Today we leapt out of bed early to a breakfast of cereal and bagels. This was the day that was to make us famous, the day the Discovery Channel Canada was coming to film. We spent a little extra time tidying up and then settled down to our assorted work-David to make sure everything was just so, Kim to correspond with her graduate student, who was to send her some information that will figure into her research. Tim went downstairs to work on radio headsets (we received some new ones yesterday); Derek worked on his travel journal, Jody studied maps, and after preparing chicken salad for lunch, I worked on my daily log. As always, we are wearing pedometers for Derek and reporting our steps every half-hour.

Speaking of pedometers, Kim entertained us one day by telling us about Tamagotchi, or pedometer pets-these electronic animals receive food, water, and exercise as the owner logs in steps. They are apparently wildly popular in Japan, where Kim lived for several years. If the owner doesn't walk regularly, the pet becomes unhealthy and could "die." From my informal observations, Jody and David would have the healthiest pets if we were all issued Tamagotchi instead of straight pedometers.

We were all happy when the Discovery Channel guys showed up, right on time. Our long-awaited guests, Mark Miller, the producer, and Derek Reich, cameraman, were quite pleasant to be around. We began the visit by holding our morning meeting to discuss today's EVA and who was to do what. After we questioned Mark and Derek about what they needed from us, David gave a preview of the plans for the day. As we discussed our upcoming EVA, Jody gave us a briefing on where we were headed (Lith Canyon) and talked to us about the rock layers we were looking for and why.

For the first time since our arrival, we were able to have three crewmembers on ATVs on the EVA team, since we finally had received a replacement for the lost key. Jody, of course, would go, being our resident geologist, and after some discussion, it was decided that Kim should be EVA leader, and I would be the third member of the crew. But even though we were to be in EVA suits, the whole day we would be out of sim, as we were going to be accompanied by cameramen and members of our own crew, and doing work in the field as much as for the camera as for ourselves.

We went downstairs to suit up; we felt a little pressure, since we were filmed doing it. But thanks to Tony Muscatello, who had sent us new headsets, and to Tim and Derek, who had prepped the radios, backpacks, and EVA room, suiting up went smoothly. Soon we were in the airlock and waiting to open the outer Hab door. This we did, and went down the steps-and were sent up again to repeat the process with the cameraman on the other side. This gave us a bit of a taste of what the day would be like. We finally got the ok and headed over to the ATVs. Mounted up, we intended to ride off, and we eventually did, but not before my machine choked and died a couple of times. "Oh, that must be the one that doesn't really idle," someone told me helpfully. "Hmmmm," I thought. "This could be a long day!"

But off we went, keeping in radio contact with one another and HabCom, or David, who broke sim (everyone did today to some extent or another, out of necessity to accommodate our new Discovery friends) and followed us in his Explorer, accompanied by Derek and Tim. We had dressed under the suits for a warm day, but the day it turned out was quite cool and breezy. We were chilly as we sped through the desert, chased by the film crew and our supporters. Wind whipped up under my helmet and added to the general noise from the blower and ATV engine. After a rather windy and cool ride, we finally reached Lith Canyon and were joined by the others soon after.

We consulted on the priorities, both of the geologist and the Discovery crew, and decided that trying to climb down to look at lower layers of rock would serve everyone's purposes. This we began to do. Derek the cameraman followed us while Jody discussed what we were seeing and took samples, Kim took the GPS coordinates, and I recorded the sample numbers, coordinates, and wrote notes for Jody. Mark seemed particularly interested in how the EVA suits hampered our ability to carry out even very simple tasks. They asked a lot of questions about our ability to manipulate items in the geology box-rock hammer, zipper bags, bottle of acid, pen, notebook, and the like-with EVA gloves on.

As always, I had quite a time putting some rock samples in a plastic zipper bag, especially with a large camera six inches from my gloved hand to add pressure. Jody commented that another problem is not being able to see well from inside the helmet. For one thing, inside the helmet, one is farther away from what needs to be seen. For another, it's hard to avoid glare when wearing a helmet, and it's hard to look down. So seeing rocks to take samples from, seeing to place one's feet when walking, seeing the GPS coordinates-all these are difficult when in EVA gear. Gloves are their own problem. If I want to get something out of a front pocket, I have several handicaps. First, I can't see the pocket, even though it's on my hip. Second, I can't feel to open the velcroed flap that keeps it closed. Third, I can't really get my gloved hand inside the pocket to grab what's there, and once I do manage all this, I can't easily manipulate the item, whether it be a pen or a camera.

Jody also mentioned that the suits themselves are restrictive-using a rock hammer is harder because the suit restricts arm movement. So is driving an ATV. Sometimes, our heads hit the inside of the helmets as we bounce over bumps. Also, there's no way to see behind when riding an ATV in an EVA suit, so we wear polished steel mirrors on armbands. But holding up an arm and looking at the reflection while driving an ATV through rough terrain is virtually impossible. Even when a rider stopped, however, it's virtually impossible to turn around far enough to see behind. So the front man in an ATV caravan has to rely on radio reports from his companions to know if they are back there.

