We had a great busy day, with hab upkeep and improvement activities, and two simulated EVAs. The hab itself is currently safe and comfortable enough to live in, but it will continue to require work and finishing touches for some time. Steve is still very busy setting up our comms and IT research and support systems and has been allowed the flexibility to break from sim as required.

EVA 1 was successfully carried out. The EVA 1 crew comprised Frank Schubert and Sam Burbank. The IVA officer onboard the FMARS was Darlene Lim. EVA 1 goals were: 1) to connect a draining hose to the waste water tank underneath the hab in order to allow gray water (comprising only biodegradable materials) to be drained to a ground sump ; 2) affix an external escape ladder to the habitat leg closest to Haughton Crater, right underneath the upper deck

The plane from Resolute to Devon was scheduled for 4 AM, but at 12:30 AM my phone rings. It is Colleen Lenahan, calling to tell me the flight has been rescheduled for 1:45 AM, because that is when the Otter is coming in and the pilot doesn’t want to stick around. Everyone needs to be at the airfield by 1:20.

Today was a very exciting day. We conducted our first simulated EVA. We kept it simple and useful. It involved only two EVA crew members: Frank Schubert and Sam Burbank. Frank is the builder of the Hab and he is serving as our onboard “spacecraft” systems engineer. Sam Burbank is a filmmaker and our project videographer, but as a former owner of a motorcycle shop, he is also a competent mechanic and is doubling as ship mechanic.

Six of us entered the hab yesterday evening. Stephen finally landed at Haughton today. In short, we are still catching up on the heavy delays imposed mainly by the unseasonably late departure of snow this year, by some aspects of the hab build out effort, by visits of officials, and by an accident. Tonight, we are finally all in the hab: it’s 3:45 am and Rainer just joined us. Spirits are high and we are eager to begin sim in earnest. We are planning to be in sim from now on, with some occasional necessary breaks, in particular to allow Steve to set up our overall comms infrastructure over the next few days.

I left Denver yesterday, heading north to take part in the Mars Society’s arctic expedition. What we will attempt to do is unique. For two months, six person crews of scientists and engineers will attempt to conduct a sustained program of field exploration in the 75 degree North polar desert of Canada’s Devon Island, while operating under the same operational constraints as a human expedition exploring Mars.

Conditions in the field remain “unseasonably” cold and wet, but the NASA HMP Base Camp is now set up and the Mars Society FMARS interior buildout is essentially completed. All present in the field contributed many long hours to achieving these two key goals on short order. At this time, we anticipate that after one more morning of preparations and cleanup tomorrow (July 7) the first FMARS crew of the 2001 field season will be set to begin “sim” (simulation).

We are still in Resolute Bay tonight. Still waiting for conditions to improve for our first deployment to Devon Island. We came close this evening, or so we thought. After dinner, a First Air Twin Otter plane was readied to fly a lightweight load of four people to Devon Island.

Happy Canada Day! Rain and fog in Resolute Bay, and still no way to fly in to Haughton Crater yet. A First Air Twin Otter returning to Resolute Bay from the Noranda Camp on Grinnell Peninsula in northern Devon Island took the long way home this morning and flew over our airstrip. Snow cover is down to 15% but there are now large puddles of meltwater. It’s still too risky to land by airplane at Haughton and there seems to be no dry ground in sight. We have been actively exploring the possibility of borrowing a helicopter from the Noranda Camp in hopes of implementing the “Thomas Lee Inlet scenario”, but chances of a helo being available tomorrow are low as we’ve been told in an e-mail message from Allan Huard this evening. Allan will nevertheless try his best to help us and we are planning to remain on standby all day tomorrow.

The past few days have seen beautiful weather in Resolute Bay, with deep blue skies and almost uninterrupted sunshine. Winds have been slight. If only we were on Devon…