MDRS 164 Journalist Report 27/02/2016
Sol 7. Today we kept on exploring the vicinity of the Hab using the
ATVs. We rode 2km south to find a canyon where to test the CRV. We
couldn’t find the interesting place we spotted the night before on the
map of the area, but it anyway gave us the opportunity to test the
ATVs (the clutch of ATV n°4 is obviously broken, but it is still nice
to ride) and to take beautiful pictures of the Martian landscape.
Today we worn space suits. Some improvements are still to be made (the
problem on the backpack n°1 was not due to the battery, but I will try
to change the fans tomorrow), but we are still wearing them with a mix
of pride, dignity and scientific application. The weight we feel on
our shoulders is not only the backpack’s batteries, but also the
feeling that we have so much left to do, so much data to analyze by
the end of the mission.
Today we held our mid-rotation scientific meeting. We all had to
describe the experiment we are responsible for to the others, and
explain what we have done so far and what remains to do. My crewmates
are indeed ugly and stinky, but it is a real pleasure to work with
them and to see that we are making useful progresses for space
exploration.
At this very moment I am cooking pizza with my friends. There is no
best way to end a hard day’s work than breaking an egg on the head of
your commander or putting rotten pepperoni slices in the boots of your
Safety Officer.
Tonight we will be exploring the sky in the Musk Observatory.
Calibration is not perfect yet, but we still get to see amazing
pictures of the Moon, Jupiter and its satellites, and Sirius, making
us think of where space exploration will bring us next.
Today I felt like the 8-years old me would have been proud of me. And
there is no better proof that the mission is going well, and no better
proof that we are on our way towards a great achievement.
Camille Gontier, Crew Journalist MDRS 164