While we would obviously not enter such a place, it was still interesting enough that several EVAs later the crew went back to get a better look. Perhaps we could pretend it was an old lava tube, full of Martian mysteries. Alas, in reality it was neither; just an old broken down stable mysteriously placed in the middle of the desert for reasons unknown.
But there were still secrets to be found.
As the team wandered around looking for science, Kavya came across a deep, steep sided gorge. "It looks like there should be water down there," she commented. And indeed there was. Brown, soupy, and in the middle of the desert, we had found water. Kavya coined it el Rojo Oceano (because it sounded more exotic), or the Red Ocean in English.
The answers to these question would allude us for several more days. The water is located a dozen meters down a gorge with steeper than vertical walls and the only apparently walkable path looks like a prime area for rattlesnakes. We'd have to lower something down there to get at our prize. So we came up with a scoop made from a rock, a cup found in the lab, and some super bright pink string. Just because.
While not actually on Mars, the Red Ocean is still not a thing you want to fall into. Its a long way down, you really don't want to try swimming in these suits, and how would you even get back up? So Josh and I very carefully inched our way to the edge (which is actually the top of an overhang), gently lowered the sample collector down into the water, and scooped it back up. We did this a few times to ensure a large enough sample size and also to get some of the surface scum, which Josh hypothesizes might be bacteria related.
-Pete Morgan-Dimmick
Executive Officer / Acting Engineer and Journalist (Chris had to leave early)