Commanders Report 6 April 2015
Day two has been another great day on the Red Planet. We woke up to Hannah’s music today and ate breakfast together. Melody accompanied Arwhil, this morning on engineering rounds.
Immediately after that, Arwhil, Crystal, Hannah and myself suited up for an EVA. We rode the ATVs to Candor Chasma. We parked on the road and hiked into the Canyon. The geological features of this area are amazing and majestic. In the chasma, Arwhil looked for signs of water. He found what appeared to be precipitate left from the last rains. At this site, he dug for water and found water after approximately a foot of digging in soft, sandy soil. He collected the water for analysis back at the lab. Crystal, looking for specific geological features, found a graded bed, conglomerate and gypsum. She was quite thrilled and acted like a kid in a candy store. This land really is a geologist’s haven. She recorded teaching moments assisted by Hannah who also recorded segments for her video diaries. We also collected some rock samples.
We reluctantly left this beautiful terrain and headed back to the Hab and were greeted with a fabulous lunch of chili created from dehydrated tomato cubes and chili mix by Melody and Dave. The crew ate together and recounted the morning activities.
This afternoon, the crew members worked on their individual projects and Arwhil checked on his solar panels during his engineering rounds.
From someone who likes to exercise I have found it difficult to incorporate cardio into my activity here but have accepted a challenge of 30 burpees and 30 push-ups a day. I will most likely add in various other isometric exercises as the week progresses. The hike at the chasma today was also great exercise especially wearing the suit packs.
We ate a dinner of spaghetti and homemade bread. Life on Mars is not bad at all. It’s actually quite appealing.
Quote for the day: “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” Theodore Roosevelt
Liz Painter, Commander Crew 152B
Liz Painter, RN, BSN
LVN/CNA Simulation Lab Instructor
McLennan Community College
Waco, Texas