"Where are we going?"

The EVA team had exited the airlock and climbed in the PEV for our first in sim EVA. Before they took off to the site, those of us left in the Hab heard Amber ask this question.

It's a good question. Where are we going? What is the future of Mars analog research? What is the future of Mars research? When will we finally see Mars through human, and not robotic, eyes? When will we become a space-faring people?

I don't have the answers to any of these questions. I guess we all have dreams, ideas, and/or possible ways to accomplish these goals. But here, today, our goals are more grounded.

Ground truthed to be exact. When the EVA team came back and started their debrief, I was reminded once again why I do this, why I come here time and time again. It is because it is so damn rewarding.

Veronica began the debrief by downloading the photos they had taken on their EVA. It was fascinating to watch the three geologists— Veronica, Amber and Stacy— go through the photos and discuss each one in detail. Ground truthing the ARV image was relatively straightforward, since the image was from a training flight and not from a site of scientific interest. But they had continued exploration of the area from the ground and found much to investigate in terms of flow regimes and fluvial features. For the rest of us, the images were pieces of art and even the most unscientific among us could appreciate the beauty formed in nature.

As I write this, we are making dinner and writing reports. There has been no need to define a routine; we move smoothly through the day as if we have been working as a team for a long time. After dinner, we are going to have a small celebration to honor our place as the first all female crew at MDRS. For now, we aren't going anywhere.