Date Time: 19:00 01/28/2013
Written By: David Willson, Crew Commander of MDRS123
Weather very cold in the morning with snow coverage on the ground. It cleared by noon leaving muddy surfaces. Temperatures approximately a few degrees C above zero and cloudy but sky is now clear.
During the early morning Jen inspected the snow and mud coverage for suitability to undertake EVAs. It was clearly too muddy in most places to do anything. So we decided to engage another indoor day.
Melanie started to reorganize the greenhouse and noted that most plants were planted in water collection trays that normally sit under the plant pot trays. Thus many plants had mold growth due to poor drainage and probably not growing efficiently. Also the potting mix type employed is a mixture used for supplementing ground planting and may have incorrect PH level and nutrient balance.
David and Emma tested the rover ready for the film crew. However, the rover CPU switch broke off, most likely due to fatigue. A new switch was found in Hanksville, that had suitable amperage and voltage capacity. Then the drive did not boot up, but this was fixed with help from the NorCal rover team and the diagnostic screen. Finally when all this was fixed in the evening, the WiFi link showed “no link” and we concluded that the connection was faulty due to the cold weather. We will check this in the morning.
Melanie made our first Mars bread was made in the kitchen and Emma undertook general maintenance activities with John and started a first floor Hab equipment inventory.
We will meet the movie crew at 9.30 tomorrow.
ENDS.