I understood that the Martian day was a little over 24 hours and 39 minutes. However thanks to our arch enemies "Little Genny" and "China Special" my day was considerably longer. On refueling "Little Genny" at 23:00 hours, having to jump start it again, we found that there was not enough fuel to last for the eight hours until the next scheduled refill. We calculated that we may have had enough for about four hours. On Susmita's suggestion I proposed to Reece that this would be better used in the morning, rather than at night. So we forwarded our reports, closed everything down, and turned off the generator. After a crew evening discussion by candlelight (where we learnt about Kangaroos) and a few preparations to avoid problems without power overnight, we went to bed. With the noise of the generator now gone, being able to hear every crew members breathing and being worried about sleeping in I was having some trouble getting some sleep. With the crews night time treks to the bathroom it meant that I did not sleep until about 03:00 hours. Just in time to be woken up by Edwins alarm at 04:00 hours to turn the generator back on. On waking Susmita to assist me we discussed the fuel situation and not certain what time our supply would arrive we decided to keep the generator off for a further two hours. I managed to get to sleep just before the alarm woke me at 06:00 hours.

Going out to challenge "Little Genny" in the freezing Martian landscape a nuclear power supply seemed almost appealing. We were not surprised when she would not start, and hooked her up to an ATV again to jump start her. This time it would not work. She remained asleep and despite our efforts we could not get her to wake.

By morning briefing our generator doctor had arrived from Hanksville and had certified "Little Genny" as deceased. She would be shipped off for some surgery to try and get her going again. With a shower of sparks and some engineering secrets only known by our supply wizard Don, "China Special" reluctantly spluttered to life. To try and keep some power for a while we are not to turn the generator off, having to refuel it while it is still running. None of us are happy with this solution but we cannot rely on her starting otherwise.

Having worked through today on automatic pilot, really needing a weeks sleep, I really had to push myself to appear my usual cheerful self, and to help the crew with their projects. It was a relief to get out onto an EVA today. Edwin and I went up to the repeater station for some panoramic shots and then tracked out a trail which we had not followed before.

I found the perfect thing to wake me up. On hearing a noise from the Ward room on the return of the morning EVA I could see electricity arcing from a cable attached to our weather station to the metal roof structure of the Hab. On investigating, having switched off the Hab power, the arcing continued and I found that the whole cable from the ceiling to the connector box would give a shock if touched. There is no power attached to it so we can only assume that the wind measuring device is creating a dynamo effect which is causing the electricity build up. As there is no grounding it reached a stage where it had to discharge. It is amazing how your mind clears as you try and solve a problem like this when you believe that you are in imminent danger of being electrocuted. Just another fun filled day. No sleep, cold, hungry, sore from a tough ATV ride and having received several small electric shocks...and still I do not want to leave. On to Mars!