Objectives: Explore and re-survey canyon east of the Hab; test APRS; test route development by mission support personnel

EVA Team:
EVA Commander: Jan
EVA Navigator: John
EVA Crew: Heidi
Hab Comm: Kyle

Planned Route: MDRS - WPT 086 - WPT 084 - WPT 085 - MDRS

Timeline:
Don Suits: 1200
Enter Airlock: 1220
Egress: 1225
Ingress: 1600
Enter Hab: 1601

New Waypoints Established (Details See Excel Database):

• 200 - Old Dirt Road (what it says)
• 201 - Kabo's Kliff (in honor of Mars Society @ Georgia Tech founding president & visionary Erik Kabo)
• 202 - Colvin's Cove (in honor of Crew 37's intrepid mission support lead Emily Colvin)
• 203 - Tree Gate (two trees [sic] forming a gate in Laura's Canyon)
• 204 - Gecko Bay (we saw a gecko here)
• 205 - Archie (a fallen log in the shape of an arch)
• 206 - Mine Field (created by cows and their droppings...)
• 207 - Rest Stop (at the top of a steep hill that we had to climb)
• 208 - Spice Field (dark patch in the light desert sand)
• 209 - Flat Rock Park (cool, huge flat rocks)
• 210 - MHS Valley (in honor of the mission support team at Marietta High School)
• 211 - Blue Devils Pass (in honor of the MHS school mascot)
• 212 - Dune Pass (pass between two dunes, also with a weird shape that looks like wormsign)
• 213 - Marble Ritual (three stakes near the hab, set in a triangle, each with a cake pan on top that is filled with marbles [sic; maybe lost ones of prior crews?] - purpose unknown)

Narrative: The last in-sim EVA of this rotation led us to a nearby scenic canyon, which John christened "Laura's Canyon" in honor of his fiancee. Apart from testing live APRS tracking on the internet, we also re-surveyed some waypoints established by previous crews that did not have elevation data.

But the most important objective of this pedestrian EVA was to validate the EVA route that our auxiliary mission support team at Marietta High School in Marietta, GA, had prepared for us. After examining the terrain using maps and aerial photography, they had created the appropriate waypoints in our GIS software, GPS TrackMaker, and had e-mailed us the resulting route file. We opened the file with our copy of the software and uploaded the data to our GPS units. Now, theoretically, we only had to "follow the arrow" on our GPS screens in the field.

First we were a bit skeptical if our mission support team in faraway Atlanta would be able to read the land based only on paper or electronic information, and we were therefore concerned that the route they had proposed for us could lead through impassable terrain. But, after we started walking, we were pleasantly surprised: the route led us along the almost-optimal path towards our destination waypoints, looping around hills and avoiding any obstacles. Very impressive!

The attached image shows how the proposed route (thin blue line) and our actual itinerary (thick red line) are very close to each other for most of the time. The only exceptions were a section of the route in the valley that originally led up the steep canyon walls and then down again - we decided to follow the riverbank instead. Also, as we were getting ready to leave the canyon, we wanted to follow it a bit more to explore what was "just around the riverbend", therefore not exiting at the proposed location (which would have been very suitable nevertheless - a gentle slope amidst towering cliffs), but a few hundred meters further downstream. The rest of the trip back to MDRS was again on the proposed track, over easy terrain.

The canyon turned out to be quite a beauty: with steep, layered cliffs as walls and an abundance of vegetation - even a few trees - along its bottom, where a small stream had carved itself a bed over the centuries. In honor of our crew leads back in Atlanta, we named the cliff from which we first saw the canyon "Kabo's Kliff", and a lovely cove at its head, complete with sandy beach and a small tree, "Colvin's Cove". Thanks guys for being there for us!

The EVA was quite exhausting (we hiked about four hours under the burning afternoon sun), but the crew enjoyed it nevertheless. It was also our last in-sim EVA, and though we won't miss the smell of the EVA suits or the (st)ickyness of the suit gloves, I am sure we will look back at this amazing experience with the mixture of nostalgia and longing that characterizes all memories of great adventures.