Sol 05 Journalist Report 17-NOV-2023
Nov 17
Morning:
In the science dome, the Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1 purple bacteria continue to grow at a good pace as indicated by increases in turbidity. Their numbers have essentially doubled in the past 24 hours. The shipment of Rhodospirillum rubrum SH1 inocula that arrived on Sol 4 were prepared to be put into their own photobioreactor bags and fed freshly generated hydrogen.
In the RAM, plaster mold fabrication continued with clean-up of the first half cast yesterday.
Afternoon:
Yesterday’s coordination exercises required communicating between our visiting photographers who did not yet have radios, capcom, mission support and the astronauts. The communication process in the end worked out very well, and the desired tasks on the EVA were successfully completed on time. Yesterday proved to be good training for today’s afternoon EVA. EVA 5 began with us escorting the visiting photojournalists, Andrea and Caleb, on their first EVA to Marble Ritual. After completing radio training with Andrea and Caleb, Raj and Lizzie suited up and drove two rovers north on Cow Dung Road to Marble Ritual with Andrea and Caleb. The team conducted a photography session as the astronauts climbed the stunningly colored dunes in the landscape of Marble Ritual in the late afternoon light. The photography session and the climb went well without incident, aside from the temporary loss of two head coverings. The team located these items after briefly retracing their steps from the rover. The team returned to the habitat and captured additional photos in the vicinity of the Observatory, before returning to base on time.
Evening:
Over dinner we discuss logistics for the planned EVAs for the coming few days.