February 16th, 2020

Sol 0 – Crew 222: Welcome Home !

As we woke up on the red planet this morning, it felt like we were finally home. The sun was up before us and shone bright on the hills. The Hab was hectic as everyone woke up, and the previous crew was getting ready to leave. After saying our goodbyes, we settled into our rooms. It’s hard to believe we are finally here, after a whole year of preparation! It seems so unreal.

To start off the day, the Director gave us a briefing on the station, and then we prepared our first meal. On the menu: rice with dehydrated green peas and sweet potatoes! A delicious introduction to Martian cuisine.

But before our mission can truly start, there are still some things to be done.
Today is training day. Everything has to be ready to start the sim tonight. This means doing the food inventory, ensuring the suits all work, and most importantly (or at least most fun), this means learning how to drive the rovers and ATVs! We went for a drive on both to get the hang of the vehicles. When we will drive on EVA, it will be harder to maneuver with the suits so everyone got to try. Even our seasoned commander took the wheel!

As the day started to wind down, we started working on our reports. Clicks of keyboards were the only sounds we heard for an hour. The astronomer sent his photos, the commander wrote his Sol Summary, the engineer went on his last non-sim check of all life-support and transportation systems… and I wrote down these very words.

Tonight, the simulation starts. Tonight, our mission begins. Tonight, we dine on Mars!

Author: Marie Bochard, Crew Journalist