8th March, 2020

Sol 7 : Learning and Teaching

Sunday is a rest day. We’re not fully inactive (a two-week mission is far too short to allow that), but we at least got a break to get some more sleep and recover from the daily sports sessions and long EVAs. Batteries don’t know about rest days, and still needed a short EVA to be taken care of. Like yesterday, this was accomplished through a fully silent EVA, to allow for those who didn’t get to try out the procedure yet to attempt it as well. They were done swiftly, and the morning carried on in the Hab as we played and cooked. There’s a lot to unwind from even a week inside the Station, so taking the time to do that was very much needed for everyone.

We’re all students from the same engineering school, all belonging to one club focused on the exploration of Mars. And while an MDRS mission is a lot of work to prepare, it’s still only two weeks in the year. So, us and the club members who don’t go to the MDRS get busy with other activities: mainly intervening in local middle and high schools to discuss space, astronautics and science in general. While being on our own to learn about things we love is a great experience, going out and teaching others about the same thing and seeing their interest grow is just as great.

It was, therefore, a pleasant surprise to learn that an educational science TV show in France was interested in our mission, and wanted us to record a visit of the station to be featured in an episode about living in space. Being the Crew Journalist, it fell upon me to be the talking head and spend time in front of the camera. I don’t think my crewmates minded, as it was an awkward experience all around. It took a while to get the hang of it, but overall it turned out to be great fun, with the blooper reel being far longer than anticipated. It’s a whole lot easier to do science, all things considered. It’ll remain a fun memory from a slower day, and, if the footage is usable, I can’t wait to not see myself broadcasted once I’m back home.

The end of the day was as calm as its beginning, with Blandine’s relaxation sessions working wonderfully as always. Sometimes too much, but at least we didn’t hear any snoring this time, so that’s a plus. We’ll all try to get our work done as early as we can to lay down and watch a movie, as we didn’t get the chance so far.