EVA-1 Report:
Adam Rehnberg & Felipe Broering Reporting

Today, the Hab had a visit by Colonel John Barainca (ret.), one of the original builders of the MDRS. Among other things, John is a teacher and is involved with getting young people interested in space science and astrobiology. His mission in the area was to scout out some interesting geological sites for future research and by the commander's decision, we spent the morning with John on a “pressurized” EVA (no suits) to get our first look at the Mars-like landscape. We drove to a site close to the “Lith Canyon” (approximately 8 km northeast of the Hab) the goal of our expedition. Together with John, we hiked along the canyon and got a close look at some of the unique geological formations of the area, that have been carved out over the years by the waterflows, meaning that the development of the area is somewhat similar to the shaping of the Martian surface. John also shared some of his knowledge about geology and biology with us as we explored a number of rocks in detail where we could look at cyanobacteria living under the stone surface of some specific samples. Cyanobacteria are important in astrobiological research, as this may be what we are looking for when searching for life on Mars. We also looked at petrified wood and even some dinosaur bones.

Our trek ended as we encountered “water on Mars”, a large creek cutting off the canyon. In the vicinity of the creek, we saw several signs of wildlife such as deer and antelope. Apparently, even in an extreme environment such as the high desert, life can flourish. Going back through the canyons, we also examined some “potholes”, points of softer rock where the water currents has created small holes in the ground, housing a multitude of different bacteria and microorganisms, making the potholes immensely interesting from a biological standpoint.

Overall, the trip was very rewarding and we greatly appreciated the opportunity to share Colonel John Barainca’s (ret.) immense knowledge in biology and geology. Hopefully, we will be able to use some of this knowledge in the future EVA:s. Our next visit will be in full EVA gear along with the rest of the crew.

Best wishes from analogue Mars, Adam and Felipe.

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EVA-2 Report:
Hugh S. Gregory Reporting

The second "in-sim" Surface Excursion Activity of MDRS Crew 35 was a solo, on foot local HAB area EVA executed by the Pisces One Expedition Commander to carry out essential engineering duties in support of the on going wrap up of the refit efforts of Crew 34.

Having been on domestic duties all morning, (I can't not appoint people to the boring but essential jobs if I am not prepared to do them myself) I decided that taking out the garbage can be a fun event if you have to wear an EVA suit to accomplish the task.

Having been trained in the secrets of rapid suiting up by an expert, Paul, I was able to suit myself up in about 8 minutes flat. At that point I had both Artemis and Anthony check me over (as required by suiting up protocols) to ensure that my analogue space suit and PLSS (Portable Life Support System) was proper hooked up and that I would not "die" the moment I stepped out the airlock door onto the surface of analogue Mars.

Artemis cycled me through the airlock after a 5 minute wait for decompression and off I went, hauling our trash to where our native Martian's contacts trailer await more donations to the local landfill. The decompression and recompression is now "supervised" by a small digital clock which was donated to MDRS by Artemis. (she told me she selected the model that was put into use because it had buttons "so large that even a space suit glove can't miss it").

Not satisfied with just hauling out the kitchen garbage, I proceeded to spend the next 45 minutes cleaning up the construction site that surrounds our lovely white analogue Mars HAB, thus making Paul's job easier for the final stages of his refit.

There was a duel purpose to doing this "in-sim". First I was able to explore the mobility and restrictiveness of the MDRS analogue Mars Surface Excursion Suit. I quickly learned to never bend over to pick something up (or you PLSS would slide up and smack you in the back of the head), but to partly squat and lean sideways just the way the Apollo moonwalkers did back in the 70's. Having cleaned up a few bags of construction I also hiked over to the Engineering Area to clean it up, up to the Musk Observatory to collect wind blown trash (and pose for photo's taken out the HAB's back window by Artemis) and then climb up to the top of "Flag Hill" to the south east of the HAB. Getting to the top I saluted out Mars Flag and then nearly jumped out of my skin as two long distance communications came in at once. First was Adam reporting that EVA One was home bound to the HAB in the PEV, the second was Paul, asking who's on this frequency. He was more then 5 kms away having just come off of the highway from Hanksville.

It was after the EVA that I learned of a partial "human" failure with in the HAB. It appears that the crew member I assigned to HABcom duty was concentrating so hard on his personal project that he had to be reminded repeatedly by the engineering team working across the room to answer the radio when ever I made a position change safety check in.

Other wise my first working "in-sim" EVA was a very successful and enjoy able experience. Tomorrow I look forward to training my crew in the use of the EVA suites.

I wonder if there are any Remote Science Team requests awaiting us in the pipeline. Can't wait to get that suit back on again.

See you on Mars, Hugh S. Gregory, Mission Commander, Pisces One Expedition, MDRS Crew 35