Jonathan Dory

DATE: 03-19-02

*EVA Highlights (EVA CDR)

This was a relatively brief pedestrian EVA with Tiffany and I hosting New York Times Reporter Blaine Harden and freelance photographer Mickey Krakowski in a tour of the Hab ridge and surrounding area. Harden was in full EVA suit, at the crew’s recommendation, so that he could document the experience of working in the field under Mars conditions.

PRE EVA OPERATIONS

Normal suit donning operations. Blaine was instructed on the design, operation, and simulation intent of the suits.

AIRLOCK INGRESS/DEPRESS

Nominal ingress and depress. Radio check on handsets worked nominally, however EVA 37 was still in range of radios on frequency 2:00, as EVA 38 suit donning operations began immediately following EVA 37 egress, so there was initial confusion when EVA 37 overheard EVA 38 com checks.

HAB EVA MONITORING

EVA CREW: COMMENTS/OBSERVATIONS/LESSONS-LEARNED

EVA CDR: This was a particularly rewarding EVA in terms of the view from atop Hab Ridge. Today was a very clear day with no visible cloud cover. This was my first trip to the top of the ridge, and this was a great opportunity to view the local geological "neighborhood" of our Hab. One interesting observation was the abundance of jet contrails moving linearly from horizon to horizon over the high altitude desert. While simulation implied being lone explorers on an uninhabited alien world, it’s hard not to be impressed by the aerial highway above, with hundreds of human travelers at the tip of every white streak in the sky.

EVA MDRS1: I thoroughly enjoyed today’s EVA. This was my second trip to the top of the ridge overlooking the Lower Blue Hills, but since I was walking this time, it was a completely different experience. Driving the ATV requires my complete attention, and I am unable to watch the scenery. Today, however, I was able to appreciate my surroundings – it occurred to me that the trip to Mars would be worth it for scenery a quarter as beautiful as that around the hab. We walked along the ridge to a place where we found a veritable carpet of bivalve fossils, which we have identified as Gryphaea. We believe this is the point described by a previous crew as containing abundant fossils. Our visitors experienced an EVA that was both safe and productive without being overambitious.