Crew #: 335
Position: Crew Journalist
Report prepared by: Matteo Calore
Date: 21-04-2026
Sol: 1
First Day on Mars: Entering New Worlds
Today was our first day on Mars. We woke up around 6:30, and Charlotte made pancakes, which we happily devoured. Then we prepared for the EVA. Kat wasn’t feeling very well, so Elisa took her place for the first EVA to Marble Ritual between 10 and 11. Afterwards, Dave and Charlotte carried out the second EVA to Marble Ritual.
After a quick lunch of mashed potatoes and mushrooms prepared by Matteo, Dave, Elisa, and Matteo went out to film and work on photographic projects, while Kat and Charlotte stayed at the Hab to work and write. This evening Charlotte prepared a lentil and potato stew for dinner, which was very good, and everyone is now busy writing reports and planning the next days.
Arriving on Mars is an interesting experience. Despite months of online calls, we are only now beginning to really get to know one another, and to learn how to communicate our different needs. While some have known each other for a long time, others have only just met and come from very different worlds. We are slowly learning how to enter one another’s worlds.
Everyone is a bit tired and some feel sick. We are still adjusting from our different journeys, still partly carrying the baggage we brought from Earth, and trying to understand how this world works. It is a completely new reality. The desert around us is astonishing, although it also feels as if we are never really going outside, since we bring the Hab with us even when we go out, in our suits.