It's too bad we 'wasted' half this day, because it was our last sunny day as of this writing (Friday.). I've already mentioned that we're down to one exploration vehicle, the pressurized rover. Typically, a morning EVA team of two would've been planned, but with the ATV rovers out of commission, we decided to do one big EVA with all of us piled into the pressurized rover's cab. The success of the CSM mission proved it would be a tight fit, but it would work. In the evening, we'd suit up and head for the Factory Bench area, which, according to the Hab's topographic map, is still largely unexplored.

And then the generator went down. To say it went down 'again' is redundant. If we were smart, we would schedule the generator's failures so we could work around them. But no, we blunder ahead and plan our days with the full expectation that we will have an uninterrupted power supply, that when we turn the faucet on, the pumps will run, that when we flip a light switch, light will fill the corners of our rooms, that when we click 'send,' the dish on top of the Hab will transmit our emails to our loved ones.

It went like this. Every two days the China Special has to have its oil changed. That means it needs to be turned off for a short period of time. That's always a risk with the China Special. There's no promise it will restart. Over the past few days, it has threatened failure (see the engineering reports), and today it delivered on those threats by not restarting after the oil change. The starter didn't even turn over, indicating to me that it was an electrical, and not mechanical, failure of some sort. Probably in the coil/solenoid, the device that sends the charge to the starter after the switch is turned on. Regardless, Don would have to take care of it. Commander Frederick and I drove into Hanksville only to find a slip of paper taped to the door of the Whispering Sands Motel. Don wasn't there. We left a message for him and drove back to the Hab, stopping at Johnson Market to pick up some ice to keep our food from spoiling (again).

We returned at around 16:30. There was no time to do the EVA in the pressurized rover to Factory Bench, but I still wanted to drive out there to scout it for photography purposes. Alyssa Rzeszutko, and Greg Michael came along, and Commander Frederick drove. We were almost to the main road, almost home free, when Don's truck appeared in the distance rumbling down the dirt road, a cloud of pink dust behind him. My heart sank. I knew what this meant. Don pulled up along side us, and we turned around and followed him back to the Hab. All six of us stood around as Don jammed a screwdriver between the electrical connections on the solenoid and got the China Special going again. But it didn't end there. Don said that he'd be coming back the next day to drop off a big propane tank, and that he'd need level ground upon which to set it. Shovels and picks were distributed to the crew and we sunk their blades into the soft, dusty soil. Rocks were pried from the ground and rolled into place. The sun sank inexorably toward the horizon, taking with it any chance of leaving the Hab for whatever reason.

When we finished, there was perhaps an hour of light left. Alyssa and Greg Michael took off together on one ATV, and Gregorio, Commander Frederick and I sped off for Factory Bench. We arrived at sunset, and the view of Factory Butte and the surrounding plain was spectacular. The dirt road leading around it was well maintained and would pose no problems for a pressurized rover EVA. Furthermore, Gregorio discovered hematite concretions, small balls of iron oxide, on the eroded slopes of the small hills undulating toward Factory Butte. Commander Frederick took photos and we collected samples. Flush with the thrill of discovery, Gregorio talked excitedly about the hematites. He would take back samples to Venezuela for analysis, the results of which will be shared with the Mars Society.