MDRS Day 4 - New Frontier

Despite all the problems I've been having running the hab, today was a good day. I didn't get a whole lot done, but not a whole lot went wrong, so I feel it's been well.

I was supposed to go on a long distance EVA with J.R., but last night Jen changed to plans to make it a geology EVA without notifying me. Since she's a geologist, it makes sense to have two of them on a geology EVA. I wasn't aware of the change until after they got back, so all I did this morning was answer questions left over from yesterday's webcast and eat brunch.

I started working on the battery insulation beneath the hab, but realized the last CE never showed me what to use, and I couldn't find any styrofoam like what was already down there. (The reason the batteries need to be insulated is because when it's cold the inverter thinks the voltage is lower, so it turns the generator on and puts more voltage into them, which can be bad). I found some tonight so I'll finish the job tomorrow. I also solved the GreenHab trickle pump problem, and now GreenHab is working fine. The water that goes through our toilet looks cleaner than what we put into it, which was definitely not the case before yesterday when Paul and I changed those filters.

I was about to work on fixing a water pump (which, I really need to fix, because we're running low on water) when Robbie asked me to go on an EVA for him. Since I'd rather don the spacesuit and ride ATVs than disconnect a broken pump to replace a part I don't even have yet, I was game. Here's the EVA report:

"At 1:30 Robert Citron and Ben Corbin went out on a scouting EVA to find Murphy's Canyon and take pictures of the area to compare the landscape to photos taken by Crew 1 to calculated an erosion rate. They were also asked to find ice patches for possible places to analyze the potential for life in certain places.

Following GPS to a waypoint, they rode ATVs out to within 1 km of the waypoint before they were forced to travel on foot because of unsafe driving terrain. Once there, many pictures were taken to gather as much data to compare to previous photos taken at the same site. However, it was unsure of whether or not this was indeed the same place. The rock formations were compared to the pictures and confirmed that this was indeed to location. Robert took some pictures from many different areas within the canyon while Ben stood near the walls of the canyon for a sense of scale.

On the way out, two waypoints were marked where traces of ice were found so biologists could go back later and plant slides. Once back to the ATVs, they headed back towards the hab.

Since they had ample time left on the EVA, they made a few detours to look for more patches of ice. At the top of a large hill not too far from the hab, a frozen lake was discovered. This lake could be leftover from the 100 year flood, but the ice seemed thick enough for someone to stand on it (however, no one did because that would not be smart). The location was marked, pictures were taken, and Ben and Robert headed back to the hab."

That two kilometer round trip walk was a pain, but finding that huge ice lake was worth everything. Thank God I didn't try jumping the hill that led up to the lake on the ATV because I would have been done. It was weird, the lake was in a basin on a plateau, so no one had seen it before and it's not on the map. We also climbed a hill and got some good pictures, so hopefully one will end up in the daily report for today. Overall, it was a really fun EVA and I'm hoping for more cool discoveries on later trips as well as learning more about the geology of the area.

After the EVA I installed the trickle filter and we grooved to Michael Jackson in the kitchen while LaTasha was cooking some delicious lasagna. I ate way too much, but it was one of those meals that was worth eating too much for. We were going on the first nighttime EVA to see the Geminid meteor shower, so I had to finish up my engineering report pretty fast. I've gotten practice with it, so it's really not that hard anymore, but mission support keeps wanting more information on some things.

We got suited up again and traveled out by the ridge that the observatory is built onto to get a better look at the sky. Although we weren't out too long, the Geminid shower was pretty decent. There were some pretty big meteors, and they were moving pretty slow for some reason that I don't know but some magazine article had an explanation for. The air vents in the packs only circulate outside air, so my cheeks froze off. Since we were lying on the ground while watching the shower, my rear froze off as well.

I'd also like to take this time to mention that I am glad I am learning the Art of Beard from legendary beard user Chuck Norris. Without the Art of Beard, my chin would have been very cold riding on the ATV this whole time, but it has been nice and cozy within the confines of the plastic bubble.

I just got an email saying my engineering report is awesome, so on that note I will take a sponge bath so I don't smell like GreenHab sewage.

"Never ending, forever searching,
Chasing dreams, the dreams of our heart,
Always seeking, always asking.
Questions right from the start."