1130-JournalistsReport

Journalist Report

11/30/2014

Victor Luo

Welcome to Mars: Population 7. As the new crew of Mars Arctic 365 candidates, we feel excitement and anticipation for the days to come. After meeting the previous crew of six, we feel comfort in knowing what is accomplishable and anxious at the same time to make our own mark in the Martian deserts of the MDRS.

Greg Leonard is our commander and leader of our ambitious crew. He hails from sunny Arizona, but has been pretty much in every corner of the globe. We will look to him for his expertise in the field and charisma in the habitat.

Heidi Beemer is our XO and green hab officer. With her years of leadership experience in the army and aspirations as a Mars One candidate, we’ll have plenty to learn from her.

Dr. Susan Jewell is our health+safety officer and part-time journalist. She’s got experience leading expeditions all over the globe including the very next MDRS crew 145. Susan has done significant work in space medicine with a degree from the International Space University. She’s been a driving force for our outreach campaigns and really helped unify the group even before our arrival.

Victor Luo is our crew engineer and part-time journalist. His day job is working at NASA JPL as a Human Interface engineer designing software for controlling robots and spacecraft. In his spare time, he likes to pretend to be an astronaut and participate in Mars One.

Yusuke Murakami is the crew biologist. He is also going to be our secret weapon. Yusuke seems to have all of the gadgets and supplies required for any mission at any time and his 15 months in the Antarctic probably had something to do with that. He has a huge fan base back home as he is an inspiration to schools of kids who he will be reaching out to throughout this mission.

Juho Vehvilainen is the crew scientist. Hailing from Finland (which is not Norway or Sweden), he is an accomplished geophysicists and apparently the sole representative for the Finland space agency. When he is not busy going into extreme environments to study meteorology, he is trying to finish his med school to become a doctor.

Antonio “Tony” de Morais Teles is the crew geologist. And also our team mascot. This guy is full of positive vibes and will round out our team of expert scientists with his skills in astrophysics and astrobiology.

Thanks for taking the time to get to know us. Sit tight for the next two weeks and we’ll have memorable stories to tell.