Yesterday I whacked myself on an ATV ride. Let me explain: I got cocky, climbing tough places without even dismounting. One of those was across a gully, separating a plain and another steep gully. On the way there I passed it like a pro. On the way back I was sure I would do it just fine.

Kyoichi reaches the bottom carefully, dismounts and 'walks' the ATV to the top, with difficulty. It's my turn. I anticipate a repeat of my previous flawless maneuver.

The ATV descends from the plain into the gully, with enough momentum to climb half way onto the other side. Ahead, the dirt ramp turns right to avoid the steep gully ahead. I gun the engine as I turn. I enter slow motion. Silence.

I am already looking to the road on my right, and my body feels an acceleration that I didn't expect.

I think, "What's happening? This is not what I expected to feel now."

I start turning my head. The ATV has not turned; it's overshooting the road into the steep gully. It has started pointing down.

I still do not know what is happening, but I see a wall of dirt coming towards me.

I think, "Something went wrong. I am going to hit that."

Another fraction of a second passes. I am flying over the ATV head first onto the side of the gully. The ATV is halfway down in its parabola to the bottom.

I see the dirt closer.

I put my hands out in front.

Impact. The visor starts to crack.

I hear the cracking sounds progress to the back of the helmet.

The visor holds, the dirt stops right in front of my nose. I'm still flying horizontally, my legs are in the air.

I feel a slight relief, my face didn't get hurt.

I feel something on my legs: the ATV, on its way down, has caught my legs under the handlebars.

The ATV finally hits the bottom, almost vertical. Its front wheels turn under its weight. My right foot is squeezed under the right handlebar.

Things come to a rest.

I think, "I am ok, or at least conscious. I can try to figure out how to climb out of this one now."

Time resumes its normal pace. I hear Celeste yelling, "Diego, are you OK?"

One second has passed.

I can't extricate myself, and while I'm trying to jiggle myself out unsuccessfully, I notice a sharp pain in my ribcage, on the left side. The left handle bar was pointing up, and I must have hit it at some point.

It takes me a few seconds to figure out what happened, where everything is. My hands are in front of me, holding the dirt, my feet are trapped. I manage to free my left foot. My right foot is squeezed.

My teammates are running towards me. "Diego, are you OK? Answer me!" I can't push the PTT (push-to-talk) button.

Kyoichi arrives and pushes on the right handlebar with all his might. The handlebar turns enough for me to pull my foot out. I stand up, my ribs hurting. The wind howls through my cracked helmet.

I am dead.

In the sim, of course, since my air had escaped into thin Martian atmosphere.

I would also be dead in reality, if I was alone, since I could not pull my foot out of its trap. Nobody goes by there. I would have died of thirst.

But I am there, standing still in amazement, stupor, shame and disappointment.

And gratitude.

To the fortuitous forces and circumstances that fell well short of serious injury.

To my team mates, who run to me bravely and rescued me.

And to the space suit. Lame as it may be, it absorbed the force of the impact, protecting my face. And the helmet transmitted the force of the impact through the collar into my shoulders, padded with the straps of the backpack that pretends to be a life support system.

Kyoichi rides back to HAB, since radio comm is not working at that location. Celeste stays with me.

It starts to rain. We seek shelter in a small cave in a nearby cliff.

All I can think is what I can do to help sort out the mess I created. I can't really push or pull, so Celeste does most of the work. Her old knee injury starts acting up, I feel even more guilty.

We manage with great difficulty to 'walk' her ATV to the other side. Then we get into the gully and with ropes and a rock hammer we manage to land the ATV on its wheels, wedged along the bottom of the gully.

Later, the rescue team shows up. I am very happy and very embarrassed to see them.

I can't help, I can only watch and wince with pain.

They successfully dig around the ATV to make way for it to back up in the gully on its own power, then walk it up while pulling on a rope tied to the front.

We're going home. I am hurting, embarrassed and angry. But my teammates are not angry, they are happy to see that I am ok.

And I know we would be just fine on Mars. We have the right stuff.

In sim, I am now resting in the red soil that I've been dreaming of. The Red Planet embracing this Son of the Earth in its cold bosom. My cracked helmet on my grave will be a testimony to the tenacity and determination of the human explorers that preceded me and the ones that will follow.

In reality, I am watching a movie with my crewmates, cracking jokes about the accident and wincing each time they make me laugh.

Good night, Earth.