After breakfast we were given a brief geology lesson by Jody, and from that information we planned two EVAs for the day. The first one, with Derek, April, and Jody, climbed to the repeater located on a ridge to the west of the Hab. Jody acted as both EVA lead and scientist. Egress occurred at 11:26, ingress at 12:10. The team discovered how hot the suits can be, even during a relatively mild day. A debriefing was held immediately after their return to discuss what we learned and how to improve the process for the next EVA. One improvement was that the lead and science position would always be different people. This allows the scientist to concentrate on science, and the lead has overall responsibility for the mission and safety of the team.

The second EVA was to a hill 1.3 km to the southeast from the Hab. The team consisted of David, Tim and Kim. Kim led the team, Tim acted as scientist, and David was the navigator and point man. This EVA was much more ambitious than the first one. Although the straight line distance was only 1.3 km, the terrain forced the team to make many detours around small hills and ditches.

Five minutes into the EVA, Tim's radio became inoperative. After a brief conference with her team, Kim decided that the bad radio was not enough to abort the EVA, and we pressed on in single file, with David on point, Tim in the middle, and Kim bringing up the rear and keeping an eye on Tim. Without a radio he would not be able to call for help if something went wrong.

500 meters from the base of the target hill we spotted a set of pug marks in the bottom of a dry stream channel. They were 3-4 inches across and looked like they had been left within two days or so. It reminded us we were strangers in a strange land.

At the base of the target hill we surveyed the area for the best route up. At that point we became aware of a dark mass of clouds and rain approaching from the southeast. This made us realize that it is very easy to be unaware of what we normally would have noticed immediately: a thunderstorm approaching.

The thunderstorm forced us to make quick decisions on whether to continue or abort. We decided to note the location of the storm, and check it in 5 minutes while we continued up the hill. Five minutes later we could see very little movement in the storm, and decided to press on.

Climbing the hill was very hard. Where there was soft clay, every step tended to slide downward a few inches. In areas of scree the loose rolling rock presented its own hazards. We cautiously made our way up, stopping every 5 minutes to rest and drink water, and reassess our route and the approaching weather. Eventually we came to a wide flat area about 30 meters from the summit. The approaching weather and the lack of a usable route convinced Kim to call a halt to the effort, collect what samples we could, and start back.

The trip down the slopes presented possibly more hazards than the trip up. The helmets make visibility down very difficult, so footing was pretty much touch-n-pray. The time going down was longer than the time going up, since we were forced to carefully work our way down loose clay and scree. Once down, however, we were able to make almost a straight line for the hab, using our GPS to guide us until the Hab was in sight. By the time we were in the airlock, we were all soaked in sweat from the afternoon's efforts. But the grins behind the faceplates were from ear to ear.

The unexpected challenge of the approaching thunderstorm gave the team a chance to learn about how to manage unexpected events (to borrow a phrase from Weick and Sutcliffe, authors of "Managing the Unexpected."). We had to reevaluate mission priorities and objectives, develop criteria for go-no-go decisions, and stay open to new challenges, all within a few minutes.

In aviation there is a phrase used to describe the cause of many accidents called "get there-itis." It happens when a pilot is so focused on getting to their destination they ignore clear warning signs of approaching doom. They convince themselves that they can make it, no matter the odds. Many times they die. They never learn the meaning of that old phrase, "Discretion is the better part of valor." Today we able to learn that making the objective was not nearly so important as surviving.

One of the interesting things that happens when bright people are thrown into unusual environments is that they come up with all sorts of clever ideas. Tim, after seeing how we were reacting to the many new chores presented to us, came up with a short survey to help determine if certain tasks were always onerous, or would they become less stressful as we became acclimated., and if those emotions were the same for all members of the crew. Oddly, he didn't include his own survey in the list of tasks. . .

Today our Port-a-Pottys disappeared. The portable toilets had been placed nearby because the Hab sanitary system was designed for six, and would not support the large numbers of people in Crew 14. Coincidentally, the main generator used to supply power to the Hab failed and we were forced to run off of the backup generator. The backup generator doesn't supply enough power to run the primary waste disposal unit, so we had been using the portable loos. But today they were taken away. Fortunately we knew that was a possibility and had prepared for it by obtaining camp toilets. These consisted of 5 gallon buckets with toilet seats on top, and plastic bags inside. Primitive, but effective. And a chance to experience a very space-like situation. During the early days of spaceflight, solid human waste was collected in plastic bags, stored, and returned to Earth for disposal. But plastic bags can leak or rupture, so to avoid the possibility of biological hazards floating around inside the spacecraft, NASA equipped each and every bag with a capsule of antibacterial gel. After use, the astronaut carefully squeezed the capsule through the skin of the bag until it burst (the capsule not the bag!), and kneaded the contents to distribute the material and kill all the germs that normally live in the human gut, but would present a very great hazard if inhaled.

Even today, Shuttle astronauts take these same bags along in case the head (toilet) fails to work properly. Sometimes adapting to microgravity is more than adjusting to fluid shifts and inner ear disturbance.