Richard Blake

After the trials of Sol 0, today was a breath of fresh air. Literally. Gone were the clouds and the rain, and in their stead, sunshine and a cool breeze. It was a day that warranted a breakfast treat of pancakes and laughter.

My own work had me spend the morning in the GreenHab, repotting prior crew’s plantings into soil, whilst the temperature quickly rose. At its peak, the GreenHab reached a sweltering 43◦C. As I worked, an exclamation broke the silence “In your face Neil Armstrong!”, quickly followed by a chorus of cheers. Engineering had had a breakthrough! They had finally cracked their printing woes, getting the Hab’s 3D printer to finally start working. Our engineer, Idriss, could then start the long process of printing bricks, which is still going as I write this.

The afternoon saw three members of the crew make the first EVA of the mission. Our commander; Michaela, geologist; Roy, and crew artist; Niamh, donned their EVA suits and boldly walked where only a few thousand have already walked before. However, it was not long before they returned, boasting a number of suit issues borne of an inexperienced first suiting up. They fit the picture of See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil to a T, with Roy unable to see out of his fogged up helmet, Niamh unable to hear as her mic had fallen out of her ear, and Michaela unable to communicate with the others since her radio was not set to VOX.

After Idriss and I smoothed out the kinks with their suits, the trio once again set out to sample a few locations close to the Hab, climbing some hills and getting a whole raft of great footage of the EVA.

This evening brings with it the promise of an Israeli culture night, with a feast courtesy of our crew member Roy. Should be a ripper.