Journalist Report
Ian Etter
January 3, 2014
The crew gathered at 08:00 for the daily yoga routine and a breakfast of pancakes and bacon. We began to prepare for our sixth and final EVA. We had two EVA teams today. The first crew was led by Astrobiologist Dani and assisted by Commander Nick and myself. Dani did a final collection of the algae and bacteria samples at the second waypoint, as Nick did a final survey of the area. He stumbled upon a large patch of mineral deposits that are suggestive of aqueous activity and collected some of the larger specimens for later examination. After which we made our way to our third waypoint and then hiked to a nearby peak that we had not yet visited. Here we discovered a new life form. A small patch of lichen like growth was growing on a large sandstone boulder. We radioed in for Greenhab Officer Charles and Engineer Hiroyuki to meet us at the site. Relaxing at the Hab at the time, they arrived on ATVs in less than thirty minutes. The specimen was positively identified as a lichen, much to everyone’s surprise. Lichen, the result of a symbiotic relationship, was not something we expected to see on Mars. Nick and I headed back to the Hab on the ATVs, and the others followed on foot. We arrived just before 13:00, and were greeted with a wonderful curry lunch. Everyone then separated to begin the finalization of their research.