Today we discovered one of the rules for analog Mars exploration: The number of cursewords that find their way into the vocabulary of the average crew member is proportional to the rate at which technical systems break down. Today served as an impressive illustration of that rule, with no shortage of breakdowns and other technical issues. But the crew remained in good spirits throughout it all, and even managed to go on an impressive EVA south of the hab that served as a first test for our fiber tools and in-situ resource utilization research. Another excellent dinner, along with a couple of showers, further helped to revitalize us, and now we are looking forward to watching our second movie during this rotation. However, today's trials and tribulations warrant a more detailed documentation, so here we go.

The issues actually started last night with the generator/inverter failing (see yesterday's reports). After barely getting through the night on battery power, we were glad to see Don, our local support manager, come out and do some troubleshooting this morning. He actually had to rewire the generator line both at the generator end and at the inverter end of the cable, but now the inverter is charging the batteries again and even the furnace is working while the generator is on. This may already sound quite complex to the uninitiated, but actually seeing the bundles of wires and multiple layers of menus and settings on the inverter is taking "rocket science" to another level. However, Don ultimately succeeded and we are enjoying a well-powered hab again. Yay for Don!

But just like in the simulator scenes in "Apollo 13," the hab suddenly started throwing additional failure scenarios at us, one on top of the other, in rapid sequence, as if designed to test the crew's crisis management abilities. First, in the middle of the generator/inverter repair work, the toilet tank supply pump broke down completely, in a constant-on mode that threatened to put too much pressure on the flexible toilet-flushing-fluid line leading from the GreenHab toilet supply tank to the toilet flush tank inside the hab. The multiple mention of the "t" word in the preceding sentence hints at the contents of said line and the dire consequences should it burst. Thus, rapid action was indicated, but was complicated by the fact that the spare pump that we found at the hab - although it looked a lot a like the one that it was going to replace - was operating on 120 Volt instead of the 12 Volt of the old one. The repair team found this out at a time when they had already "suited up" in Tyvek coveralls, splash shields and taped-on gloves to protect against the expected contamination from the wet part of the repair work. So a new 120 Volt line had to be fashioned, connected and tested while wearing gear suitable for the CDC's Bird Flu labs. The actual reconnecting of the pump lines was less messy than expected, and the new pump worked like a charm, as we found out from performing a couple of engineering flushes of our commode.

In the middle of these two simultaneous emergencies, Emily suddenly shouted "The Balloons are down!" The wind had picked up from one minute to the next, and was pushing two of our repeater balloons down hard on the desert floor, while the third was nowhere to be seen. While she raced out to the balloon launch site (still wearing her Tyvek suit and gloves), I alerted the remaining crewmembers at the hab. Faster than a fire drill, we had one balloon stabilized, but it was too late for the other one which had already been pushed into some rocks by a sudden gust. Deflating the saved balloon evolved into an Aeolian wrestling match, with the wind still trying to score its third kill and us wrapping ourselves madly around the twelve-foot sphere to force the helium out of it. The scene was so surreal that we could barely contain our laughter in spite of the sand blowing into our faces. We finally had the balloon secured and retrieved the remains of the second balloon (and of the repeater radio that had been attached to it - a total loss I'm afraid to note).

The third crisis mastered, we returned to the second (toilet tank pump replacement) and then finally back to the first (generator/inverter issues) before taking a well-deserved lunch break. Need I mention that the crewmembers on kitchen duty had managed to prepare an excellent lunch in spite of all the craziness going on? Old Chris Kraft would have been proud.

Signing off for today,

Jan Osburg
Commander, MDRS Crew 47