Commander's Check-in
Date: 12/07/2012
Written by: John Reynolds
Crew physical status: No issues, 1 crew member still has a cold but waning.
Time departed/returned from EVA: #1 0951/1125
Time departed/returned from EVA: #2 1357/1632
Brief Narrative of Field Mission Results:
EVA #1; Lisa Stewart Commanding/Scientist, John Reynolds XO/HSO; Lisa started and kept a good walking pace to 4250747/519026, 4250250/519663,for an initial survey all round that hill. Noted that the west side (rocky and prominent outcrops) of this landmark have quite a few different geological features compared to the opposite side which had less rock textures and more erosion aspects. 1 section north side has water erosion cave like features starting from the top to ground level. I would have liked to explore this structure, but have deemed it as too dangerous for this sim. Further to the north of this hill, Lisa and I came upon a petrified tree approximately 3.5 meters long partially buried, marked this site and took 2 samples for future confirmation. A great find close to the Hab. This whole area has many different geology aspects and is noted for future study.
EVA#2: Habbib Palenfo Commanding, Dan Wilcox XO, Paula Crock Scientist/HSO: This eva is very similar in routing to eva#1, location 4249920/518980, 4250196/519362. It is so diverse geology wise that we felt that 2 EVA’s justifies a closer look. We also were looking to see if this area might be a good location for a remote repeater station with easy access to high ground. This eva also included a navigational exercise to locate and photograph EVA #1’s discovery of a petrified log. Nav exercise failed to location of first EVA’s discovery. Discussion to analyze this evening.
Engineering/Hab maintenance: Normal engineering checks completed.
Packages delivered to the Hab: 1 box containing dried Mango’s. Lush!!
Plans for tomorrow:
EVA #1 Lisa Stewart Commanding/Scientist, Habib Palenfo XO/HSO, Dan Wilcox Navigator: direction due north, longer distance EVA than today and in duration. Time: 2:30 Distance over 2.5km Mission plan: close observation and sample collection for further analysis. Familiarization of handheld gps unit while on EVA for better plotting, tracking and menu selection.
Support requests: None
Miscellaneous: Our (Crew 119) new EVA motto: “It’s not the distance you cover, but what you cover over that distance”. Crew moral: Is high. We are getting much more settled in and into a routine. Everyone is trying their hand at cooking, from West African to Western US and in between including vegetarian. We certainly are not starving and certainly no one is complaining about the quality of the food that we manage to produce. Thanks to all involved with the dried food supplies especially to Jean Hunter.
Note; we (crew wise) need to shorten the amount of time it takes to get ready for EVA. As we increase our EVA complexity( cameras and GPS logging etc.), we increase prep time. Our reporting has vastly improved and with a few more tweaks, we should be there shortly.