Eva Report
18 Dec 2012
Written by Derek Pelland
Today’s EVA consisted of April Davis, Derek Pelland, Nora Swisher and Erick Tijerino. We returned to the Hab Ridge region that was visited on 17 Dec. This was a walking mission, beginning at 1020 and commencing at 1355. Weather was cold and windy, with winds continuing to increase in speed as storms brewed on the horizon. The sky was a mixture of deep purples, black and blue hues. Fortunately the clouds and inclement weather were moving away from us, and did not require us to return early to the Habitat. Erick monitored the G.P.S. to record our position, and Derek ran communications. Nora acted as our photojournalist, stenographer and HSO, while April led the geologic research study.
We had excellent radio communication today, as transmissions were clearly received on both ends. This allowed us to brief HabCom with weather updates and movement between different research sites. We were never more than thirty minutes between communications with Commander Reynolds. We had previously discovered an interesting site that appeared to have interesting markings in the rocks. We did not have a G.P.S. on yesterday’s EVA, so we had to rely on natural landmarks and memory to relocate this specific site.
Today we returned with a rock hammer and trowel to collect more samples to bring back to the laboratory. As crew geologist, April instructed the crewmembers on strategies for determining how to identify the rock samples necessary for her study. We were able to spend more than an hour on the ridge dig site before moving through the dried seabed where we collected numerous shells and soil samples. The winds were howling, but we were able to continue because of the shields and suits.
Moving in the suits can be very warm, but this wind kept us quite comfortable. The Swiss film crew was canvassing the landscape in anticipation of our movements, stealthily tracking our position behind cameras and sound boom. Each of us had a personal microphone routed through our suits so that the “sound guy” had clear audio for the entirety of the mission. The film crew was barely noticeable as they were perched on rocks and crevices around the ridge, recording from the fly on the wall perspective. We navigated around the ridge, overlooking the Hab and Observatory from the high ground. We had a clear view of Factory Butte in the distance, offering itself as a stunning physical landmark.
Practice makes perfect, and we had significantly better functioning equipment today, including good visibility through the face shields. Everyone was able to withstand the cold and winds, trek uphill and pass through the washouts. Erick helped lead us along the red rock ledges to avoid the sand fields. This saved a lot of time in reaching our destination, but still paled in comparison to the film crew who straight up climbed the face of the bluff, beating us to the top. They were able to capture the major events of the EVA including the suit up, departure, navigation, field research and return to Hab.