0302-CommanderReport

Commander Report

Mehdi Scoubeau

02/03/2016

Dear Earth,

After two weeks on Martian soil, the crew members are still amazed by the views and landscapes should they see it during EVA through the helmets or in the afternoon thanks to the photos taken by their fellow teammates. This time the EVA lead to the exploration of a big canyon named Candor Chasma by previous MDRS explorers. Some of the places they encountered at the bottom of this dried canyon do not look like Earth at all and deserve a more detailed screening with the Cliff Reconnaissance Vehicle tomorrow.

The afternoon was partially devoted to media outreach which is a quite time-consuming activity that needs to be done. After all, the astronauts are often considered as international emissaries who represent the whole mankind. In a more humble manner, we hope to inspire young kids in France and Europe to start a career in science or engineering and make people of all age dream of Martian exploration. In that context we saw the Phobos TV documentary and were quite pleased with the results. We are then well prepared to welcome a team of students coming on Saturday to record a short film promoting the Mars Society.

As the end of simulation is coming closer and closer, the food reserves are getting low but the crew is still finding new and original ideas to try, like the Belgian fries planned for tomorrow. After all, a third of the crewmembers are Belgians!

We sincerely hope we will have a good return on Earth soon like Scott Kelly and his crew had yesterday.