Journalist’s Report
Date: Dec 11 2012
Written by: Dan Wilcox
Today is another big day.
We found water and possible life on Mars.
But before that news, we were a bad crew this morning. As our routine has
set in, we’ve been slipping a bit and sleeping too late the last few sols.
I didn’t set my chronometer last night and was awakened by a knock on my
stateroom door: “This morning’s EVA is cancelled.” Commander Reynold’s
decided we need to get ship shape again and we can all agree. Time is as
much a resource here as are water and oxygen. We must strive to stay
efficient and dedicated.
In the afternoon, we traveled north on an ATV EVA into undiscovered country.
As with some of our previous EVAs, we were surveying roadbeds and looking
to identify areas for future investigation. This region is full of low,
rolling colored bentonite hills similar to the area around the Hab and
canyons to the north and east. There were several suitable roadbeds
identified via orbital mapping before we landed, yet some of these have
turned out to be harder to locate on the ground. We went right past forks
that should have been there but weren’t. We’ll move forward with tomorrow
morning’s EVA by using more accurate waypoints instead of assuming the
splits in the road will be easy to locate.
Robotic explorers are great for some things, but it really takes people
on the ground to deal with these kinds of problems. We can make
assessments in the blink of an eye without requiring intensive image and
instrument study over a 20 minute radio delay to Earth. Instant feedback,
baby. Machines help, but humans are required.
But machines don’t require water ... we do. That’s why we were excited
when Commander Reynolds discovered moisture in the Martian soil by
inadvertently getting his boots muddy. We had stopped by what appeared to
be an ancient stream bed so I could collect green clay pigment
samples. Habib and Commander Reynold’s poked about at what looked to be
the remains of waterfall when the apparently bone dry soil at it's base
turned out to be quite a bit wetter than expected. This is great news as
locating water is a requirement for building larger settlements here on
the Red Planet.
Buoyed by this discovery, every dip and shadow suddenly seemed ready to
unfold new treasures. We continued on to a canyon located on the satellite
maps to the north and descended about 15 meters to it’s floor. Following
the knowledge finding the mud had given us, we headed to the site of a
similar ancient waterfall formation. Upon approaching, Habib suddenly
started gesticulating for us to come closer and, hiding in the permanent
shadow of the canyon’s steep walls, lay a 4x3 m pool of frozen water.
Water on the surface is a big deal when the ambient temperature is much
lower then Earth’s. Finding this pool indicates that there must be other
areas of water which can possibly be utilized as springs to access the
vast amount of frozen water underneath the planet’s soil. I quickly
documented the pool and marked it’s location so we can return to it.
We decided to explore the canyon further and I found just as monumental of
a discovery up a side slope. A layer of green strata in the hillside
caught my attention and, as I approached the top, I looked down to my left
to see a 4 x 2m section of ground with peculiar 4-5 cm vertical clumps of
dirt. At the tops of these clumps appeared to be black lichen, holding the
soil together. This reminded me of the cryptobiotic crusts I mentioned in
an earlier report: areas of microorganisms pioneering new soil for plants
to grow, life in the apparently barren desert. I quickly photographed and
marked this location, so we can ask the Remote Science Team at Mission
Control for analysis. If this turn’s out to be life, we have conclusive
evidence that we are not alone in the universe as the chances of finding
more life are exponentially increased.
As I retreated, I was careful not disturb the delicate ground. I don’t
want to be disrespectful to our new neighbors.