Sol: 6
Summary Title: EVAs #7 and #8
Author’s name: Dr. Kristine Ferrone, Commander
Mission Status: Nominal
Commander’s Report:
Crew 269 experienced another day of beautiful weather on Mars with mostly mild temperatures, sunny skies, and light high-altitude clouds. The crew enjoyed a breakfast of homemade sourdough bread, cereal, oatmeal, dried fruit, and espresso. After a morning planning meeting, HSO collected crew health stats. CDR, XO, and Engineer conducted the morning EVA #7 to the Special Region and used an EVA tool suite (rake, scoop, special sample bags) to collect regolith samples, being careful to adhere to the restrictions at the site to not disturb any fossils. CDR also collected GPS-tagged radiation dose rate measurements using a handheld dosimeter. The crew noted that this region would be an excellent site to fly the drone on a future Sol. During their return from the Special Region, EVA #7 crew marked a second site for a sample location on Cow Dung Rd. for the EVA #8 crew to return in the afternoon. After a quick lunch, HSO and Green Hab Officer conducted EVA #8 to the site on Cow Dung Rd. marked by the EVA #7 crew, where they collected further regolith samples, and HSO collected further radiation dose measurements with the handheld dosimeter. During the EVA, Technology Officer sent data to Aerospace mission support and received feedback on previously uploaded data. In the afternoon, CDR and Engineer inspected the 2-piece EVA suits. Further information can be found in today’s operations report. Before dinner, the crew completed their montage painting and assembled their inputs for the mid-mission research report. For dinner, the crew enjoyed chicken pot pie.