Today we started phase 2 of our stay here on Mars. We began the first of our three days in full simulation and we were confronted with issues right from the beginning.

This morning when the generator was being refilled, it wasn't able to be started again. When it was started, the handle to the generator came off and the cord wrapped back inside the housing. Edwin and Jamon decided at that point to start up the back up generator and use that instead. This meant that our power capacity was drawn down from 15kW to 6kW. About half an hour later one of our crew used the microwave and that pushed our power usage over the limit, shutting the power down.

I went down stairs to check the fuse box and saw that all of the breakers were still in the "ON" position. We thought that the breakers may have tripped but not physically, so I reset all of the breakers. The kitchen, three of the crew rooms and the workstation server still remained without power. We then unplugged all equipment and went around with a test light plugging it into each socket and checking it for operation. We reached the conclusion that there was either a problem with the breakers themselves or that the issue was between the outlets and the fuse boxes. At this stage we called Mission Support (through Don Foutz). As there was nothing else we could do, I sat down and briefed the crew on our situation, letting them know that despite our situation we were still in full simulation but that until the power issue was fixed, we would suspend our EVAs. Until Don arrived, there was nothing more we could do about the power so I allowed everyone to see to their personal projects or interests, and Jamon and I looked at some more planning for the coming day's EVAs.

When Don came out, he found that the generator had flipped one of its breakers (something we had overlooked), thereby bringing the power down to some of the habs elements. This was quickly rectified and full power was restored.

After lunch we conducted our EVAs. Today, as with yesterday, they were conducted in parallel. One EVA comprised of Susmita and myself. This EVA was conducted on foot and the goal was to go to a site at the base of a canyon and check for fossils that previous crews had found. After a 1.8km walk, we found the designated site. It was a large plateau that was scattered with the fossilized remains of oysters, of which we collected some. After staying for an hour we hiked back to the hab, the EVA lasting about 2 hours. On this EVA we took a GPS handset, to try and verify the co-ordinates with what we were seeing and with the directions we had from the topographical map.

The other EVA was conducted on the ATVs and included Jamon and Richard. Heather and Edwin stayed in the Hab, providing communications. The goal of Jamon and Richard's EVA was to explore areas further out from the hab with the intention of finding good steep cliffs and valleys to deploy Edwin's rover. Their EVA lasted for a full three hours, afterwhich they performed some minor maintenance on the ATV's and refueled them.

After the completion of EVAs the crew sat down to reflect on the lessons learned and to write up specific reports.

My plan is for our EVAs to increase in complexity and duration. By rationalizing all previous crews' EVAs on the one map, we have established a good foundation for ours, to ensure that our efforts are not duplicitous.

Tomorrow we will be at day two of our three day full simulation. On our first full day of simulation we were able to take a bit of a break by coming out of simulation for a day but this time there will be no such respite for the crew. The rest of the crew has performed very well so far and I am somewhat surprised at the great cohesion we continue to have. It may be that it will not be until the full five day simulation where we see personal boundaries being pushed to uncomfortable levels and conflict emerging. It all makes for an interesting experience!