302-JournalistsReport

Journalist Report

Olenka Jibaja Valderrama

03-02-15

Hello Mission Support:

I am pretty sure Daniel Rivas never imagined he would ever spend his birthday in Mars. Even though we had to spend the day in the station working with our projects, this was definitely a great place to turn 25. Yesterday we waited until midnight to say “happy birthday” to him, as we spent a long time discussing some alternatives for a team project related to energy generation. After that, we had a great conversation about our life back on Earth. I miss my family and friends but I don’t want to go back so soon, I really enjoy my life here. Every day I get to know better each member of my team, they are incredible people.

As a birthday lunch, Sergio Postigo and I cooked an Italian dish named Rissotto. I never ate that dish before and I honestly though I wasn’t going to like because it had mushrooms, but I just loved it! And it is so simple to prepare, I will definitely cook Rissotto again back on Earth. Romulo Cruz has taken his job as HSO seriously, he has taken our blood pressure as prevention. Luckily, our pressure is between the normal parameters. Jim Gora is feeling better today, he waiting for a Bluetooth device he ordered to finish his project. He needs to conduct EVAs, so he wants to feel 100% healthy to start with that. Daniel Rivas has adjusted parameters of the electronic system of the exoskeleton. Right now, we are eating pizza to celebrate our Commander’s birthday. This is the first time ever I prepare pizza, nobody on Earth can believe I am doing it. Maybe we will watch a movie in a while as the end of the celebration.

Attached are some pictures from today.

Best regards,