Last night's problem with the generator leak was fixed by crewman Ben Huset and Don Foutz, the Mars Society agent in Hanksville. That was a good thing as the generator was not properly charging the batteries on which we rely for nighttime power. Thanks to the MDRS Engineering Team for helping us out of a jam.

Weather was cooler today. We actually had a brief token snow flurry in the morning, but if you were not alert, you wouldn't have noticed. The item on the agenda was to have a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new "Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Tunnel" at 1 pm. whether it was finished or not. The Commander managed to get more than half of the structure covered with the green vinyl snow fence fabric, and all but the last two sections of framing completed before the cameras rolled. Thanks to Eddie Fung for the naming suggestion. Hugh S. Gregory, a member of the "Heinlein Society" also submitted Heinlein's name, a few days after Eddie had done so. Thanks to both.

We all suited up for the ceremony, some in the standard MDRS EVA suits, some of us in the new Sim-Lite suits. Laurel was supposed to cut the ribbon, but could not manage with the EVA gloves on, so the commander made the snip while dedicating the new structure to Heinlein, whose science fiction stories in the 50s, 60s, and 70s sparked the love of space and the yearning for the frontier in many of today's Mars and Moon enthusiasts. There remains about a half hour of PVC work and an hour or two of fabric installation and the Heinlein tunnel will be complete. It includes a "T" which points to the observatory.

Peter and Laurel cut the ribbon on the new Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Tunnel

Ben tries on the Sim-Light suit in front of the new Pressurized Tunnel

Meanwhile, Ben Huset, our crew astronomer, continued to work on the observatory and the observatory webcam. The Moon is out tonight, but alas, we have only our naked eyes and a pair of binoculars to examine its craters and plains. Thanks to Ben, Starry Night is running on the commander's laptop, and we have it set to show the Earth as it looks currently from the Moon, showing both the proper phase and which continents are facing the Moon, and which portion of those are day-lit.

As we approach the end of our two weeks, Laurel is forced to be ever more creative in meal preparation as we run out of this and that. Tonight we had what I dubbed "Analog Beef Stroganoff." We were all hungry, and it disappeared.

With some of our projects completed, William and Peter are turning to other things on our long to do list. We knew at the start that we planned more than we were likely to accomplish, but at this point we are feeling very good about what we have done, and what we have learned. Indeed, learning how an Analog Research Station is designed, maintained, and managed was project number one.

Once again, we escaped the weatherman's promised rain. Rain is promised for every day remaining this week, but now we are ready for it, as most of our remaining projects will not require us to be out in the mud.

Laurel and Steven, after training by William, set out on their first EVA excursion on the ATVs today, and both gave the experience rave reviews. But even if you do not go beyond the ridges and hills which surround the Hab, this place is packed with other worldly beauty from horizon to horizon.

By sheer chance, this morning, Steven and I walked over to the GreenHab just as something inside had sprung a leak and water was beginning to pour out on the ground from the SE corner of the structure. Tank 3 was overflowing at its southeast end. The filter in the outlet to Tank 4 was clogged. I stopped the flood by bailing two bucketfuls into Tank 4, then Ben managed to clean the filter and all has been well since. This could easily have happened without anyone noticing. We were lucky!

We are all well. One crewmember had a small cut on one knuckle. There will be no separate Health & Safety report tonight.

Peter Kokh
Commander, MDRS Crew 45
Artemis Moonbase Sim 1