Crew Status: Members of Crew 27 continue to be in great spirits and are really working as a team.

Daily Recap: Today was our second day of full simulation. In the morning, EVA-4 (McCarthy and Foltyn, along with Diaz as a "non-sim" subject and Collins as Habcom) was intended to continue with the maintenance of the remote radio near the hab. Remaining crewmembers (Collins, Wardlow, and Russell) worked on the back-up generator (Lil' Genny). They conducted some diagnostics and maintenance, and determined that Lil' Genny could be started (following a given procedure). This gives us a back-up generator to 'China Special'. Crewmembers Collins and Wardlow also instituted immediate measures to repair the toilet supply tank (completion still pending).

In the afternoon, EVA-5 (McCarthy and Foltyn, with Diaz as Habcom) had the intent to continue the remote radio maintenance, but was cut short because of lighting. EVA-6 (McCarthy and Russell, with Collins as Habcom) then continued the remote radio maintenance after the weather allowed for it.

The last activity of the day was an interview conducted by journalist, Wil McCarthy, to each crewmember, as part of a story he is writing. Overall, the crew is performing extremely well. Everybody knows what their tasks and responsibilities are. It is a pleasure to be part of a group of such talented individuals.

Additional Comments: EVA-4 analysis (for details of all the EVAs, refer to the EVA Report): Aside from the remote radio maintenance, this EVA also had the intent of testing the fidelity of our MDRS EVA gloves. We performed an EVA glove accessibility experiment with the use of an EVA connector mock-up from The Boeing Company's ISS EVA team; refer to photos that will be uploaded today (4/1/04). It was determined that the clearance required for these gloves was much less than the clearance required for ISS EVA connectors. As far as stiffness, the crewmembers reported that their hands were not stiffed at all; and as for fatigue in their hands, well, that was non-existent.

It was determined that this issue is two-fold. Simulation of the gloves is both an issue of volume and stiffness; with stiffness being a much bigger factor. Although it's true that if you don't have access to something, you can't do much about it (volume issue), the more common complaints we hear from the astronaut crew (regarding EVA gloves), is that it becomes tiresome to do repetitive finger or grasping tasks. They much prefer tasks that use the large arm muscles than the small finger muscles. That's because fingers get tired working against the stiffness of the glove.

In essence, we're not convinced that utilizing one set of ski gloves to simulate Mars EVA suits is an accurate assumption. I would suggest that we simulate EVA gloves by using two sets of ski gloves. One smaller set of gloves covered by a second set of larger gloves. We don't want them to be too tight, but we do want to make them thick and stiff-ish. However, given that this is not possible (all gloves we have are about the same size), I suggest we try putting a layer of latex gloves, or maybe partially wrapping our fingers with sports tape or cloth strips, prior to putting on the gloves that we have.

Tomorrow's Plan: Tomorrow's schedule calls for EVAs with the utilization of the ATVs. We want to feel comfortable riding the ATVs locally with space suits on, before we go long-range. We will continue with our third day of full simulation.

Daily Reports: The following reports should be in by 21:30.

1. Commander's Check In (this report) -- Alejandro R. Diaz
2. XO/Journalist Report -- William McCarthy
3. GreenHab Report -- James Russell/Peter Collins
4. Engineering Report -- James Russell/Peter Collins
5. EVA Report -- Bill Foltyn
6. HSO Report -- Julie Wardlow