Date and time: 23 April 2012
Written by: Mike Bodnar, Crew 118, Journalist
Today we were supposed to begin the simulation but due to Annalea's fall yesterday and the time taken to get her to and back from the clinic we decided to delay the start of the sim again and instead catch up on overdue commitments such as taking the crew photos, and undertaking some engineering tasks including pumping up me of the tires on the Hab "rover"' actually a four-wheel drive vehicle
The good news was that overnight Annalea's ankle improved considerably to the point where today she has been able to limp up to the top of Hab ridge during a casual expedition to the fossilised shell field on the top.
The crew photos were taken in the hot sun, which our equipment told us was about 36 degrees Celsius. We were glad that we didn't have to wear the spacesuits today, but from tomorrow there will be no avoiding them!
Late in the afternoon Mars time we made contact with Mission Control at Carter Observatory in Wellington, New Zealand and appraised them of our delayed "landing". We have only text communication with them at present, but it's good to be in touch with Earth and we look forward to sending regular updates and information to them, as well as receiving suggested tasks and questions.
Our final job for the day is to prepare our reports, but we are also a going to have a space suit fitting trial in preparation for our "landing" tomorrow.
ENDS