In the spirit of a "log," here's a description of a typical day in our rotation. Four of us are usually awake between 6:45 and 7:30; Maarten has been refilling the generator about this time, as the auto-refill is not working. Vandi and Paul have sometimes gone out for an early morning run.

I usually have breakfast first, about 7:30 unless I've had a shower. I eat for about ten minutes, while reading an article in Space News. With so much to do, I am unable linger and move my chair back to my stateroom.

Coffee shows up by 8 am, usually made by Maarten (though today John). I'm reading email and working on the photos from the previous day. It takes about a half hour to transfer the files, create icons, import to iPhoto, rename files, select six or eight, export (resizing), write captions, upload to the Mars Society server site, and send out a message that the pictures are ready.

About 9 am, Ron and Mike arrive from Hanksville and we have a briefing, reviewing the day's plans and coordinating joint activities. This usually takes about a half hour.

People then work independently, handling chores and projects. We eat lunch individually when ready, though when a critical mass of food is piled out, people tend to gather. Lunchtime varies between about 12:30 and 1:30 pm.

We've had afternoon "tag-ups" either 4 or 5 pm, favoring the earlier time when we have a focused discussion on one topic. I go around asking what people have done, so I understand the state of the systems (and know what to say in my Checkin report). Reports include a mix of status on hab systems and our NASA research and development projects. We limit discussion during this round robin, but a lot of important information tends to be shared about how the agent, speech, procedural, and power systems work together. We often decide to have small group or general discussions later as a result of observations made during this afternoon briefing.

We then break for further work or perhaps some exercise before dinner, which is either precisely at 7 pm or by 730. Our dinners have been: Roast chicken, Corned beef and cabbage, Shrimp linguine, Stuffed green peppers and mashed potatoes, and tonight, Garlic chicken stew. (If only you could smell it!)

Like any crew, we spend part of the evening after dinner writing reports. We've watched two films (Lilies of the Field and Outland). Everything is quiet by 10 pm, with bedtime varying between then and midnight (when Maarten has had to refill the generator for the third time during the day).

The hab is then mostly dark, still and inactive. The lower deck is especially eerie. But generator, inverter, pumps, water heater, and computers continue all night, working without us.

Bill Clancey
Commander, MDRS Crew 49