February 27th, 2020

Sol 11 – Crew 222: Candor Chasma’s charisma

For this morning’s EVA, we headed out towards Candor Chasma and the surrounding area by ATV. As scary as it is driving these beasts, the drive was fun and we all arrived safely at the end of the road. We even saw some antelopes that crossed the path in front of us! There were about 7 of them fleeing from the noisy quads. It’s strange seeing another form of life here, in this region considered to be so hostile to life! We walked down to the canyon, with the high snowy mountains in the background.

It was a beautiful walk through the canyon. We could see layers of history on either side of us, layers of colored stone forged by the ages. Red, white, green, all the colors were visible one after the other. We walked until the time forced us to stop, soaking in the beautiful canyon walls and the traces of antelopes on the path.

The walk back was rather exhausting as we had to climb back the way we came down, so we were glad to be back in the Hab. Riding the ATVs was definitely a fun part of the stay here.

This afternoon, Nina finished setting up the AeroSpring tower. The seeds planted last week in the moss grew enough to be transferred in the culture tower. What an exciting day. We filled the water tank below the tower with water, so that the pump can spray water inside the tower and water the plants. Lots of water involved. We turned the power on and hurray! It works. She will now come twice a day to turn on the pump that waters the plants, in hope that they will grow big enough to be harvested by the next crew!

Before dinner, we decided to play cards for our last evening together in the sim. We discovered new games and new rules, and had a lot of fun. Tonight, for dinner, the menu is red bean burger with chili and homemade bread! Spicy and delicious.

Author: Marie Bochard, Crew Journalist