Month: December 2023

Sol: 2
Summary Title: Finally on Mars
Author’s name: Cesare Guariniello
Mission Status: Nominal
Sol Activity Summary: after a little delay on Earth yesterday, which provided the crew with some breathtaking stargazing time, crew 288, named after Phobos (in conjunction with the twin crew 289 Deimos), finally woke up on Mars. Ryan, our Green Hab Officer, prepared a tasty and healthy breakfast of oatmeal and dehydrated fruit, flavored with honey and Nutella. Despite the delay in communication between the Earth and Mars, some crew members managed to receive important transmissions, including the questions for a final exam!
And then, finally the first experiences with Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA). For the first excursion to Marble Ritual, the Executive Officer Riley, Crew Geologist Hunter, and Crew Journalist Lipi suited up and experienced the first rover ride and the first walk outside the habitat in a space suit. Meanwhile, the remaining crew at the habitat listened to the comments by the EVA crew on the geology of the surroundings. After the ingress of the first EVA, the Crew Commander Cesare, Crew Engineer Jesus, Health and Safety Officer Jilian, and Green Hab Officer Ryan donned their suit to reach Marble Ritual and explore the surroundings.
The afternoon was spent playing card games, writing Christmas, and planning for the next days. While working on the daily report, the crew enjoyed a wonderful dinner with mujadara (based on lentils and rice), prepared by Jilian. Funfetti cake is in the oven right now, courtesy of Hunter, and the crew is working hard on their research project.

Anomalies in work: one headset works intermittently.
Weather: Sunny and cold in the morning, increasing clouds in the afternoon.
Crew Physical Status: Everybody is in great health and happy mood.
EVA: Successfully performed two Marble Ritual EVAs today.
Reports to be filed: Sol summary, Journalist report, Operations report, Greenhab report, EVA reports, EVA Request, Astronomy Report, Photos.
Support Requested: None.

Sol: 1
Summary Title: A Muddy Start (Drone Rescue Gone Bad)
Author’s name: Jilian Welshoff
Mission Status: Get prepped to start EVAs, started on Greenhab maintenance
Sol Activity Summary:
We started sol 1 at 7:30 woken by the lovely Apollo 13 music played by Commander Cesare followed by a breakfast of eggs and potatoes made by Jesus and Lipi! We took our time getting ready after breakfast because we were ahead of schedule and then suited up to take sponsor photos at 10:00AM. We took many fun shots for our sponsors and got to try out the drone for video. That is when disaster struck. The drone had flown out of range but was programmed to fly back to the landing zone when it does so. However, that is far from what happened. Cesare and Sergii decided to take the hab car to go retrieve it since it was a very far distance while the rest of the crew got to try on the official EVA suits, take more photos, and get adjusted to moving in them.
After we had gotten close to our original sim start time, the crew decided to come inside for lunch, not including Cesare who was still on the Rescue Mission for the drone. We had an assortment of snacks for lunch including honey-roasted peanuts, bananas with peanut butter, and a newfound snack of graham crackers with Nutella and freeze-dried blueberries and strawberries. Completing lunch we got correspondence from Cesare. Yet another disaster had struck. After reaching the drone’s destination, the hab car got stuck! Cesare and Sergii tried to release the car by themselves but needed some extra hands and requested help. This officially put EVA #1 and EVA #2 on hold. We waited for Cesare and Sergii to walk back, and then sent Jesus and Ryan to go help! They took Sergii’s car and after a lumpsum of time, they made it back! Officially, it was too late to go on any EVA, but we were able to start on other tasks including working with the Greenhouse. Ryan, our HSO, Lipi, and I went to the Greenhouse and were able to harvest some plants, decide on what to plant next, and water what was already there!
We had a long day with many challenges and changes but morale is high and dinner is cooking!
Look Ahead Plan: Start EVA and sim officially. We plan to get more used to suits and go to Marble Ritual to start us off. We hope to set up CO2 sensors and plant peas tomorrow to get research started!
Anomalies in work: Lost drone and stuck hab car!
Weather: Sunny with some streaky clouds! Beautiful!
Crew Physical Status: People retrieving the drone and car have some fatigue and Lipi had a headache.
EVA: #1 and #2 were not completed but will be tomorrow.
Reports to be filed: Sol Summary Report, Mission Plan, Operations Report, Green Hab report, Journalist Report, EVA Request, Astronomy Report
Support Requested: Coffee grounds (instant or grounds), chicken bouillon, powdered milk } all were at lower supply level when arriving, not in dire need of.