Lipi Roy, Crew 288 Journalist
12.13.2023
Sol 03
“The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.” Today, in what marked our first actual EVA, our crew tried to play a small part in understanding what lies beyond this cradle.
The crew woke up to the refreshing beats of ‘Captain Fantastic by Elton John’ and a breakfast of freshly cooked biscuits and creamy mashed potatoes – a courtesy of our commander. Excited for the first major mission, we listened intently to Hunter (Crew Geologist) and Riley (XO) as they explained how geological sampling and GPR acquisition is done.
Following the debrief, we bade goodbye to Hunter, Riley, Jilian (HSO), and Ryan (GHO) who commenced their four-and-a-half hour-long EVA to Watney Road. The data that they collect would be extremely useful in the geological mapping of the area, in hopes of proving that these techniques could be used by future Martian astronauts. Doesn’t it feel great to be a part of something much larger than yourself?
Back at the Hab, we were up to another adventure of freshly preparing bread and mayo from scratch. Free time demands creativity! Our commander also cooked spaghetti and tuna-based tomato sauce to support our crew who would come back exhausted from the EVA. We continued our hab adventure in the solar observatory, where we learnt about setting up the telescope and focusing on the Sun, thanks to our commander. Sadly, the clouds disrupted our session in-between, but I’m positive Cesare won’t say no to another class!
The evening paced down, as the successful EVA crew relaxed a bit (except for Ryan who relaxed a lot). I prepared a protein-rich chickpea curry in hopes of rejuvenating them; I hope they liked it as much as they said they did!