0202-JournalistReport

Crew 162 Journalist Report Sol 10

February 2nd, 2016

Carmen Felix

The sky tonight is absolutely beautiful! After a snowstorm the last two

days, the sky is finally so clear that we can see so many stars that is

breath taking!

It has been a long day, starting in early morning in preparation for the

visit of a crew photographer coming straight from Scotland on planet Earth!

We prepared our day to share our activities with him, as he will be writing

an article for a magazine back on Earth. We showed him our living quarters,

the lab and the experiments we are doing, and we shared our lunch together.

In the afternoon, we prepared ourselves to do our EVA and share this

experience with our new crewmember. It was a different adventure today, as

everything around us was snow-covered. For sure, walking and climbing some

areas is not as easy to do when it is fully covered in snow, than when it

is dry. We did our entire EVA really paying attention to our footing,

walking slowly and watching out for each other. We got some great shots!

When we finished our EVA, we came inside the hab to warm ourselves up, as

it was freezing outside. Our shoes and suits got dirty because now the

ground is wet and with a lot of mud, so it was good to come inside and get

some clean clothes and drink some warm tea. Since a few days ago, we have

been planning to go to the observatory to look at the ISS passing through

the sky, and today was the perfect day. We were on time and it was 3

minutes of beauty, so bright, so clear, and with a breathtaking silence

from our side. The ISS looks like a low, bright, fast-moving star and can

be observed with the naked eye.

This type of clear nights is just the most amazing thing that humans have

as a gift from nature. We are part of this amazing universe, and we are

here to enjoy its beauty, explore it, and take care of it. Let’s do it

together, starting from Earth, starting from Mars!