Today's EVA took us beyond the northernmost point of Copernicus Highway. The terrain was difficult to navigate, but we were rewarded with beautiful scenery and the thrill of exploring an uncharted area.

The towering red cliffs we passed on the way provided a great backdrop for us to record a video message for my daughter's elementary school. One of today's kids may be the first to set foot on real Mars, and efforts like the Mars Society's analog research stations can help put the associated "rocket science" into a context that young people can understand and get excited about: Living and working in an isolated habitat with a tightly-knit crew, exploring alien landscapes while wearing space suits, taking photographs and collecting rock samples, communicating with mission control back on Earth through a satellite link - MDRS allows us to explain these activities, even though they are complex to organize and sometimes challenging to execute, in a straightforward way, by direct example.

Tomorrow we will have an opportunity to do some more explaining, if the CMT media crew makes it to the hab in spite of the muddy roads (the rain has just picked up again). This will give us access to yet another type of audience.

Signing off for today,

Jan Osburg
Commander, MDRS Crew 47