This was a late morning for me; I waited till Kim and Derek called, "Porridge!" to get out of bed. Breakfast was oatmeal and fruit today, a nice hearty meal before an EVA. We all debated for a while just exactly how to lay out today; this was difficult, as we were waiting for word about whether the Generac generator was ready in Grand Junction. Finally, we agreed that if it were ready, David would go by himself to get it, and the rest of us would stay behind and work on our research and explorations. Tim was selected to be commander of the day if David were indeed to leave the Hab.

But, as it turned out, the Generac was NOT ready. So we turned to Plan B. Kim and I suited up for an EVA to White Canyon to scout it as a possible backup site for Thursday's Discovery Channel Canada film crew. Additionally, we were to collect samples for Jody and to look for oyster beds in some of the flatter areas.

We roared down the dirt road towards the south until we saw the turnoff we were looking for. But when we pulled off the road and parked, we didn't see the pristine, picturesque site we were expecting. There were ATV tracks in the canyon (not ours) and cow patties everywhere (we were, after all, near Cow Dung Road). We almost immediately decided that this was NOT the place to bring a film crew.

But we had more important geological work to do. We laboriously made our way down into the canyon, crossed the intermittent stream, and toiled our way over to a wall of the cliff. The EVA suits do not make for easy hopping from rock to rock. At the cliff wall, we chipped off pieces of rock and put them into zipper bags we labeled. Kim took GPS readings and sketched the rock layers so that Jody could study them later. Because neither of us is a geologist, we wanted to be particularly careful, as we were Jody's eyes and ears on this mission. Once back on top of the cliff, we picked up some representative rocks that were lying about. One we knew was volcanic; the others we weren't sure about. On the way back, we stopped several times to look for oyster beds, but we didn't see any.

Once unsuited and settling in at the Hab, we showed Jody what we had collected. He seemed particularly interested in one of the loose rocks we had located at the top of the cliff-like basalt, it was igneous, but it had formed through a different geological process.

As we put up our last bits of gear, I spoke with David about the differences I had noticed in today's EVA and others I had been on. Previously on my other missions outside the Hab, I was either part of a group of three which included a man, or my only EVA partner had been a man. In those cases, we had worked out precisely ahead of time who the EVA leader was, and what each person's duties were. This morning when Kim and I headed out, we didn't even discuss who was to do what, or who would lead the mission. David says that studies have shown that women work more intuitively together than men do, and that women seem to work things out without making their methods obvious. One example I noticed was that when we headed back from the sample collection site, Kim grabbed the heavy geology box and said, "I'll carry it this time." Nothing had been said about it's being heavy, or the fact that I had carried it to the site. In addition, we never clearly said which of us was definitely in the lead. We took turns radioing in to the Hab to report our progress. Now the casualness of this structure wouldn't be a good idea on a long mission or one with must-do-or-die goal. But it was fine for today.

After a salami-and-cheese with leftovers lunch, Tim and Jody suited up for their own EVA, one to the north.

While they were preparing to leave, Derek began to hook me up to his motion assessment monitors. This involved having various plastic boxes hooked to me with Velcro and tape. These monitors sent information to Derek's computer, which collected the data. I did a series of motions over an hour or so, and then Derek turned me loose to do what I wanted, as long as I didn't leave the Hab. I wore the devices from about 3:00-10:00 p.m. They were somewhat restrictive, but the restriction was a small price to pay for scientific innovation! The type of research Derek does, he explained to me, often helps patients whose range of motion is severely compromised, say, after a stroke. He can see what their limbs are capable of doing, and then design devices that stimulate the uncooperative muscles to work. I'm oversimplifying, of course, but what he explained to me sounded very interesting and useful.

Jody and Tim were out about three hours, from about 2:30-5:30. The fellows came back very dusty; Tim complained of eating Mars dust this afternoon. I could see why when I saw their photos -- they had a few of themselves boot-high in soft dirt at times. They investigated the Muddy Creek area and apparently found some good stuff. They came back with a sample box so heavy that I could hardly lift it. From those photos I've seen, they did some heavy-duty ATVing -- Tim even got stuck once. It was pretty hot to be out today, so they were happy to have some Gatorade when they returned. Jody wrote about this outing in detail in his report, so I won't say more about it here.

While Jody and Tim were gone, and Derek and I were gathering motion data, David spent a couple of hours working on the blue pickup truck. After crawling around under it and cutting and hooking up wires and testing fuses, he finally came in to announce, "We have taillights!" We are all glad, as this truck will be our only transportation when we are back in Salt Lake City. Our hearty commander has made this thankless task a project of his, to leave MDRS with a truck that's safer to drive, day and night. He kiddingly told us that while he was at it, he'd installed a DVD player, but we knew better (the truck doesn't even have an AM radio!).

While the EVA team was out exploring, Kim served all afternoon as HabCom, which means that she could not stray far at all from the radio for those hours Jody and Tim were on EVA. In between radio check-ins, she spent her time setting up a wireless network with a booster, looking into solutions for our medical communications problem, and cooking supper (chili and fresh bread). Being hooked up to Derek's monitors, I wasn't allowed to stray outside this afternoon. So I spent my free time writing reports, messing with some software for my laptop, writing formal EVA suiting-up procedures to post in the EVA prep area, and fighting the urge to take a nap.

Soon after supper, with washing-up chores completed, Tim, Derek, and Kim took off to the Musk Observatory, determined to get the telescope working. We didn't see them again till late. It was a great night for stargazing, they told Jody, David, and me. We wouldn't know, as we cannot go outside unless we are suited up. (The astronomers can, as Observatory work is essential at the MDRS, but suits are not allowed in the Observatory.) Frankly, I was afraid for a while I was going to have to spend the night wearing Derek's motion-sensing monitors, for the Observatory crew didn't look as if they were going to come back to the Hab till daylight.

Finally, though, the monitors were off, and I could take my long-awaited shower. We here at the station have water brought in from off-site, so we try to use as little of it as we can each day. To conserve water, we allow ourselves only a Navy shower (rinse off quickly, turn off water, soap up, turn water back on, and rinse), and that, only once every three days. Today was my turn, and I was definitely ready. And then I went gratefully to bed -- clean.