Journalist Report
04/09/2013
Bao Pham
A Game of Stones
Last night after CAPCOM closed, we spent the rest of the night relaxing in the common room. Aly and
Randy called it early that night and the rest of the crew stayed up a little bit to talk. We noticed that
the water was getting low, so Paulina worked on getting more water pumped in. While we were
waiting, we decided to give each other back rubs. That is something I’m almost 100% positive the
crew full of Belgian guys did not do. We talked about a wide range of subjects such as farming,
fencing, archery, school, and a little about the EVA scheduled for today. Then we decided to test
each other’s reflexes with a game that involved slapping. Marianna does not have any reflexes.
It’s surprising that as varied as our backgrounds are, we have found commonalities with which to
relate to each other. Around 11:00, we decided that it was time for bed.
After we had rest a spell, we woke up to an eclectic mix of music provided by Randy. Everyone
fended for themselves in regards to breakfast. Some of the crew had oatmeal, another had bread and
Gnutella, and I had cereal. I don’t really recommend the cereal. If I had to choose between the
unforgiveable curses and the cereal, I’m not certain which option I’d pick. I think this is
partially due to the quality of all the prior meals we’ve had since we’ve been on Mars. While some
of the crew was cleaning up after breakfast, Paulina, Larry and I inspected the front door to the
HAB which had endured the abuse of the storm the day before. The railing, on the other hand, was
not so fortunate.
We prepared the first group for today’s Geology EVA and they left the airlock at 9:32 AM. Larry,
Randy, Paulina went out and collected samples from two areas. Randy did chemical analysis on the
samples. Back at the hab, I went out and worked on my project with Marianna by marking out some
distances for testing tomorrow. We returned to the hab the same time that the other group returned.
We had a quick lunch of leftovers and brownies before it was time for the second group to head out
for our Geology EVA at 2:00 PM. This one was not quite as successful as the first one. I’m not
sure how the other group came back so chipper, but ours wasn’t quite as fun. Aly enjoyed the EVA,
but it wasn’t so fun for me. My knit cap, which I wore so that my uncovered head wouldn’t keep
bumping the top of the helmet, fell off while I was on the ATV as I was trying to lead the team to
the NAV point. Coupled in with some fogginess in the helmet, it really was the blind leading the
blind. My water pack decided it would let me know when I should have water and not the other way
around so I ended up soaked. I like looking at rocks and formations well enough, but it was
slightly uncomfortable this time around. Despite the difficulties, I enjoyed having to deal with
the challenges of the suit and being in simulation. I used my knit cap to try and clear up my
helmet, but that didn’t really help. I looked ridiculous with a knit cap just hanging out in my
helmet; however, it was still an interesting experience. We returned to the hab after two hours.
Randy started analysis for his lab while we were away and Paulina swept the hab.
For dinner, we had chicken fried rice. We used mushrooms, celery, and carrots as the vegetables.
We made a slight miscalculation on how many vegetables we needed. After dinner, we all continued to
work on our reports.
- Bao Pham