Journalist's Report

February 28, 2008

Cassandra Marion



This morning we got a big surprise for breakfast: granola and blueberries with an orange slice on the side! Phillip once again exercised his talent for public outreach and called a school from Heather’s hometown: Rosetown Central High School to tell them all about what we are doing here and answer any space related questions a dynamic crew such as this one is qualified to answer. Phillip spent the rest of the day storming up and down the stairs to his logistics box trying to squeeze out any last bit of progress it may make. His quickness of feet on the ladder-like stairs kept everyone on their toes when not on EVA.

Three EVAs were accomplished on this, our last day of simulation. In the first, BioBabe led a biology expedition to Muddy Creek via Copernicus Hwy and took an exceptional 7 samples. It was peculiar to LOX and Googly that the creek still flow smoothly through the desert valley while the rest of the desert lay dry. Copernicus was not so kind to Googly’s ATV as he found the steering became more difficult as more Hwy lie in their wake.

Guy led the two following EVAs, and continued the walking torture of instrumentless navigation, which he began with Phillip yesterday. Cass and Aravind were victim to this endeavour today and both succeeded as they had the assistance of panoramic images taken from the target locations. Though it was still admittedly difficult, as Guy would point out, “You are 13 metres from the target, plus or minus 80 metres,” while chuckling behind his bubble. The best part of today was that everyone survived their EVAs apart from Kim’s early entrance into the Hab before re-pressurization was complete.

Aravind was excited to announce that the carrots he planted last weekend are growing and will be ready for a later rotation to enjoy. Commander Randy stayed in his room all day meticulously processing data.

For dinner we nearly enjoyed the Mexican rice and beans; in truth we plugged through to get to dessert. Cassie made brownies in honour of Guy’s last dinner with the crew. Tomorrow we have an exciting day planned hiking in both Goblin Valley National Park and Arches National Park before dropping Guy off at the bus stop in Green River. Can’t wait!

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