Report title: Journalist Report
Crew #: 325Se
Position: Crew Journalist
Report prepared by: Saranya Ravva
Date: 20Dec2025
Sol: 5
Journalist Report Title (if applicable): Settling into Mars Time
Mars Trivia Question, answer at the end of the report:
Why is Mars so cold even during its summer?
Sol 5 began the way Sol 4 ended, wrapped in comfort. Last night closed with hot cocoa and a Martian movie, and for a brief moment it felt blissful. The girls squished together on bean bags, the guys claimed the chairs, and we cozied up in our sleeping bags as if we had all collectively decided that Mars deserved a slow evening. We went to bed close to midnight, and our Commander kindly granted us a later wake-up time of 8:30 a.m.
We woke up to the familiar and emotional tones of Interstellar, one of my favorite soundtracks and part of the music Cesare thoughtfully collected before the mission. The habitat stirred slowly, and we gathered around the living room tables to make the most of the morning communications window, downloading resources and checking anything we might need before the internet disappeared again.
Ellenah shared that she had been dreaming about pancakes ever since we made them earlier in the mission and immediately volunteered to bring them back. Chocolate pancakes made their triumphant return, and we happily surrendered to another round of indulgence. Morgan, Ellenah, and Adrianna pulled up maps and routes, preparing for EVA #6, while the rest of us lingered around the table, soaking in the rare ease of a slower morning.
Suit-up followed soon after. By now, everyone has become efficient at getting into the suits, plugging in radios, syncing GPS units, and running through checklists. Isabella served as HabCom, carefully logging rover numbers and monitoring communications. The EVA team headed out while stories unfolded.
During the EVA, Morgan continued work on his telecommunications project, digging the trench and placing the system before closing it back up. Ellenah focused on her experiment and even managed to take a brief nap inside her suit while waiting for certain tasks to wrap up, a very Mars-specific skill. The team navigated up and down the chasma, covering challenging terrain. Adrianna collected biometric data on her Garmin, continuing her physiological research and quietly adding more data points to a growing dataset.
Back in the habitat, Isabella and I worked on educational outreach materials connected to the Honors College and the Amelia Earhart Leadership Towards Space Careers Program. We are deeply grateful for their support in funding part of our mission and helping make this experience possible. Meanwhile, Cesare put on his chef hat once again and began preparing pizza dough and brioche bread, continuing what might be his most delicious MDRS tradition.
When the EVA team returned, we welcomed them back into the habitat, helping with de-suiting and hearing firsthand about the landscape and the success of the EVA objectives and also surprised them with an inflated baby Yoda that we set in the living room. Today was also hot shower day for the EVA crew, which they seemed to enjoy immensely. Afterwards, everyone took some personal time, and a few well-earned naps followed.
Eventually, the smell of freshly baked pizza pulled us all back to the dining table. Cesare set up a full assembly line of toppings and transformed the dough into five different pizzas, each one better than the last. We ate together, swapping stories and decompressing from another physically demanding day.
I stepped away briefly to the science dome to work on my RPM experiment, which needed reassembly once again as some of the rig components had loosened. Mars continues to teach patience through repetition. Soon after, we regrouped at the table to write reports and reflect while drafting our mid-mission summary. The evening feels calm, productive, and quietly satisfying, and there is hope that we may even squeeze in another movie before the day ends.
Trivia Answer:
Mars remains cold even during its summer because its atmosphere is extremely thin and cannot trap heat effectively, allowing warmth to escape quickly into space.
Sol 5 complete. Mars feels slower now, more familiar, and increasingly like a place we know how to live in.[end]