EVA 008 Report
26 Dec 2012
Nora Swisher
April, Diane, John, and I started our first ATV EVA at 1:25pm. As someone
who has never ridden an ATV before, I was a bit nervous and uncomfortable
for the first minute. Soon we were rolling through red hills and a big blue
sky with joy. The view of the Martian landscape with a bright red number
six riding on an ATV in front of me was strangely beautiful.
On the way to the quarry, we stopped by a waterfall. Since it's been so
cold, this waterfall was totally frozen in time. We saw stalactites and
stalagmites made of muddy ice. After everyone's hands were warm again, we
continued on...
The completely foreign experience was juxtaposed with a comically familiar
sight when we pulled up to the Quarry and found a fence and information
sign. I was surprised Martians didn't advertise this picturesque place
more! On our hike near the Quarry we found three stumps of wood, again
frozen in time. However, these were frozen from millions of years of
colorful minerals leeching into the tree's cells; not water and cold
temperatures.
We left the quarry around 3:20pm and headed back home to the Hab. By then I
was feeling more confident on the ATV and managed to keep up with the lead
crew member in our caravan. We stopped for a quick picture of a rock
mushroom, seemingly plucked out of Wonderland and solidified on Mars. After
a couple trips to carry in all of our samples, we entered the airlock at
3:56pm.
The ATVs worked well and we are excited to take them out again. They shined
cleanly at the beginning of EVA 008, but now have the added baggage of tons
of mud. No accidents or difficulties were encountered, except the
difficulty of leaving such a beautiful place. EVA 008 was the best EVA yet
for me. Do we really have to leave in three days?