March 11th, 2019
Sol 14: A different day
Ever since the start of our mission, our days have been rather busy, following a particularly heavy routine. Today was, for all of us, a good day, where we could live and think differently, but mostly to recharge. However it is much harder to find inspiration on those days.
Daylight Savings Time had already made us miss a good part of the workday. We woke up between 9 and 10am, and had lunch at around 1: our day was offset. We enjoyed a copious breakfeast with our pancake recipe, and spent more time at the table discussion than we could during the week. Later, as Norbert was preparing bread, we watched a movie, debated on the place of humor in society, played virtual reality games and cards.
During rest days, time goes by diffrently. Indeed, we are no longer constrained by our planning, and we have no task or experiment to organise. Therefore, we give ourselves more time to cook, read, talk, play, we have more time for everything and for ourselves. Time is a precious resource, especially on Mars, where the Earth is 15 minutes away for communications, and months of travel away. On Mars too, the question of the duration of a day can be posed: will the settlers live on 24 hour circadian rythms, or will they adapt to 24 hour and 40 minutes sols on Mars?
Tommorow, we head back to our usual activities. And while days like today, where we can feel free and let go, are pleasant and necessary, we are eager to get back the to scientific experiments we’ve been working on for two weeks now. The plan: getting the weather station back on the red and dusty ground, and continuing human factors experiments.
Yesterday was our last Saturday on Mars, today is our last Sunday, and now every day of the week will be the last of the mission. We got attached to life in the Hab and to our cohabitation, but we are all struggling between two feelings: the joy and pleasure to be where we are, but also the desire to get back home to our loved ones.
Author : Benjamin Auzou, Journalist
