1116-JournalistsReport

Journalist's Report

11/16/14

Anastasiya Stepanova

The morning sun was passing through the small port hole in the hab as crew 142 was packing, taking the last pictures, sharing contacts and left. Suddenly it became so quiet and we realized that it is only six of us in the vast desert. This feeling is indescribable, I would just say it is weirdly magical. Since we are not in the simulation yet, we used this precious day to enjoy the cold fresh air walking around the hab, climbing hills and taking as many pictures as we could. To start our rotation on the right foot I decided to clean the work space and sleeping area. With the help of Paul Sokoloff we finished in 20 minutes, mostly getting rid of the dust that we will encounter often. I always love the feeling of a just cleaned living space, which gives you the energy for the whole day. My crew members thought likewise so I was happy that they are on the same track as me. I think it is the right time to introduce my best friends for the next 2 weeks.

Paul Knigtly is our crew commander. A laconic, responsible and concrete geologist. In the beginning was hard to understand his Kansas accent, but day by day I’m getting used to it. I’m sure he thinks the same about my Russian accent, so we are even.

Alexandre Mangeot, our engineer from France, is always around to help out with fixing things whether it is the door frame in my room or a computer problem. We feel united because of jetlag that we are having travelling from Europe to USA.

And finally the Canadian part of the crew, which always makes fun of me for not understanding their Canadian humor.

Paul Sokoloff - noble and always positive botanist. Feels like we not just met few days ago but been acquaintance for a long time.

Ian Silversides – an easy going fun engineer who loves camping (you could see that from his outfit). Announces his presence wherever he can, such as Canadian flag at his bedroom door and his name on his cup.

Claude-Michel Laroche – my companion in Mars One program and also good listener and interesting storyteller. He is the oldest in our crew and has rich life experience from army service to the International Space University.

This is my impression of Martians crew143, will be interesting to see how that will change by the end of this space mission.