FMARS Mission Support Summary - Thursday, July 12th

This has been the second day of rotation 2 under Dr Zubrin`s command. Before leaving, Dr Lee's team completed 2 simulated EVA's to Hayne's Ridge and to Haughton Crater. No signs of hydrotermal activity at the first site but lithic microorganisms at the second. One EVA lasted 4.5 hours. IVA officers documented the whole procedure during both EVAs which will be a standard procedure from now on as it provides very useful insights on the operation and support of this activity. Before leaving the Hab, the first crew reported that their house had become comfortable and safe needing some more work to become fully operational. Crew 2 already performed a 2 hour EVA (including a 1 hr preparation time and 5 min. pre-breath) the night they arrived and found stomatolites and macroscopic fossiles.The plan for today was an extensive EVA at Haynes's ridge and a voice report was forwarded to Mission Support at 6 pm with details to be further expanded in the science reports. The crew reported to feeling very well. Food supply will arrive on Saturday with the help of Aziz at Camp's Inn.

Mission support welcomed Katya Muscat as a new Capcom today. Keith Savage worked on a providing the team with a daily satellite image and Brian Encke was involved with the KSC communication protocol. At 5:00pm MDT Lorraine Bell took over as Mission Director so that Tony Muscatello could take a much needed break.

There was a communication problem confirmed between crew 1 and Mission Support on July 11th as messages have been forwarded to the FMARS address instead of commander's personal email. Three messages were not received by Pascal Lee but forwarded to him today : one about the Hull experiment, one informing that Mission Support was going offline and about a request for a tentative schedule to the next day's plan. The Hull experiment will be pursued with crewmembers' personal e-mail.

The Capcom task list is being improved daily which will result in clearer communication between ground and Field.