Today we conducted our final Crew 61 EVA, and pause operations to observe Yuri's Night.

Irene was in charge of the EVA. Alex concluded his ambitious program yesterday, and today was Irene's day to test the operational procedures she had been developing for environmental radiation emergencies. She and Elizabeth left the Hab to conduct a "geological survey" nearby. Then, on cue, I announced a "Condition Red" emergency, due to an extremely severe, unexpected solar storm. The crew were not able to make it all the way back to the Hab before they became "unconscious" and P.J. and I were deployed to rescue them, using the modified stretcher and ATV that Alex and Marcus had developed. We fetched our two "stricken" crewmembers and recorded the elapsed time.

Tonight we will declare our sim concluded, but that does not mean our work is finished. We still need to write our summary reports, complete a season shutdown checklist that we just worked out with Mission Support, perform a detailed inspection of all our suits (Alex still wants to measure the weight of the suit components), clean and photograph the Hab, and pack. But I'm confident we will pull this together in record time, and go on that field trip (location is still TBD).

From our very first pre-mission telecon, Crew 61 planned to participate in the worldwide celebration of Yuri's Night. Just today, I was reflecting on it (I will spare you the details of where I was) and have the following thoughts to share:

• NONE of us on Crew 61 were born when Yuri Gagarin made his historic flight. I come the closest, but I still had two months to go inside my mother's womb.
• I used to dismiss Yuri's Night as a Russian holiday, but now I subscribe wholeheartedly to it as a celebration of HUMANKIND'S first venture into outer space. It IS a big deal, and I plan to observe this event each year for the rest of my life.
• In fact, I kind of LIKE that it is focused on a non-U.S. accomplishment. I think that makes it easier for everyone on earth (and eventually, other worlds) to accept it as a universal day of celebration.
• We Americans like to consider our space program to be the premier one in the world, but Yuri's Night helps serve to remind us who gave us the motivation and inspiration to develop it, and I don't mean John F. Kennedy!
• I like that it's called "Yuri's Night", and not "Gagarin Night" or "All-Cosmonaut's Day" or something equally stuffy. Puts it on a friendlier level, makes me feel closer to the man somehow (even though I've never met him or anyone from his family), and of course these facets make the whole affair more conducive to an intimate party environment, as opposed to a more formal expression of celebration, like a parade.
• It was also better thematically to call it "Yuri's Night" instead of "Yuri's Day". At night we see the stars, at night we think of space, at night we dream.

Be Safe, Have Fun, Get It Done - CREW 61!!!

Chip Shepherd
Commander, MDRS Crew 61