Field Crew Report
August 14, 2001
11:00 p.m.

Mission Support received an audio report from the field at 11:00 p.m. their time. .

Rocky, Eric, and Tam went to Site 2, Valley Sandstone and George stayed in the habitat.

Pascal - reported working with the Hamilton spacesuit and Sir Charles worked on his pet project. Snow finally arrived on Devon Island and the activities are coming to an end. Discovery personnel have left for Resolute and the Mars Crew is closing down Devon for the winter.

Rocky - 1st science traverse and they had problems with the radio due to the batteries not being charged. They went to Site 2, Valley of the Sandstone, north of Von Braun Planitia - 2 ½ hours. The crew returned after two of the radios stopped functioning. However, he took the time to do some exploring looking for the origin of the sandstone. The crew didn't find the origin but they found the sandstone.

Eric - Crew was able to follow and take pictures of water canals. They were looking to see how they were formed which will probably be similar on Mars. Because of Rocky's radio not being fully charged his voice was muffled at times and eventually the crew was unable to hear him. The crew decided to return and took a detour off the track. Because the crew had the GPS they didn't get lost even though all the terrain looked similar. Eric's radio stopped functioning. This proves that there needs to be a back up system if the primary communication system goes down. They were only able to communicate by looking into each other's faceplates and using a form of sign language. A back-up radio is needed for emergency signaling.

Tam - they all got back on track

George - EVA was boring because the communications were down due to battery failure of the radio. Didn't receive manuals for installation of remote station. Getting close need to get the installation completed.

Charlie - Went to Trinity in a.m. ATV became stuck when it went through the mud. Had to go get a rope to pull it out and it took 20 minutes. Important to remember "Don't become complacent"

Science Report

Hamilton Sundstrand wireless communication computer equipment deployed by Steve. High band meter and relay with portable computer attached to suit. It was fully operable and worked well on relay. Would like to be able to cover when out of site so should have position maps, GPS, and allow the Hab to track each individual's location. EVA was great and was able to work with rocks and geology. There was a feeling of isolation. At one time while our crew was working with the rocks we saw three other figures with different suits coming toward us. It was surreal and gave a feeling of us all converging on this area with individuals from other worlds.

Rocky - They found the valley. The crew sand stone located and the sandstone was stained with the coloration. Followed the riverbed sand stone north before communication cut out. Didn't find out crops to show origin. The crew feels their needs to be more investigation done in this area.

Eric - EVA had a unique situation. Rocky explored with such diligence a new ridge that all felt that it should be named after him. So the crew named the ridge "Rocky Ridge". Good news was that there were no medical emergencies to deal with. Blood was drawn and submitted for testing in the a.m. There is now a complete medical kit located in the kitchen. Safety suits info completed and submitted to Loraine. All ok.

George - Rock counting was completed and there were 650 different communities identified.

Eric - The following needs to be taken into consideration for future excursions.
Back up signaling device
All crew members learning some form of sign language Doctors need constant line of communication open in case of any medical emergency
Hard hats for the loft top area needed and possibly railings

The loft is livable.

George - Used the Motorola radio and problems should be corrected. Guide wires needed and someone should be on site to keep the SIM going. In other words ground support is necessary. Safety first should always be stressed. Finally there is snow. The ATV should have equipment on board to manage any difficulties they encounter, such as, rope, etc. They couldn't contact KSC because of computer failure so all of their answers were washed to the winds.

Eric - As stated couldn't support KSC at the end due to technical problems. Missed the appointment.

There wasn't any more communication with the crew because as of 11:00 p.m. they stopped communicating and started to shut down the Hab for the winter. All went well with many different narratives to assist in the future of humans colonizing on Mars.

Journalist
Susan M. Tabacheck