We knew coming in that the power gods would fight us in this rotation (after all, the China Special generator was christened and named during Amy and my previous rotation). Two years later, the Engineering Team has done a tremendous job upgrading the power systems here at MDRS, but at the end of the day I know that the power gods still have it in for me. So naturally it should come as no surprise that we arrived at the Hab just in time to hear of Crew 49's most recent generator woes. Our newer crew members also learned that if you've got a problem, the Don will solve it. (The Don is our local support and hero.)

The Don (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain), however, can't spend all day at the Hab, and the demons returned. After a brief black out in the Hab (which fortunately enough occurred during daylight hours), we were able to implement the "Option D," consisting of two cars powering the Hab. No one said going to Mars would be easy.

It has been a successful Day 1, aside from all power dilemmas. Our crew has begun settling in. EVA training has also been going quite well and I look forward to an early morning EVA tomorrow. The Penn State team has begun assembling their rover, which should be ready for action soon as well. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Crew 50 is locked and loaded. So with that, here's to an excellent rotation ahead...

Kevin Sloan
Commander, MDRS Crew 50