Commander's Report

March 26, 2008

Emily Colvin



Commander's Report
26 March 2008

Emily Colvin

Another day, another EVA. I have been absolutely amazed at our radio
range using this repeater. I wasn't very optimistic at the beginning,
since we've had clouds for the last two Georgia Tech rotations which
kind of kills the change of solar power. But, although the sky fell on
us our first day or two, we've had amazing weather. I blame the fact
that I decided not to pursue astronomy research this year, having not
been able to see the sky for the last two attempts.

The EVA was fun, although very interesting as terrain has definitely
changed since the last time those roads were traveled by the Mars
Society. But none of the ATVs were stuck anywhere enough to require
being towed out (we had Sean to just haul them out of holes). It was
just one of those good experiences of working as a team to deal with
difficulties. Although it was a bit disappointing to have to turn back
before reaching the end, there was a point at which it was getting late
and a ditch had obviously grown in size and threatened to eat us. Or at
least the 2-wheel-drive ATVs.

I can't believe it's almost the end of another rotation. We've hit the
end-of-rotation scramble to get things finished before our time is
done. We've always managed it in the past, but it's still sad to pick
up and go back to the real world, where we're all inevitably behind in
our schoolwork...