Brief Summary: Three EVAs were performed today
EVA-5: Exploration of Eden, via Hell's Pass
EVA-6: Exploration of Tank Wash, better named Valles Marineris
EVA-7: Test 2 of the Dewey Cooling Vest

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EVA-5 Report:

Purpose: Exploration of Eden, via Hell's Pass

Participants: Greg Michael, Gregorio Drayer

Duration: 1030-1340 (3hr10)

Weather: Sunny, light wind

Maximum distance from Hab: 7 km

Route: Sagan Street, Schiaparelli, Ptolemy, Diego's Pass, Hell's Pass, Eden, back by the same route as far as the end of Ptolemy, then Brahe Highway, and returning by Lowell Highway to the Hab.

Description: Before setting out, Steve had us set the radios on high power, and we agreed to report back to HabCom with our coordinates from peaks along the way to evaluate the transmission range. We made our first stop near the start of Schiaparelli, on the edge of the cliff, but even from there we couldn't contact base: "EVA to HabCom, do you copy?" Probably fortunate there was only silence - you can't say things like that with a British accent.

We continued along the edge, finding the tracks a little more confused than I expected. The GPS was set to point to yesterday's J2 point, (UTM 12S E516970 N4253270 NAD27) and we were making progress in the right direction. Unexpectedly, we turned up at a point I recognised from EVA-4 - we were in Chluda Pass. I thought at first that we were east of the difficult section, but was glad to be wrong. After a few hundred metres going west, we rejoined Schiaparelli - we had probably lost it quite early on the leg, soon after Sagan Street.

In the north section of Schiaparelli, pale and desolate, we came across a field of fossilized molluscs - we stopped and collected a few good specimens. The beautiful bentonite hills here are particularly easily damaged by bikes or ATVs - even occasional turning loops leave long-lived scars. For the sake of the first settlers on Mars, I hope the pioneers will be scrupulous in caring for its ancient landscape.

Northern Schiaparelli

Misplaced basalt

Ptolemy is very similar to northern Schiaparelli; after that we came to the wash which develops into Hell's Pass. The route meanders through the hills which become redder and redder - I suppose from this came the name, since the going was easy (we were expecting the opposite), except for one very steep crossing of a gully. Just after this gully is a sign marked 'Hubble' (UTM 12S 0517495E 4256436N NAD27) - is this a competing name for Hell's Pass?

Approaching Eden, we came across a cluster of football-sized black, probably basalt, boulders. It seemed remarkable to find so many, apparently not associated with the local rocks. Here the vegetation began to thicken - we were at the shore of Muddy Creek: an Eden on Mars.

Returning via Brahe and Lowell, we managed to contact Steve about 1200m from the Hab - this was the result of our experiment.

Lessons Learned: Be very careful where you make a 3-point turn!

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EVA-6 Report:

Purpose: Exploration of Tank Wash, better named Valles Marineris

Participants: Kathleen Johnson, Greg Michael

Duration: 1540-1840 (3hr00)

Weather: Clear skies, light then later moderate wind

Maximum distance from Hab: 6 km

Route: Lowell Highway to J1 (UTM NAD27 CONIS E0518208 N4253568 NAD27), then east down Tank Wash as far as Muddy Creek (UTM E0522075 N4255800 NAD27)

Kathleen at the dry waterfall

Description: I was a little surprised that Kathleen proposed this route, since it's an extension of Chluda Pass where she'd vowed not to return! But we thought that, since it's downstream, it should be broader and more easily navigable.

Since EVA-4, we'd realised that we were working with several different coordinate systems - one from the MDRS database, one from the topo map, and another in the GPS itself. Not surprisingly then, our waypoints weren't always where we expected them to be. This time we planned to get it right - to use UTM with the NAD27 CONIS datum throughout.

The beginning of Tank Wash is rather rocky - certainly a bumpy ride, but it quickly becomes a sandy floored stream bed, very easy for the ATVs. After a kilometre or so it opens out, and the bed becomes rock, sculpted into curious curves and hollows by the wind. At this point there's a drop of several metres - we tried to get around, first left, then right - it probably took a half hour before we found a descent back onto the stream bed.

Further down, the walls of the valley become absolutely vertical, the rocks being finely layered in contrasting red and pale, laced with slanting mineral seams, and buttressed by debris at the foot. I wonder if Valles Marineris might not look somewhat similar, if on an altogether different scale.

Near to Muddy Creek, the meanders become more and more exaggerated - in the end we abandoned the ATVs and took the direct route on foot. We looked out over the water to yet another completely different hillscape beyond, before returning home to our Hab.

Lessons Learned: know your coordinate system!

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EVA-7 Report:

Purpose: To monitor the temperature at various points in the spacesuit during exertion

Participants: Gus Frederick, Greg Drayer

Duration: 1620-1730 (1hr10)

Weather: Clear skies, strong wind

Maximum distance from Hab: 400 m

Route: Climbed on foot up to the radio repeater site.

Description: Once again, we climbed to the top of Repeater Hill. This time, Gregorio wore the Dewey Cooling Vest, with the same sensor arrangement. Gus also modified his underwater camera housing, by taping aluminum foil to the outside, to reduce the light reaching the inside of the case. Upon their return, they also retrieved an Onset rain gauge, deployed 6 March, 2003 by unknown persons south of the "debris field.". The embedded datalogger was an event type, which records individual events, in this case, the "teeter-totter" device that swings back and forth when filled up with water. The unit was plugged up with sand, as it was deployed at ground level. We will re-deploy it after cleaning to the Weather Station mast. Amazingly, the battery was still good, and Gus was able to download the data.

Once back in the Hab, Gus downloaded the data from the temperature Hobo, and plotted it to a graph in Excel. Alyssa evaluated the data, (see Engineering Report).

Lessons Learned: While Gregorio said that the vest did indeed keep him cooler, the data did not show much variation between the two EVAs. We may try it again, with a different sensor arrangement.