Month: November 2022

Sol: 10
Title: M is for Mars, M is for Magic

Author: Izabela Shopova, Crew Journalist

We start the Sol an hour later than usual – everyone is tired after the busy day yesterday and we need to catch up on our sleep. Jennie whips up chocolate pancakes and an amazing quinoa, blueberries and coconut meal (from the space nutrition app we are testing) for breakfast.

Our daily operations meeting is short – we have two major tasks planned for sol 10 – a 4-hour-long EVA to the Special region in the morning and preparations for Thanksgiving dinner in the afternoon.

We are confident and calm as our crewmates are getting ready for the EVA, test the life support systems, enter the airlock and 8 minutes later leave the station with two of the rovers. Halfway through their EVA the weather suddenly changes, and the wind picks up – it appears that the weather forecast has changed dramatically since last night. The tunnels’ tarpaulin and the external doors start flapping and trembling, reminding us every minute of the potential danger that is brewing out there in the stark landscape. We wait anxiously for the radio to come alive again. And exhale with relief. when we finally hear the loud and clear voice of our crew biologists: “HabCom, com check”. The EVA goes well, without a hitch. The EVA crew is tired but happy and satisfied with their last EVA for the season, rich with experience and incredible photos.

Their return triggers the beginning of the long-anticipated food preparations for our Thanksgiving dinner.
And they are epic!

3 hours later the Hub is filled with mouthwatering flavors, cozy warmth, and Thanksgiving homemade magic, while our American crewmates are playing hosts and setting up an amazingly beautiful table with Thanksgiving napkins, paper plates, tablecloth, orange cutlery (all of which were delivered and stored secretly in the Commander’s room before the beginning of the sim) and a multitude of irresistible traditional dishes. Each one more tempting and better looking than the last.

Mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole with … wait for it! … marshmallows!, cranberry sauce (disguised like slices of beetroot), sweet corn, turkey, actual cranberries, green beans casserole with cream of mushroom soup and crunchy onion rings on top, Did I mention marshmallows?

If anyone thought that this was all of the food on our table, they know nothing about Thanksgiving. There is always desert! Even on Mars.

And, no, it’s not the marshmallows (they were just a side dish for the turkey, kind of veggies). Just before the opening of the comms window, a sumptuous, crunchy, juicy, full of flavor, decadence and temptation apple pie emerged from the oven.

On Thanksgiving Mars is magic.

Sol: 9
Title: Trouble on Mars

Author: Izabela Shopova, Crew Journalist

Sol 9 begins with an early EVA. Just before 9AM we are all downstairs helping the SHO and Crew Scientist to suit up. They are going on a walking exploratory EVA, but we have to troubleshoot some radio problems first. Jas appears to have a personal magnetic field – all radio sets stop working once she puts them on. By the time everything is tested and we are confident that comms work well, it’s almost 9:30AM. The day is clear and the EVA is going well until a distress call comes – Elizabeth reports that Jas has twisted her ankle on the steep slope and can’t walk back. Emergency response is initiated immediately – our crew engineer and crew biologist suit up, take two of the rovers, a first aid kit, a warm blanket, and some improvised materials to serve as a splinter if necessary. Commander and crew journalist stayed back in Hab for comms support. Luckily the injury occurred not too far from Hab where the EVA crew was within comms range. Everyone managed to get back in the airlock on time, just a couple of minutes later than the planned end of the EVA. When the patient is finally safe in the Hab, the truth is revealed – it was only a rescue exercise. We all exhale deeply with relief and cheer up. Jas walks around triumphantly and the crew gets into a lively debriefing session over lunch. Phew! This one went well.
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Afternoon EVA was not as dramatic. The 3 crewmates tested successfully the mechanical arm Pleiades Atlas, discovered a desert oasis, a silently screaming rock, took amazing photos, and returned back to the Hab a few minutes earlier than planned The rest of the afternoon was quiet and productive – we all sat at our laptops and did as much work as possible while the sunset was setting the Martian rocks on fire and our crew engineer fixed the leaking sink again.

After the early dinner, we had a presentation on the benefits and the process of making yogurt. The main planning topic tonight was Thanksgiving – what will we cook, how will we celebrate, and how to fit the laborious preparations into our busy schedules.

Life on Mars is never boring.