Hello from the Hab on Sol 8. A packed day at the Mars Desert Research Station—early TV appearance, EVA, my first time running Comms in the Hab, and steady progress on experiments. We appeared live on TV (TeleCINCO in Spain) this morning before 5 AM Martian Standard Time, and had a quick chat about the mission and MDRS facility. Then back to bed for a bit longer. An EVA took place today: Crew Scientist Jahnavi Dangeti, Engineer/Safety Officer Aaron Tenner, and GreenHab Officer Rebeca Gonçalves headed out to the dinosaur quarry. No one got eaten, and no signs of ancient life turned up, but the terrain offered more fascinating layers and erosion patterns to observe. Great for outreach photos as well! While running EVA Comms from the Hab (my first turn at that role), I monitored radio traffic, kept the EVA-Link map updated, and made progress on the Mars topography project—refining the high-res Casey Handmer model setup for future crews to use, without disrupting the smart home dashboard or other critical systems. (Turns out it takes about 20 hours to copy the planet Mars in 3D to make a backup). I also recorded microscope observations of the awesome crystalline structures forming as salts effloresce from the soil drying as part of Jahnavi's curing bricks. It is interesting to see how it differs from the natural patterns we saw on the ground during the last EVA. In the GreenHab we added automation to the hydroponics pumps for better consistency, and celebrated the first germination of a Space Tomato seed (Thanks TomatoSphere!) in the regular Earth soil control (expected to be a bit faster than the regolith setups). The other experiments continue moving forward. We're also preparing for a busy stretch:
- Later tonight we have outreach with a school in India where Jahnavi used to attend (more details in tomorrow's report.)
- Tomorrow (Sol 9, Tuesday 4 PM MST) we run a live-with-comms-delay interaction on YouTube hosted by The Launch Pad. It's a great live stream for anyone to watch, and chat-submitted questions play a key part in the experiment—so please come participate! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUZEnv0fdDU
- Wednesday (Sol 10, Wednesday 1 PM MST) we join the main Outschool-hosted event. My students will run the Earth side—fielding live audience questions, moderating, and co-hosting—while the crew here answers mission-specific questions with the full 10-minute interplanetary delay simulated. This one is also open to the public (aimed at kids 5-18), so come join us and help with the experiment. I'm especially excited to see my students in action on the other side. https://outschool.com/campaigns/live-from-mars
The last few days of the mission are shaping up to be very busy and rewarding. More on Sol 9 after two awesome events and 2 EVAs! (Wow, I better go get some sleep…)
by The2x4