Dear Earth,

Sol 6 was DIY time.

The morning EVA had to be aborted quickly due to the rain. We found
four wet astronauts in the airlock after a single hour out of the Hab:
Xavier, Mouâdh and the two Louis were quite disappointed. Luckily,
they could confirm that the seismometer resisted the storm, and they
brought back the USB key that recorded the seismic data of the last 24
hours.

For the rest of the Sol, the Hab was turned into a two-story garage,
filled with this kind of DIY atmosphere that counters the monotony of
rainy days on Earth. Xavier, Simon, Louis Maller and I repaired two
broken walkie talkies, which will allow us to keep in touch with
crewmembers in the other facilities even when four of us are on EVA.
While we were soldering the electronic cards, we figured out a way to
turn the walkie talkies into a radio repeater aboard the atmospheric
balloon. It should let us keep a voice contact with the Hab during
EVAs, even if the line of sight is broken by a hill.

Xavier kept the MacGyver mood for the entire afternoon, turning a
stack of wood and cardboard into a robust piece of furniture. It is
now finished and sustains Victoria’s “Vegidair”, the
computer-controlled kitchen garden with which we share our living
room. Meanwhile, Mouâdh looked at the CCD camera of the observatory,
Louis Maller and Simon built a new platform for the balloon, Louis
Mangin worked on our communication plan with French journalists,
Victoria took care of the crops in the GreenHab, and I put a few drops
of filtered water and boiled water in the “Aquapad” petri dishes, to
compare bacterial pollution. Quite a busy afternoon despite the rain!

Ad Astra!

Arthur Lillo,
Commander of the MacGyver-ish Crew 175