As usual this week, the morning started off with several engineering emergencies. The grey water return system was not functioning, the generator failed again, one of the ATVs was still leaking oil and the sink faucet was still dripping water.

While the engineers stayed behind to tend to the Hab, Adrienne, Cassie and Ryan headed out for our crew's first ATV EVA. They traversed several kilometers by ATV and on foot up to a site named Candor Chasma that Cassie has been dying to get her rock hammer on. Unfortunately, Cassie forgot her rock hammer and had to use a giant rock to smash away some delicate samples and she used her drop-kick for the more difficult outcrops.

By the time the EVA crew returned to the Hab the engineering team had resolved all of the engineering issues and it was time for lunch. Over soup and sandwiches the scientists bragged about their finds in the field and the engineers boasted their ingenuity in fixing up the Hab.

After lunch Cassie tweaked the idle speeds on the ATVs before Brogan, John, and Seth headed out for their first ATV EVA. They drove nearly 5 kilometers on the ATVs to a region called Tank Wash and then hiked another kilometer searching out interesting sites for the crew scientists.

While the guys explored Tank Wash, Anna worked in the Green Hab planting tomatoes, mint and lettuce and harvested radish, spinach and garlic for dinner. She also started a compost bucket. The scientists utilized the afternoon by continuing work on their research projects.

When the last EVA crew returned, Anna and Liz were jealous of the rest of the team's ATV excursions and decided to get in some ATV time for themselves.

Currently we are preparing for a hearty dinner of lasagna and fresh Green Hab salad and are looking forward to an after dinner presentation from Liz on her MDRS research on correlations between exercise and performance. She will also present on the astronaut underwear monitoring system.