Working on Mars ... A True Story

I have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to work on Mars. It has been an honor and a privilege to be on the first all female crew to live and work on the Red Planet. There have been many challenges and I have learned something new each day of my rotation. I have come to realize that those extra ~39 minutes and 47 seconds that we have each SOL are very useful and I have been able to accomplish so much in SOL than I would have back home on Earth.

On the first few days of my rotation I learned how to change the oil for our generator which is our “life line” for the Hab. I also helped fix up the Hab for it was recently refitted. During EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) samples of Brachiopods, concretions, endoliths, soil samples, etc., were collected and brought back to the lab for further examination and documentation. I have also been put in charge of the Science Laboratory to which I will update and create a “working” inventory list to which all future crews to the Hab must check and sign off all equipment before they start their experiments/rotation. This will help determine what equipment, solutions, etc., will be needed for the lab in the future and what the lab already has.

I plan to come back to Mars again in the very near future to which I will continue my research on concretions for future Mars missions. I also encourage all on Earth to take the opportunity to apply to come to the Mars Desert Research Station in order to experience what it is like to live and work on Mars.

As for a personal note to my family and friends, I greatly appreciate all your e-mails wishing me and my crew well. We are never too far apart thanks to our current technology of the Webcam (www.marssociety.org/MDRS) as well as for e-mail. I will be home very soon to share with you all of my wonderful experiences here on Mars. As for my RCIC students at Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, I would like to say “Hello from Mars”. I hope you have been keeping track on all of our Daily Dispatches and if you have any questions about what we are doing, please remember to e-mail me at: Veronica.Zabala@asu.edu.

As for my students at Saint Thomas Aquinas, just because I am 6 months away, does not mean you get out of homework (ha ha ha). Please see this week’s homework assignment:

Tuesday:
Ps 26: 14
Nm 21: 4-9
Jn 8: 21-30
Jn 12: 32

Wednesday:
Ps 17: 48-49
Dn 3: 14-20, 91-92, 95
Lk 8: 15
Jn 8: 31-42

Thursday:
Heb 9: 15
Gen 17: 3-9
Jn 8: 51-59
Rom 8: 32

Friday:
Jer 20: 10-13
Jn 6: 63c, 68c
Jn 10: 31-42
Pt 2: 24

Saturday:
Ez 37: 21-28
Jer 31: 10, 11-12abcd, 13
Jn 11: 45-56
Jn 11: 52

Holy Week Starts:

• Remember Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
• Commemoration of the Lord’s Entrance into Jerusalem

Please remember that we are in Lent and remember what Lent means to us: Prayer, Almsgiving and Fasting.

I would also like to say “Hello” to my children’s schools: Corte Sierra Elementary School as well as Wigwam Creek Middle School. You all are fantastic and I cannot wait to come to your classrooms to share what it is like on Mars! I know many of you are excited and cannot wait to see pictures from Mars.

It is time that I must get ready for my EVA for this afternoon. I am waiting for the first EVA team to return and then I will suit up and get ready to head out. I am hoping to bring some samples back to Earth to show everyone. I want to take this opportunity to thank all who have supported us in our ventures to this wondrous and special place. One cannot imagine what it is like to be on another world, so far from home...far away from your loved ones...far away from your friends...far away from everything that you have come to know and understand. On Mars, everything is not as what we imagined. No amount of studying, training or preparation can make one comprehend the beauty of the geological formations, the curious size distribution and frequency of concretions that we once observed by the Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) long ago, and the bond that a crew shares when extreme conditions are waiting for us outside our safe environment. It is a common goal, self-confidence, the instinct and will to explore for the survival and curiosity of humankind that we have come to this place. There are those of us who are willing to sacrifice all that we know and all that we are in order to be a part of something bigger, and to gently guides humanity out of its infancy, like a Mother letting go the first time while watching her precious child takes her first steps into a universe, so immense, she cannot help but wonder what new adventures wait for her...on this world or the next.

It is time to say good-bye, but, only for a short while. From the Red Planet to our Mother Earth ...I wish you all well. May you always look up to the heavens as I have and never, never believe that there is not life outside our own home world. For I am here, on Mars. What more proof do you need?