Author: jburk

SOL 17: “The potatoes are on the drop zone.”
11:02 AM: This morning, Erin and Célyan went out on another EVA for photogrammetry, accompanied by Meddi. This time, they used a 2D map instead of taking notes on beacons as they did yesterday. Before leaving the area around our habitat, our three crewmates brought into the airlock leading outside the station a small gift from elsewhere. Indeed, the “cargo ships” tasked with resupplying the station forgot two essential items for our kitchen: potatoes and especially salt. Regarding the salt, the crew will have to wait a few more days, but we had the pleasure of welcoming the potatoes into the station this morning.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew worked in the HAB to the rhythm of music and the sounds of the 3D printer, which is slowly building the pieces of the rover SUPAEROMOON. It has given us a hard time, but we are now able to print very good parts that will constitute a robust rover. We did a blind test of Somaya’s playlist while performing our tasks. Some require little concentration, although they can be rather long. For example, I am transferring numerous audio files for the Evolsan lab with which we are working, and Robin built himself a small shelf. The music is welcome!

04:10 PM: The crew that went on the EVA returned at noon, very tired from this excursion. The beacons were more difficult to find than last week, it seems. The beginning of the afternoon was again quite calm, while Robin closely monitors the prints of our future rover, and Meddi and Quentin do their mid-mission recordings for the Twins2 experiment. I am writing these few lines, reflecting on what I will do next. To be honest, I never thought I would have time to draw during the mission, and here I am sketching every corner of the station for an experience. I believe it’s even time for me to start my evening sketches…

06:20 PM: Meddi and Célyan returned from the GreenHab with plenty of good surprises tonight! They harvested all sorts of herbs there, including microgreens. We can’t wait to eat them; our next meals are likely to be green, even if they won’t be salty.

SOL 20: “SOS d’un tunnel en détresse”

12:39 AM: Somaya, Robin, and I returned from our morning EVA. After starting the day with some stretches, we put on our suits and headed to Sea of Shells in search of beacons. We found them in less than an hour with our route, after climbing numerous rocky heaps in the desert. We then had to use the path created by high school students from Mirepoix, and it turned out to be, with a few details, the same path we had taken! The landscapes were dreamlike, and after taking one last look at this splendid view, we left the area for good.

Upon our return, Meddi and Quentin were cooking cookies that we couldn’t wait to taste!

05:38 PM: We had lunch, and indeed, the cookies were delicious. Just after finishing the meal, Meddi and I went to the Science Dome. Personally, I had to draw it and make a map of the module reserved for experiments so that we could discuss the different possible improvements again. As I was just finishing my task, we received urgent communication from Erin. An alarm went off at 15:06. She informed us that the corridors connecting the modules were progressively depressurizing and that we had to return urgently to the HAB. We ran back, and upon arrival, it was strictly forbidden for us to open the Airlock doors without a spacesuit.

In fact, recently, the weather has not been kind. There were already signs of tunnel weakening when we arrived, and the gusts from Sol 18 didn’t help. Today is the day they cracked, but fortunately, we are prepared for such situations. Erin was even more so because she had already lived through a mission once, and she quickly took control of the situation. She played the role of HABCOM for a second time today, as she was also this morning, to organize the entire EVA. Somaya, Célyan, and I went out in suits and retied a tarp to plug the gaping hole formed by the gusts. After an hour and a half of EVAs, the tunnels were operational again.

Today was the second EVA for Somaya and I, as well as Erin in the role of HABCOM. Today, we can say that the station held strong thanks to the women of the station. It’s a happy coincidence because today is March 8th, International Women’s Day!