Journalist report Sol 2
It probably means that the crew is settling in when they listen to Blue Danube and recall scenes from 2001: A Space Odyssey during breakfast. Today was about getting familiar with the rhythms of the day, as well as figuring out how we can break them up. After another quick 100cameras module from our Crew HSO at the table, we confidently scattered throughout the campus to perform different tasks: HSO and Commander worked with their drone again, this time with an SD card (views attached); our Engineer went to town on some broken zip ties in the tunnels; and our Journalist/GreenHab Officer troubleshot a GreenHab temperature issue and then sipped her coffee while staring into space near the beets.
Our Crew Engineer and Crew Artist went on the first EVA after testing out the two-piece suits, which helped with getting into the rovers. Their outing was successful for collecting rock samples for our Engineer’s 3D scanner, and he spent a good amount of time working with the tool in the Science Dome during the afternoon. (He also fixed an upside-down space suit helmet ring.) Our Commander, HSO, and Journalist went on a second EVA, mainly so our Journalist could collect soil samples. The trip wound up toward Candor Chasma; along the way, we stopped so our Commander could help find the road that will take the HSO and Journalist to Somerville Outlook tomorrow. Once at the chasm, we looked for and eventually found a way into it, briefly standing at the tip of the ridge and observing the void, the vegetation, and the piles of Martian animal dung. Speaking of dung: we then went two kilometers north on Cow Dung Road to take a look at some more soil spots and an expansive view of layered hills that our Commander likes. We noticed the faulty parking brake on Perseverance, which was scary for about 1 second before being controlled.
Once back at the Hab, our HSO’s surprise baking project was revealed—banana bread—and we ate it, exhausted and hungry, after her meticulous plating (menu-worthy photo attached). Dinner was yet again prepared by our Crew Artist and finally allowed the uninitiated to see the freeze dried ground beef—more delicious and nuggety than expected. Now we’re expressing our tiredness with early bedtimes, high (loft) and low (bean bag) report writing perches, and zoning out to the generator’s hum.