I rolled into Hanksville (a remote Utah town near the Mars Hab) before the other crew members, having a hot, late breakfast at Blondie’s. Peter and Josh arrived not long after, and I followed them out of Hanksville, turning onto a dirt road. The landscape is indeed Martian, though there are flowers growing here that I need to identify in my field guides. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen spring desert flowers in southern Utah. Kavya and Humberto soon followed in their car and we headed down Cow Dung Road (seriously) and saw the white Mars Desert Research Station habitat peeking up over one of the numerous subridges of the area. More on the geology in a later report… Crew 140, all from Peru, greeted us enthusiastically and brought us into our new home. It feels a bit like a two-story submarine in the middle of the desert. I have to note before I forget that we can see the snow-capped Henry Mountains from here—the last mountain range to be discovered in the lower 48. The day has been full of conversations, orientations to everything from how to do crew reports to how to pump water and lugging gear around. We’ll clean some tomorrow, do an EVA (extra-vehicular activity) and plan the details of the week. Kavya and I did a lot of kitchen organizing. Peter is busy doing a report to Mission Support while Josh is continuing to work on setting up some plant growth experiments. He, Humberto and Kavya all jumped right into that work. We did get some outside time—we’re not in simulation mode yet so we were outside (when it wasn’t raining) to witness an amazing post-storm sky: two rainbows, virga, dark clouds and a stunning sight: huge anticrepuscular rays. There’s more to share, but the hour is late, and we’ve not eaten dinner yet. Room is limited in the Hab with both crews here, so I likely will be sleeping in my tent right next to the Habitat…camping on Mars? Yes! (Just for one night since we go into "sim" tomorrow and, yes, it will be chilly.) Thanks to Mission Support (they are in touch by e-mail) and to Crew 140. We hope they have safe travels back home to Peru. More to follow later today...
-Christopher Cokinos
Journalist and Writer-in-Residence
-Christopher Cokinos
Journalist and Writer-in-Residence