Our numbers were strengthened today by a new crew member, Lt. Col. John Blitch. John was brought into the crew to replace Steve Braham, whose continued participation in the simulation has been made impossible by his burden of responsibilities for the Haughton Mars Project (HMP) communication system. John, a US Army robotics expert, was (and is) scheduled for participation in the fourth crew rotation, which begins Saturday.

Our plan for today had been for a major motorized EVA to the northeast, but when we awoke it was raining and blowing hard. So our plans changed. Today we would work inside. In a way, the bad weather this morning was a blessing, because we had a lot of inside work to catch up on.

Our EVA today almost went perfectly. The day was splendid, and the team consisting of Cathrine, Brent, Charles, and yours truly managed to get suited up and out the lock in just over an hour – a big advance over 5 days ago, when the same crew took 3 hours to get 3 people prepared.

After yesterdays’ rough EVA I thought it best to take it easy today. In any case it was Sunday, and so we rested. Instead of going EVA, we spent the day doing lab work in the station, repairing spacesuit gear, doing planning and other light activity.

Explorers need maps. We have some good aerial photographs of the region around Flashline Station, but an aerial photograph is not a map. A map requires mathematical organization, which is imparted to it by a system of coordinates.

Today was the 25th anniversary of humanity’s first successful attempt to land a robotic probe on Mars. On this day in 1976, the Viking 1 spacecraft set down on Chryse Planitia. It was also the anniversary of another occasion. On this day in 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Apollo 11 spacecraft on the Moon.

This morning I outlined the plan of campaign for the third crew. Unlike all the other rotations, this crew has no one in it with extensive Devon Island field exploration experience. For us, as for a crew newly landed on Mars, the surrounding territory is terra incognita. We have aerial photographs and a topographic map, but they do not tell us what the land about us is really like, or what we can find there. So we must create a map with sensuous content. We must explore.

The new crew awoke bright and early, and after breakfast and a short briefing, began to suit up for their first EVA. Because it would be their first sortie, I kept the plan conservative. Three crew members would do a two-hour pedestrian excursion on Hayes Ridge, to continue the general geological and paleontological survey of the area begun by Vladimir, Katy, and I in our first EVA a week ago. The EVA crew, consisting of Charles Frankel, Cathrine Frandsen, and Christine Jayarajah, would be led by Charles with Brent Bos serving as their capcom in the station.

After yesterday’s brutal EVA, I decided to set an easier schedule for today. We spent the morning filling out psychological questionnaires and rejuvenating equipment that had been negatively impacted by our recent battle with the mud. Only after lunch would we attempt an EVA, whose mission would be to complete Vladimir’s geophone survey of Haynes Ridge.

In this Issue *** Mars Society Mission Simulation Begins in the High Arctic *** Mars Desert Research Station Exhibit Opens at Kennedy Space Center *** Mars Society Convention News *** Mars Society Political Work Expands *** Ares 3 CD Issued