Another exciting day on simulated Mars! After a well-deserved morning off that allowed crew and commander to recuperate from the climate change and the hectic pace of the first days at the hab, we nevertheless managed to take further significant steps towards reaching our mission objectives.

Crew 47 engineers worked on several upgrades around the hab, the astronomers fixed the observatory dome, and the EVA team demonstrated the enhanced coverage provided by our amateur radio-based communications system and transmitted near-real-time EVA positions to the hab and the Internet. Last but not least, our DGO ("Director of Galley Operations", i.e. the crewmember assigned to cook our meals today - in spaceflight, there has to be a TLA for everything) prepared a pizza dinner with dough from the new breadmaker. Yum yum yum.

Now part of the crew is enjoying contemporary music from the audio libraries of some of our younger members, while the astronomers are making the first star observations of the mission at the Musk Observatory. I am comfortably installed in my quarters, writing reports and post-processing data, and enjoying excellent hab-baked lemon squares for dessert. Life is good at MDRS.

Signing off for today,

Jan Osburg
Commander, MDRS Crew 47