Day 2

Chilly out this morning...high of 49 today...a big change from our sunburned faces and highs of 70. Today we go into full simulation at lunch. That means, no stepping outside the hab and the pressurized tunnels without a space suit and without reason (a planned EVA). We have to be as spare with our resources as possible. As per usual, we tried to do as much as possible yesterday.

After breakfast, we discovered MDRS Clue that Crew 89 had created. All six of us settled down at the table to play...I mean, who wouldn't want to play when the weapons are items like horribly polluted greenhab water and rock hammers? Unfortunately, we somehow failed to reveal a card along the way and no one won. The culprit? Geologist Russet, in the Greenhab with the hydrochloric acid. Guarenteed that game will come out a few more times in our stay here.

Next, we gathered all the pieces of the wind turbine and hiked up the engineering hill to set it up. A mysterious car kept circling the hab...seeing as we are in the middle of nowhere, we all became very curious and nervous. When it started to come towards the hab, I ran down the hill to meet the visitor. Puck, a location scouter for Disney, introduced herself proudly. They will be filming "John Carter of Mars" due east of the Hab and discussed how we could coexist during filming. Unfortunately, our crew will not be here for the filming, but we are making sure not to take the ATV's on the marked area so that the terrain will remain untouched and look realistic. Dan came down to meet the stranger and noted that he was waiting for me to come back up to raise the turbine. Knew I liked you, Dan! We set up the hill and after some work tugging down the supporting ropes with turnbuckles, we raised the sucker. She spun proudly. After a few pictures we headed down the hill, fairly sunburned and hot. It was time for the first shower. I filled a bucket of water by pump from the big trailer tank, grabbed some Oasis, biodegradable soap, and dunked my head in. Washed my hair and shaved my legs out on the trailer and then ran inside to our "zero G" shower for a 90 second wash. I forgot how cold it was, but I was pretty clean and settled in with my book for a couple chapters.

The crew decided we had not had enough outdoor time, so we took the ATV's to Box Canyon. The sites were just incredible. Billy is uploading pictures as we speak. We rode out and back, doing a total of 12 miles from the Hab to Box Canyon and back. Satisfied with our venture, we came back and pumped water from the outside tank to the inside tank for drinking and cooking water. Gassed up the ATV's, checked tire pressure and oil, checked on the generator and settled in for dinner. It was a non-cooking day, so we could only rehydrate freeze-dried food. I made the crew Sante Fe black beans and rice. They seemed content. We all were pretty exhausted from the sun, so after dinner, we chatted for a bit and then all retreated back to our cubbies for some much-needed rest.

Still waiting on my radios to arrive in Hanksville...if they don't, my research plan will be shot. Still keeping very busy out here, nonetheless. Hoping to see them in the next couple of days, along with the rover. CMON, UPS!!

Off to get ready for the first day in sim (and say goodbye to the beautiful outdoors),

Jillian
XO-Crew 93