Date and time: 22 April 2012
Written by: Haritina Mogosanu, Crew 118, Commander
KiwiMars 2012 crew is getting adjusted to the desert in the second day of our presence at MDRS. The crew almost recovered from the jet lag/ confined environment/ and are still in awe for the beauty and the magnificence of this place.
Today started with our first full briefing. We touched on the flight plan for the week and discussed the photo shoot scheduled for the afternoon.
The First Officer provided training for handling the ATVs - a very welcomed idea. The briefing covered all aspects of handling and riding the ATVs, safety issues, and hand signals and it was recorded. We also started the nutritional study with the extraordinary performance of Don who prepared a chicken dish that was delightful.
The crew is in good morale and functions like a team which is great. We saw this in the incident from today where Mission Specialist in Life Sciences Beattie stumbled whilst climbing the stairs outside the main entrance. The rails of the stairs are made of wood and have a slight wobble when holding onto them; having had something else in her and unaccustomed to the environment yet, she felt over. Unable to contact DG by telephone (we used Skype phone) myself and my First Officer drove to Hanksville where DG assisted us in contacting the medical services where we arranged for an X-ray in Bicknell. At the Hab, the HSO and the rest of the crew managed to contact the flight surgeon who also recommended that she was taken for a medical check-up. The check-up revealed sprained ligaments and the doctor recommended careful movements and a walking stick :) until she will get better. Annalea's mission at MDRS will not be impeded by this, she is here to observe, accompany and understand the scientists' work for her art project.
I must say that I am very impressed and pleased in the same time with the reaction of the crew to this incident and wish Annalea a fast recovery.
Today was also the day where our Mission Support page in New Zealand went live at http://www.kiwispace.org.nz/display/MDRSMS/Dashboard
We setup this Mission Support for the students and the public of New Zealand so that they can watch the mission live and and also be able to interact with the crew.
KiwiMars's goal is to pilot a space education and outreach programme that will culminate in creating relevant and southern-hemisphere-adjusted school resources for Kiwi students, which will hopefully inspire their curiosity for science and exploration using space. That is why the first KiwiMars crew was composed of communication specialists, each bringing a new angle to the project (journalism, science communication, distance learning, education and arts). ‘
Probably the start of our SIM (simulation) will be delayed by some good hours tomorrow. We still need to familiarise with the environment, sort out more of the details of our programme and finalise the photo shoot. “
Kia Kaha (Be bold!) from Mars
Commander of the Trans Tasman Tribe.
ENDS.