Today we landed on Mars. We were very happy to see Melissa and her Crew but very sad to see them leave. We had a very busy day by conducting our Entrance Protocols for our incoming Crew, unpacking and repacking supplies, learning new systems within the Hab after not residing in it for a year (almost to the date), and by celebrating our Executive Officer's Birthday on Mars.

The Family Living Analysis on Mars Expedition (F.L.A.M.E.) mission this rotation is very important for not only do we have three separate families living under one Hab roof, but we have an International Crew. Our Chief Engineer and her daughter are from the Netherlands. Also, our Crew this rotation has an Educator, who hails from Arizona, who will educate and inspire our four young F.L.A.M.E. students while they learn to live, work and play on Mars.

I am very pleased with what I have seen from the F.L.A.M.E. crew thus far. We have many old friends and have a couple of new ones on this rotation. Everyone has been working together as a team and are getting along. While I deal with the day's duties as Commander to ensure everyone is satified with what they have, I remind my children, in Italian, to clean their Crew quarters, set the table for dinner and remember to write their daily reports and e-mail their Nanny and Papa at home to let them know they are safe and to talk about their day on Mars. While I do this, my Chief Engineer, Artemis, instructs her daughter, in Dutch, to write in her Blog for those in the Netherlands and to their media contacts. Jared is running around ensuring that the children are writing in their daily journals so they will have documentation of their adventures here at the Mars Desert Research Station. Grant has been given the Crew position as HSO this week so he is learning the protocols of collecting data from all the Crew Members as well as learning the electrical components from our local support, Paul. All the children are getting along fine and are even planning on "camping out" in the attic of the Hab for the duration of the rotation.

Our Human Factors studies will be quite interesting in which not only do we have the opportunity to conduct field investigations in the disciplines of geology, astronomy, biology, etc., but we can conduct academic studies to young children within an analogue martian regime to determine how students will learn in a "hands on" environment. With our international crew, we will be learning new traditions and cultures, that of our Crew Members. As anyone who works in the space industry knows, it will take the efforts of the global community to achieve the goal of venturing to the Moon, Mars and Beyond. The Mars Desert Research Station is the tool to help us create the protocols necessary for creating and understanding space settlements on Mars.

Veronica Ann Zabala-Aliberto
Commander, MDRS Crew 59