and rearranged by the crew. The dinner discussion covered several topics, including the similarities to the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Jennifer prepared an incredible culinary masterpiece of southern fried chicken, fried potatoes, biscuits, and gravy by using dehydrated ingredients. This was surely the best meal yet to be prepared on this planet, and she shall be henceforth be known as the “Mars”tha Stewart.