Journalist report sol 12
It was a strange, celebratory, public-facing final day of sim for our crew, which included more drones, more talk of scuba diving, more heat spikes in the GreenHab, more rocks, more 3D scans, another EVA, and now reports—but also on-camera interviews, larger drones, microphones threaded through flight suits, onion rings, helmet-less walks outside, a commencement ceremony with diplomas, and the “fry sauce” of Greater Hanksville.
Today again started with coffee, but it quickly changed when Lucas Milliken, a producer for CNBC, came to the Hab and went through the airlock. For the vast majority of the day, from about 9:15 to 5:00 pm, he filmed interviews and B roll throughout the campus—our Commander was the main narrator, but everyone spoke about their projects and their interest in Mars. We’re excited to see the final cut sometime in the next month or so. While he was speaking with different crewmembers, others tore down the sweltering GreenHab, cleaned the Hab, and touched up their appearances (Journalist included) before their soundbites. Our Commander, HSO, and Engineer took Lucas on an EVA out to Compass Rock, where the drone and 3D scanner described in the past eleven Journalist reports had their ~120 minutes of fame. We broke sim after EVA in order to take group photos—the sound of the non-helmeted air hit us first while standing on the Hab’s outer deck. Mission Support and Lucas both joined us for dinner at Duke’s in Hanksville. Cold and carbonated beverages seemed far more special than they usually do, conversation sped in different directions, and our Commander put everyone’s drinks on his tab. Now, after we clack on our laptops for the last time after having briefly seen the world we’re going back to, what else is there to say? Mars has been a fascinating home for the fortnight, both an isolated and deeply social stage for our crew. We’ll be thinking back and forward to it in infinite ways.