0201-CommanderReport

Crew 162 Commander Daily Report

Sol 09

February 1, 2016

Crew Commander: Renee Garifi

Our team experienced the first snow on Mars since our arrival on Sol 01.

Last field season, Team ISU arrived to the habitat following a night-time

snow fall event and encountered 13 sols of Martian mud during EVA

activities after temperatures increased and snow melted but did not dry. I

am encouraged by the renewed spirit of my team following an engineering

outing around the hab exterior to sweep snow off of the various pieces of

equipment on-site. However, experience tells me that we have a very muddy

week ahead of us and the first floor of our hab will require extra

attention with a broom.

We are looking forward to our second visiting vehicle tomorrow which will

bring a temporary crew member, a photographer from the UK, to capture the

essence of our team and the capabilities of the station. One of our efforts

during our crew rotation at MDRS is education and outreach. Promoting the

analog site as a regarded research program is something our team focuses

on. I am hopeful for the visit and look forward to previewing the

photographs that come from it. In addition, our team will be requesting

some one-on-one lessons in digital landscape photography, especially in

utilizing the ISO settings for night-sky landscapes. There is very little

light pollution out here at MDRS and it makes an unbelievably ideal spot

for night-sky observing and photography.

We even have an opportunity to wave at our friends on the ISS as they fly

overhead tomorrow. Who knew- the ISS, in orbit around the Earth, is also

visible from "Mars"! Beginning at 6:46 PM on Sol 10, Commander Scott Kelly

and his crew will be visible for 3 minutes at a maximum height of 86°,

appearing 24° above SW and disappearing 28° above NE, over the hab. We will

work with our visiting photographer and, pending clear skies from the god

of war, capture the habitat and the ISS together in one stunning panoramic

image.

Until tomorrow, Crew 162 Commander Garifi, signing off.