1204-JournalistsReport

Journalist Report

12/04/2014

Victor Luo

Today I took my first shower on Mars. It lasted exactly 1 minute and

58 seconds; I only had water for half of it. And it was glorious. On

Mars, it’s all about the little things.

Every endeavor requires sacrifice. Living on Mars is no different.

Everything is rationed out, even toilet water. Our food is dehydrated

for the most part, and simple ingredients such as butter and garlic

are hard to come by; if you didn’t bring it on your way here, you

might as well consider it nonexistent. Communication with the outside

world is severely restricted and we only have a small communication

window when we can talk to mission support back on Earth. The habitat

is limited in size so we have to learn to live and work in close

quarters with each other.

What’s more, every time we need to go outside to do engineer or

science work, we have to plan one day ahead and spend an hour or so

putting on our suits and getting depressurized in the airlock. When

we are in our suits, another level of restriction is applied. Our

bulky gloves constrain our hand dexterity, communication is limited to

radio channels only, and you can’t touch your face. That’s right.

You can try right this second and see how long you last without

touching your face. How’s that itch feeling right about now? Is

there something in your nose or mouth? What about your hair? Now try

playing this game for 2+ hours and you’ll start to understand what

it’s like to be in a space suit.

With great sacrifice, comes great rewards. We have the opportunity to

experience and contribute to a very real and tangible cause: sending

humans to Mars. If we get selected for the Mars Arctic 365 mission,

we will be the first people in the world to live in a Mars analog for

a whole year in the Arctic, arguably experiencing the closest thing to

being on Mars itself. The scientific research we are conducting, the

restrictions we are simulating, and the social bonds that we are

establishing, are also every bit as genuine.

As a cohesive team, I can’t believe we’ve only met a week ago and as

we enter the weekend and the beginning of our second week here on

Mars, we’re humbled by the experience so far and we are excited to

bring you more exciting news and discoveries along the way. Thanks

for coming along for the ride.