Prepared by Janet Biggs, Crew Co-Journalist
Images by Juan Garcia, Crew Co-Journalist
MDRS Pre-Sol
Crew change-over 1
We arrived on Mars yesterday!!!
Accompanied by an adrenalin pumping soundtrack of Led Zeppelin’s Immigration Song (we tried to find the Karen O version, but couldn’t … a tradition from our Commander’s previous mission) and of course David Bowie’s Life on Mars, we arrived at MDRS in a swirl of dust … which continued long after our spaceship (van) landed due to the 50k/hr winds! We excitedly entered the Hab, but crew 180 was nowhere to be seen. They were out and about, enjoying a little “out of sim” time in the Martian landscape. Once they realized we were here, they joined us in the Hab and introductions were made. Crew 180 was excited about their experience and kept saying how they wished they could stay!
They showed us the Martian ropes and told us about the projects/research each worked on and what they had accomplished. Each outgoing crewmember paired up with their incoming counterpart and went over how the mars station functions … from the solar panels, generator, science lab, and Green Hab to the ATVs, filing reports, and most importantly for us right now, the water system and food. We were low on both!
But enough of practical concerns … there were new space suits to try on, mission patches, name tags, and nationality flags to attach … and pictures to be taken!!! Two of the outgoing crewmembers are from Columbia. Once they learned that Juan, one of our crew members, was Columbian American and wearing a Columbian flag on his uniform, even more cameras came out!
Crew 181 unpacked, while crew 180 filled up the spaceship (van) with their luggage. It seemed like we had all just met, and suddenly they were off. MDRS was now ours!
Of course, we all went to the kitchen first. Not much food. Certainly, not enough food to last us for two weeks on Mars! And not much water too. When showing us how to move water from tank to tank for consumption in the Hab, we realized we only had one tank left … so no showers for us until the resupply ship arrives! Plenty to drink, but our Commander, put it on the list for our first CapCom communication. When will the supply ship arrive with new water?
As crew 180 was jumping in their spaceship to return to earth, they mentioned that they had used up all the internet data allotted for the day. We are limited to 500MB per day and once it’s gone, it’s gone.
Oh, and did I mention the food? As in not too much? Between the lack of internet and lack of food we decided to head into Hanksville for one last earth excursion. We stopped into the local market and happily the supply ship had reached Hanksville!!! We loaded up our supplies (I had no idea you could freeze dry beef chunks, broccoli, and blueberries!) Just looking at the powdered milk … powdered everything, made us run to the local burger and ice cream joint! After our last meal (and ice cream shakes) on earth, we headed back to Mars.
We spent some time picking our “staterooms” … think closet with plank bed and no windows (except for the commander who has one window … the perk of rank) and putting away our freeze-dried powders in the kitchen, but soon the stars beckoned and we all ended up outside, lying on the ground, staring up at the incredible night sky.
Journalist Report 14 May 2017
Prepared by Janet Biggs, Crew Co-Journalist
Images by Juan Garcia, Crew Co-Journalist
MDRS Sol 1
Let me introduce you to our crew. We are a crew of five, our commander Cassie Klos (also artist in residence), Charlie Rogers, our Engineer and EVA engineer, Avishek Ghosh, our Green Hab Officer, Juan Garcia, artist in residence, co-journalist and Health and Safely officer, and me, Janet Biggs, artist in residence, co-journalist, and crew astronomer. As you can see, we are heavy on the arts in our crew. While being built to support scientific inquiry necessary for the human exploration of Mars, MDRS has always embraced the intersection of science and art … but with the emphasis on science. This is their first experiment of a crew with the emphasis on art. We will see how it goes!
Up until now, we have only been a crew of four. Avishek’s flight from the UK was delayed and he had to spend the night in Denver. He caught a bus and arrived in Grand Junction at 5am this morning. Our commander took the shuttle pod (Hab car) to go pick him up. The rest of us are having a lazy morning, getting used to our new home, talking Mars and tech, and making plans for once we go into sim!
After a few home repairs (realigning the front Hab door) and clean up (downstairs area of the Hab and kitchen), we learned that shuttle pod (again, Hab car) needed some oil, so the Commander and crewmember Avishek will be touching down shortly…
The shuttle pod has redocked and we are now a complete crew! Charlie made our first meal of Martian Mac and Cheese! After lunch Commander Cassie talked logistics, ideas, and expectations. Our ideas run the gambit from playing a game of Martian hide and seek, building a runway to host possible visitors, to following each other around obsessively documenting every step.
But for now, we are busy preparing. Tomorrow morning, we go into full sim and officially land on Mars!!!