It was snowing this morning when we got up, so no EVAs were scheduled, leaving time for catching up on reports, analysis of samples and engineering tasks around the Hab. We could see the flakes falling outside as we ate breakfast – has made the tracks around here very muddy and slippery.

We had a lot of fun too watching most of the extended version of the Lord of the Rings on DVD (thanks to Chad!) and it appears that many of us, myself included, are Tolkien fans and have seen the movie multiple times. Rocky has a DVD drive on his laptop – unfortunately we couldn't find the projector to go with the screen, so were forced to use his laptop screen. Melissa made us popcorn in the microwave (an essential staple food on Mars) and I opened up a box of chocolates – very indulgent.

It's hard to gauge what the atmosphere was like on Phase 1, but it seems like the movie session has brought people out a bit who were a little shyer and reserved and created an air of levity which I feel helps, rather than hinders productivity. Even the occasional lack of power and the fact that we couldn't have showers that day didn't dampen anyone's spirits – well, not that they were admitting anyway...

Most people returned to work after dinner, so we have decided to postpone the rest of the movie until the day after.

We found out that Steve Dawson in Melbourne had a radio interview about Expedition One - very good to see the PR machine bubbling along in my absence. Plus we made the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald newspapers, based on an interview which I had with a journalist Richard Macey last week in Melbourne. The more publicity we can generate, the more likely we are to secure further sponsorship for our activities, as well as keeping the concept of sending humans to Mars on the public agenda.

Vuong is keeping everyone laughing with his great sense of humour, although his comments on the movie nearly had Jonathan in a state of apoplexy at one point ... Much discussion on the merits of Liv Tyler by the guys, while Melissa and I shared a high opinion of the actor playing Aragorn. Good fun.