Commander's Report
17 March 2008
Emily Colvin

Second day on Mars, and already we've been thrown off schedule. I was
hoping to get up to Skyline Rim today, but the weather decided it was
not to be. I didn't go outside, but my understanding was that we had
some ankle-deep mud in places. However, a group did go out of the Hab to
admire the scenery for a walk, and we managed to test the radios
without the repeater. Everything worked, which is such a relief after
the panic of the stolen laptop. From the Hab, I could watch their
progress and see their location. Until one GPS got disconnected from
its radio and the map was telling me that they left Tulika in a creek.

Our Sim period is going to be a bit shorter than I'd hoped, but the
radio setup is a higher priority than a few more days of Sim. We're
supposed to have clear skies for at least a few days, so hopefully the
solar panel will keep our repeater going for a few days this time. Our
big things in Sim this rotation are my radiation research and rover
testing. Most of this will be relatively close to the Hab, so we'll
have to have a few exploratory EVAs to see what kind of radio coverage
we get. Given the exploratory tendencies of this crew, though, I'm not
too worried about finding volunteers. I'll just have to make them draw
straws since we only have 3 ATVs.

But my crew is up for just about anything, so I'm not worried. Whatever
happens, we'll make it work for us somehow.