Written by: Aster Stein. A very strange thing happened this morning… We must have gotten hit hard by the cosmic rays of a giant solar storm, because all of our alarm clocks proved ineffective at waking us up. We compensated by having a quicker breakfast. The weather was very nice, clear sky and all, but […]

In today’s EVA we headed east again to try to reach Muddy Creek which eluded us yesterday for only a few hundred meters. And YES, we found water and as a bonus life… Can you see it?

This morning Aster, Karon, and I set our sails towards Muddy Creek which is about 5 Km east of the Hab. The objective of the EVA was to find and follow north-east the elusive Cactus Road until we reach the river.

Today, Karon, Victoria and I went out hunting for dinosaur’s fossils. We drove our personal mars rovers (ATVs) up north until the road ended at the Burpee Dinosaur Quarry. Can you see the dinosaur? 

Today we all suit up in a EVA for a group picture. Afterwards, David, Karon and I hiked a couple of miles and climbed Phobo’s Peak where we found ourselves surrounded by some great views.

Victoria, David and Leandro just returned from a 13.32 miles/3 hour EVA. The objective of the mission was to collect core samples and to perform cone penetration tests in order to determine the soil  geotechnical engineering properties. In addition, they practice their navigational skills using a combination of maps, compass and GPS.

Today we had the longest EVA so far: 13.5 miles/3.5 hours. We visited two geological sites and did Blow Count Penetrometer and Core Samples Tests. With this information we will be able to determine the soil strength and composition which in a Mars mission will support decisions on where to mine based on water/mineral content and […]

Today at 8:30am MST David, Karen and I started the first full Gear Analog EVA for the MDRS Crew 109. The operational conditions were much more challenging and realistic than what we were expecting.

Today we went out for a short reconnaissance EVA just before dusk. At  the end we took a look at the telescope observatory next to the Hab. Photos really do not make any justice to how incredible this place is. Weather is great, snow has melted and we all very excited for the things to come.

Today at 12:30pm MST (Martian Standard Time) the MDRS Crew 109 arrived to the station via the pressurized rover. We relieved the 5 Crew 108 members that have been in the station since Dec 3.