Day 9

The winds are so high this morning that I thought the hab was going to blow over. I stayed in bed as long as possible to keep warm, but finally got up when I heard Billy moving around the hab. We are still being shaken by 30 mph winds. The weather is to be gorgeous today, up to 76.

Yesterday was our day off- it wasn't really decided that, but it became that. We all had a very lazy morning on computers, and I studied until about 2 PM. Then I headed out to the trailer in a bathing suit top and shorts to soak up some sun. I was only out for two hours, but was showing some great color by 4 PM. I'm convinced the sun wants me to be as red as the planet. I'm only a little pink this morning. Others had joined me outside, until Eric cut his toe. He and I headed in and I spent some more time working on schoolwork while he watched a movie.

Dan, feeling much more productive than the rest of us, set off to do a turbine EVA. This long EVA was meant to really test the ability of the turbine to provide power. To do this, an inverter was attached to the battery, with a lamp attached to this inverter. With this, a noticeable change could be observed when the power dropped to low in the battery. Although the setup was simple, the majority of the time was spent waiting for the battery to fall to a low power level. Without the turbine providing power, the battery remained well charged for about three minutes, while the inverter stopped operating after approximately four minutes.Once the turbine was turned on, the lamp and inverter stayed on for 40 minutes before concluding the test, while showing a battery voltage similar to when the test began. This led us to conclude that the power would last so long as the wind blew. Dan came in and we all scavenged for dinner. I personally had two bowls of frozen yogurt. :-p The variety of food here is quickly getting old...3 more days until cheeseburgers!

Today's plans:

Hoping antennas arrive for repeater coverage EVA
Launch repeater and place antenna on hab roof
Rover work

Quotes:
"They don't like it when you shoot at them. I figured that much out myself" -Mal, Firefly

Attempting not to be blown away,

Jillian
Crew 93-XO