So one might ask, why bother with the suits, since we're in Utah? Well, the fact that they limit us so much is the whole point. Our inconveniences are the technologist's problem to solve. The more people who understand just how hard it is to do the simplest tasks while wearing EVA suits, the more willing and able innovative folks will be to come up with solutions for future astronauts to the Red Planet. If we here in Mars/Utah find the circumstances in EVA suits difficult, inconvenient, or dangerous, well, we can take off the suits. But astronauts on Mars won't have that luxury. They will have to be able to perform all tasks outside their Hab within the limits put upon them. Finding out what problems need to be solved is a useful thing, as is putting potential solutions to the test in the field.

This topic came up in our discussions with the guys from Discovery, as they came up close enough to talk through the noise from our helmets. After a little poking around near the top of the canyon, we decided to move to a lower level to see what layers of rock lay beneath us. We climbed down awkwardly into a narrow part of the canyon and walked a few yards, cameraman behind us. Then Jody noticed something interesting and called us over: slickensides, or evidence of previous vertical movement of the rock. The up-and-down motion over a long period forms a distinctive pattern in rock, and this was the first time we had seen it here on Mars. This was indeed a discovery!

His excitement was contagious, and we all gathered around to see it. He explained to Mark why he was so interested in this particular rock and talked about why it was important. Kim and I took photos while Derek filmed, then Jody whacked away at the rock to try to get a sample to bring back. The sample he got I put into a zipper bag and labeled it. Again, Kim took GPS coordinates. The film crew documented the discovery.

As we searched for interesting things, we tried to keep moving, because any time we stood still, we got cold from the blowing wind. In fact, the wind was whipping down the canyon and buffeting against us as we climbed over rocks or even stood still. Several times it caught the geology box I carried and almost pushed me off balance.

After studying the slickensides, we then decided to move further down the canyon, but every way we saw to descend would not have been an acceptable way to return. And a good sim-astronaut always keeps in mind that he wants to make it back for his next meal. So we sadly decided that we could not investigate further down the canyon. We left hoping that maybe we could come at it from another direction on another day.

So Kim, Jody, and I turned back and decided to investigate some floats, or rocks sitting on top of the formations we had been studying. One serendipity was to discover some limestone floats, though we did not find any in situ. We were getting more accustomed to the camera crew by now, so when Derek knelt beside us and filmed our boots as we walked across the red Mars landscape, we didn't think all that much about it.

Before we got much further into our work, David radioed us that the gusts we were having were bringing in a dust storm. Having seen a dust storm before, we knew what that meant: and the cameraman did, too. He was rushing back to his truck to stow his equipment before the dust arrived. We expedited our departure as well, marching back to the ATVs in single file, stowing our geology box, and hopping aboard. We were given the order to head off to the Hab, with our entourage behind us, but after a kilometer or two we were radioed to double back and be filmed in the red Martian landscape. We happily obliged and then made our way, chilly and stiff, to the Hab. When we arrived, Mark asked Jody and Kim to stay in EVA gear so that he could interview them. I came inside and got a head start on the chicken salad! Derek, Tim, David, and I were able to listen to Jody and Kim's answers over the radio and cheer from inside the Hab.

Eventually they were cleared to come in, and gradually the rest of the crew, including Mark and Derek, made their way in. It was a lively conversation over lunch, what with two new people to talk to. Mark talked about news coverage and Discovery shows, and Derek told us about his bear dogs.

After lunch, Derek took Jody down to the geology part of the lab and took some shots of him working with rocks. Later, we watched as Mark and Derek set the lab up to do an interview of David. This involved about 45 minutes of changing the lighting, moving things around, and answering the questions we were pestering them with. When the interview began, we were sent upstairs like naughty children because, as Mark told us, "If you stay here, you'll make him laugh."

Our Derek and Tim suited up for the last part of the Discovery Channel Canada project. Derek the cameraman asked them to demonstrate some alternative EVA procedures. They spent a good while outside and appeared to be enjoying themselves. When they were done, we chatted with the Discovery crew for a while as they packed their gear. Our segment will be a part of "The Daily Planet," to be shown around 7:00 p.m. Eastern, late in April of this year. We traded e-mail addresses and have hopes that we will hear back from the guys when they have more details about the show. If we're going to be stars, we'd like to see ourselves on TV! Our back-up plan is to rely on Kim's mom, Peggy, who's in Canada, to tape it for us.

I forgot to mention yesterday that an article about Kim appeared in the "Maple Ridge News," her hometown newspaper. The paper contacted her via e-mail, and she did an e-mail interview that appeared in the article. We were excited to see it online, along with her picture in EVA gear. As a result of that coverage, the CBC is interviewing her on this coming Tuesday once she's back in Hawaii.

The Discovery guys left about 5:00, and we came back in the Hab to begin life in sim again. We were essentially whipped at the end of this day. David and I lethargically made supper--homemade bread, cabinet soup (we don't want to leave leftovers for Crew 16), and oatmeal pies for dessert. We enjoyed reliving our day as we ate. After supper, we all were drained; we tried to concentrate on our projects and reports, but it was hard. Tim and Jody had a little fun photography project going, and Kim worked on her wireless network while Derek picked out photographs for the Mars Society web site. David and I both clicked away at our laptops and commiserated over feeling uninspired. The group was so tired we didn't even consider watching a movie. After agreeing to sleep late tomorrow morning, we all tumbled into bed.