During todays EVA-13 we did an exercise in exploration management, mainly filling sandbags for a radiation shelter. As this was supposed to put some physical load on the two of us we decided to take our capnometer with us. Staring at 09:45 your truly HSO had a heart reate of 97 bpm which is normal given the heat load and the 20 kg personal life support system excluding any special equipment. The CO2-level was at 30 mmHg which is pretty much physiological, during the exercise this value rose to 38 mmHg, which is no problem at all for a healthy male; as the shoveling was not exhautive enough for our taste, we spontaneously decided to walk one of the surrounding hills, whcih included a steep uprise of a 25 m high "peak" (well, peak has a different meaning in Austria (add at least 2 zeros behind the 25 m of the hill we were going for), but for Utah its O.K.). The CO2 peaked at 54 mmHg which is already a little bit borderline, but still within the range of what a healthy human can take for short periods. The more detailed measurements will be described in the scientific reports.

The point was that for a real Mars expedition it might make sense to include a "airstream boost" into the life support system which can -at least temporarily- deliver a much higher oxygen flow than normally needed, as there is a wide range of oxygen needs for humans under various physical loads.

Other than that, the crew is in a very healthy condition and enjoying the sojourn at the station - we have a limited amount of daily routine coming up, e.g. the crew voluntarily (!) is measuring their body fat, weight, blood pressure and body water data in the morning before breakfast.

Today, the major safety systems such as Carbon monoxide and smoke detectores and other equipment has undergone its bi-weekly inspection routine: All systems are operational, clean and now at the right place; details are in todays XO report.

Good Night, Earth
Gernot Gröemer

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HSO Personal Report

Our food shortage has been reduced, as we found additional "emergency rations" in the GreenHab probably put there by foreseeing mission planners 2 years ago, when the cargo ship was launched towards the Red Planet. Feeding people on such a mission is a non-trivial task, as one has to keep an eye not only on fluid balancing, but on all nutrients and keeping moral high within he crew, so little things like bringing traditional national food items is certainly a "must" on such expeditions. In our case - especially for people outside Austria - this means a chunk of home made bacon. We try to keep ourselves from cannibalizing it any minute but keep it for special moments, like the Easter weekend.

We have been looking forward to this bacon ("Speck", how it is called back home) for at least three days now and although its an everyday thing, it means something special to all of us as it means bringing a piece of home with us, just as we had this wonderful Yuris Night when we played Austrian pop music (dubbed as "Austropop") well into the night.

Tomorrow is going to be the birthday of our commanders daugther and - as some of us know her very well since the moment she was born (she is actually a "space child" in a special wayx, but that's something private only the Commander is allowed to tell, when you ask him in exchange for a glass of wine or two)- we're looking forwards to a video greeting during the midnight hour.