Commander's Report
30 March, 2008

Boris Yim

Crew 70 finally takes full responsibility of the Hab. We miss crew 69
but are excited to begin our rotation.

Although our simulation has yet to begin, we had lots of things to keep
us busy today. Violette and Jan departed at 7am to go to Salt Lake
City. They picked up Elnaz and do all the shopping. Meanwhile, a
decision has to be made on whether to let crew 69 return the car at
night or keep our own vehicle at MDRS for emergency return. The final
answer was to return the Suburban immediately and return with a cheap
car to keep for 2 weeks. The mode of communication was email but
unfortunately it was later found to be unreliable - the message did not
get through to Jan and the expensive big car was driven back. We are
still considering what to do, after all it is a risky 10 hour drive to
and from Salt Lake City.

The rest of us had some more training by crew 69 and asked them
whatever questions we still have. We waved them goodbye before noon and
took great pictures. We prepared our first lunch of sandwiches and all
the time trying to email our crew in Salt Lake City for the vehicle
arrangement. Then, we walked out of the Hab to the top of the hill Dan
suggested worth visiting. It was very windy for the whole day but the
scenery was excellent under the sunny sky. We returned and received the
information of where the ATV keys were and began our first ATV
expedition. There were some problems starting up the ATV when we
initially drove but with practice everything works fine. Off road
driving were also practiced and we were very careful with steep slopes.
We came back to tidy the Hab, as a clean and tidy environment is
desired throughout our rotation. That way we can also get familiar with
what exist in the Hab and where they are.

Violette, Jan and Elnaz arrived with lots of supply. We were glad to
have the full crew at last. We had a brief meeting of what to do with
the vehicle and will go to Hanksville tonight for phone calls. As of
now, we have finished our reports and shelving the supplies. Time for
dinner and then planning.