Lessons Learned:
1. Refuel the generator every 7 hours. Really.
2. ATVs are fun!
3. Every MDRS crew should bring morale boosting Girl Scout cookies

Today started extra early for Jan and John. The generator stopped running a little before 6AM. When the Hab power is cut the power supply for the satellite beeps twice. Repeatedly. Lucky for us, Jan and John heroically walked out to the generator, refueled it, and restarted the power. The rest of us slept until 7AM.

After everyone was ready we headed outside to clean up the area around the Hab before our visitor, Katie Knight from the Daily Mail in London, arrived. With six people this task flew by relatively quickly, and we even salvaged a spool for our balloon tether. Once the cleaning was complete we walked back to the Hab for breakfast.

Surprisingly, we have an excellent selection available for breakfast, partially because of what we brought, and partially because of what was left behind by other crews. There are at least 5 types of cereal in pantry, various flavored oatmeals, fruit, eggs, bagels, and the list goes on!

I suppose to an outside this may seem a little outside of the "Mars simulation" idea, but the truth is, if you are going to be away from Earth for longer than a year, you're probably hoping for more than just cornflakes every morning. But all kidding aside, as Jan informed us today, a breadmaker may be one of the items included on the packing list for a trip to Mars. The reason is that a breadmaker is small, and bread is an excellent food source with nutritional qualities and healthy yeast.

But anyway, back to the story. Our reporters arrived right around 9AM. They came into the Hab and sat down at the table with Jan. The rest of the crew went about its usual business, taking care of random chores and cleaning up. We still have a huge list of engineering tasks to complete on top of the general research we came here for. The crew happily worked away the morning hours. Doug went outside to check the ATVs, Rebecca learned more about the GreenHab, Kyle installed a helmet radio button and started repairing the broken suit packs, John fixed the cap for the Musk Observatory with Rebecca and myself.

Before we knew it, the reporters had left for the morning and it was time for lunch. We had a great lunch complete with a planning session for the rest of the day. Right as we were finishing our sandwiches the reporters came back. They came just in time because the rest of the afternoon was used for ATV training and space suit basics.

I personally had never ridden an ATV before, so this afternoon was a great learning experience for me. Doug patiently explained the details of using an ATV to the group, and then all of us tried them out. Driving an ATV isn't really anything like driving a car, and it isn't really like riding a bike either. It's really bouncy, kind of fast, and really fun. Jan took Rebecca and I on a practice loop because we were the least familiar with the ATVs. Later on, Kyle, Doug, and John went on their own practice loop.

The next thing on the agenda was to learn about the space suits, and then (the best part) put them on. The space suits aren't in spectacular condition, but they still hold together, and they look great when people wear them. Our reporter guest, Katie, was the first to model the outfit.

Our complete space suit consists of a few different parts: the main suit, the helmet, and the pack. The suit goes on first, then the helmet and pack. The helmet is just what you would imagine an astronaut helmet to be… large and round with a big viewing window. The helmet is clamped to the pack, and the pack itself has two fans that circulate air inside the helmet. It took us a long time to get suited up, but I imagine we will get better with time.

Doug, John, Rebecca and I got dressed and started walking outside. We had a blast stomping around in our boots, climbing up the hills, adjusting to the weight of the packs, and getting the feel for what it will be like to be in sim. Jan and the reporters took pictures of us trapazing the desert on a beautiful day. Kyle helped us get ready while Katie was still using the only other functioning suit. As a reward for his patience, he and Jan got to do the first test drive of ATVs in sim.

After an exciting afternoon the six of us took the early evening to finish up any incomplete work from the morning. Rebecca and I cooked dinner while the rest of the crew started writing reports. After dinner Jan generously shared his Samoas with the rest of the crew as a celebration of going into sim later this evening. The last thing we will do out of sim tonight is take the traditional walk around the Hab. It should be a pleasant walk with a gorgeous view of the stars.