Valles Wrap Up
Last night, the crew was busy wrapping up their research documentation and writing the final mission summary and research report. We finished Pulp Fiction and played a lively game of Coup. Some of us kept working or reading into the night, while others eventually made their way to bed.
Sol 12 – the last day of the simulation! We’re finally here. This morning started with six songs—one for each of us in the crew. Hunter, the only one who knew everyone’s favorite song, challenged us to guess each other’s picks. Peter and Monish scored 3/5, while Ian, Spruha, and I managed 1/5. Almost everyone guessed Hunter’s favorite song correctly. Ian made pancakes for breakfast, which we devoured with syrup, Nutella, and freeze-dried strawberries. After breakfast, we jumped back into writing reports—three of them were due today!
Later in the morning, Ian, Hunter, and Monish suited up for their EVA with help from Peter, Spruha, and me. The EVA team headed to Campus Rock to take stream measurements, collect soil samples, and encountered cryptobiotic soil—fragile, living layers of organisms in arid regions that take decades to recover if damaged. Back at the Hab, Peter, Spruha, and I rotated comms duties. Spruha worked on packing the rover into its Pelican suitcase, and I captured a few videos for social media. Before long, the EVA crew returned, and Spruha quickly whipped up some spaghetti for lunch while the EVA team debriefed.
By 1:00 PM, the whole crew was hard at work wrapping up 12 Sols of mission reports, summaries, and research documentation. We also began the task of cleaning the Hab, preparing it for Crew 306.
Reflecting on these 12 Sols, we’ve collected valuable data that we hope will contribute to our PhD research, future conference presentations, or even proposals for upcoming studies. At 5:00 PM MT today, we officially exit the simulation. Crew 305, Valles, hands it over to Crew 306, Montes.