Day: March 22, 2025

Journalist Report
Sol 4: Observations from the Observed
Throughout the week we’ve been monitored by a variety of sensors and surveys as part of the research study we’ve agreed to be the “pilot” crew for. Our role is to help the research team discover any oversights or logistical challenges in their experimental plan so that the first real test crew has a smoother experience – because our experience has been bumpy to say the least. We can’t say much about the surveys, but we can talk about the sensors. Our only constant sensor is a Garmin watch to record our heart rate and sleep quality – we only take them off to charge during dinner. There are few other sensors we only use during EVAs. The first is just a simple audio recorder which we clip to the collar of our flight suit so that the researchers can understand how we’re communicating when we plan and conduct our EVA. Next, we have a tracking device so that the researchers can see where we’re going and a secondary MDRS tracker required for crew safety. Lastly, we have eye tracking glasses that video what we see and identify exactly what our eyes are focusing on – this again allows the researchers to understand what information we’re taking in and using to build our decisions on EVA. Not only are we responsible for donning these sensors each day, but our crew scientist and engineer have sunk several hours into debugging them, especially the glasses. As of today, we have solved multiple problems with the glasses only to find more. The latest discovery is a settings change that requires an ethernet cable that does not exist on Mars. Who puts an ethernet cable on their packing list anyways?

Martian Eats
With all the EVA’s this crew has been completing, the amount of calories we’re consuming is monstrous. To satisfy our appetite we’ve been cooking lots of different foods. The Mars Home Cooking recipe book created by crews 110B, 128A and 128B has provided tasty inspiration for dinner. On Sols 1 and 2 we followed their chicken fried rice and Martian Marinara recipes, making appropriate modifications so that both the meat eaters and vegetarians in our crew could enjoy. While we were able to bring some fresh food with us to Mars, the bulk of our meals utilize the large selection of freeze-dried fruits, vegetables, and protein in our crew pantry. While these items cook quite well – the biggest challenge has been accounting for the time it will take to re-hydrate our dinner before cooking it. Outside of dinner one of our co-commanders has been baking to boost crew morale. Her cookies on Sol 1 and Funfetti cupcakes today were a major highlight for the crew.