Commander’s Report
Date Time:
20:00 02/04/2013
Written By:
David Willson, Crew Commander of MDRS123
The day started very cold with the ground frozen until 10 am. The sky was clear all day and temperatures ranged from 19° to 46°F.
Early in the morning, Melanie and Emma took more images of the Curiosity model using the Hab hills in the background. [Insert photographs of the Curiosity model.]
Emma continued writing procedures for the dust suit trials to be undertaken tomorrow. She also continued the Hab equipment inventory.
The crew completed a live, 1-hour outreach activity with New Zealand’s Te Awamutu High school (16-17 year olds) first on Skype video for 10 minutes and then via “chatroll”. The JPL Curiosity outreach material was feature during the video portion of the outreach. The students asked many very good questions, necessitating a team effort to answer some. Topics included the physical conditions of the martian surface, the structure of Mars’ interior and how it’s determined, the cost of current and future missions to Mars, and when the first manned mission to Mars might be undertaken. Melanie led the outreach from the MDRS side. Thanks to crew Mission Director Haritina, located in New Zealand, for organizing the outreach exchange.
At 2.45 pm, the crew undertook a 3-hour, out-of-sim EVA to locations:
- UTM 12S 508427mE 4257686mN,
- UTM 12S 508477mE 4257591mN, and
- UTM 12S 508027mE 4257927mN
Sampling for MSL analog rocks and for the MDRS/Gale Crater rock Kit was continued. The collection process will be completed tomorrow.
Finally, the simulated Curiosity drill did not arrive today; we will check again tomorrow.