February 25th, 2019
Sol 1 – Crew 206 : Good Morning Mars!
0847 : The airlock opens, and Crew 206 is in front of a whole new world to explore : Mars.
The marswalkers of the day, Jérémy, Cerise, Aurélien and Norbert left the Hab to explore the surroundings of the station and to find a proper place for the LOAC, an aerosol particle counting experiment we will deploy tomorrow. But above all that was, for three of them, their first steps on the Red Planet. I think they know best how to describe the feelings they had when they touched the martian ground for the first time.
“This first EVA was a really special and exciting moment. Everything went well, and I just want to go on EVA again!” – Norbert
“I really felt like it was my first step on Mars, and it is an amazing feeling.” – Cerise
“This was an exciting moment. The team was very professional and it made the experience amazing” – Aurélien
Before that, the morning was really busy. We woke up very early in order to begin the EVA at 0830 so that our 4 marswalkers could avoid the muddy terrain. We began the day with a sports session and then we prepared our first martian pancakes to bear the morning’s program. I was among the three members of the crew who followed this intense session, with seven different exercises during fourteen minutes; it was hard, especially the push-ups. However it is important to stay active, and our daily performances are monitored by our Commander.
During the EVA, I was assigned by Norbert to take care of the Green Hab. That place is amazingly calm and peaceful. I watered all the plants: tomatoes, basil, cress, radishes; they need a lot of water, 8 liters this morning for the whole Green-Hab, but having some greenery in our lives is worth it!
Our Astronomer, Aurélien, started his first observations of the sun. This is primordial for us on Mars, as without a decent atmosphere, the solar radiations are a serious danger!
Today was also the beginning of three experiments: Norbert’s radishes are now planted, Cerise took some samples of the drinking water and the whole crew spent fifteen minutes on our Virtual Reality experiment under heart monitoring: half of us watching entertaining videos and the other half as witnesses.
The Hab is now our home, and we continue to make it better and make it our own. The main improvement of the day is a live plan of the sol (martian day) displayed in the hab, detailing in real time the tasks for each of us, but also our data consumption.
After this day of hard work, we all need some time for us to rest and decompress. That’s why we chose to watch a movie together tonight : Le Grand Bazar by Les Charlots, a French comedy. That’s my suggestion, I’ll tell you tomorrow if everybody liked it!
Author: Benjamin Auzou, Journalist
