Crew 47 arrived at MDRS yesterday afternoon, after a five-hour drive from Salt Lake City. The trip was a real treat: Snow in the mountains, surreal rock formations and amazing colors in the desert, and happy crewmembers inside our rented Dodge 4x4 Cummins quad-cab long-bed etc. etc. pickup truck. The truck bed, by the way, was almost too small for the amount of research equipment, personal gear, food and supplies that we were hauling. But after nearly running out of food during the Crew 37 mission, I decided to err on the side of caution and ensure a full larder for Crew 47. And thanks to our generous sponsors (see www.gtmars.org), we were able to acquire a full set of equipment for each of our various research projects.

Pulling up to the Hab, we were greeted by a welcome message on the airlock door, and a delicious welcome dinner prepared by the remaining members of Crew 46. Thanks guys! Moving our gear into our quarters took only a few minutes, and the rest of the evening was spent getting acquainted with the various Hab systems.

The crewmembers did great with the training today. Spirits are high, and even though this is their first simulated Mars mission, operating the Hab and running the ATVs already seems completely natural to them. Never underestimate the skills and motivation of the Ramblin' Wrecks from Georgia Tech!

To cap the day's training activities, we had a fire drill to test the procedures discussed during yesterday's safety briefing. After triggering one of the smoke detectors on the lower floor, I called out “Fire in engineering!” and started my stopwatch. Moments later, the crew was already on their way out the door, with the HSO joining me to investigate the “fire”. A mere forty seconds after starting the drill, the crew was outside the Hab near our rally point, while Meryl and I had extinguished the virtual flames. No casualties and we saved the Hab. Yay!

Signing off for today,

Jan Osburg
Commander, MDRS Crew 47