Log entry Sol 797
It lands today! My supply probe lands today! Woohoo!!! Best of all, none of that crazy driving in circles, squares, squovals, whatever shape to find it. I don't have to do any guessing or spend hours and hours in the rover trying to find it. NASA will be able to tell me where to go. They can give me a heading and distance, and I can just go get it. It will still take multiple trips to load it all into the rover and bring it back to the Hab, but I can deal with that. I should be able to do it all today if it lands soon enough.
I'm practically glued to the computer waiting for an update. Any time now… I really should find something else to do to distract myself, but I want to be able to head out as soon as it lands. I don't want to be in the middle of a major project that I can't just drop when they contact me. I should have set out the seismometers again. I might have been able to tell it had landed before they told me. I still wouldn't know exactly where it landed though. Ok, that was a dumb idea, I just hate waiting.
I've never been good at waiting. If you asked my parents they'd tell you. When I was little, I'd be in their room on Christmas morning long before the sun came up. I'm a present shaker and peeker. I never took the paper off, but I would go looking in the house trying to find the presents. Once they were wrapped and under the tree, I'd pick them up and feel them and shake them whenever I could get near the tree. It drove my parents crazy. Eventually, my dad started buying a bunch of boxes exactly the same size, then he put my presents in the boxes wrapped in bubble wrap so it didn't matter how much I shook the box I couldn't tell what was inside. Once, he tried using packing peanuts, and Mom almost killed him for the mess that year. He got death glares all day even after he'd cleaned it all up and vacuumed several times. Now, she laughs when she talks about that Christmas. Funny how our perceptions of things change in time. Anyway, all that to say I'm horrible at waiting.
You should have seen me as the days went by after all of the astronaut interviews. I'm pretty sure I alienated quite a few people. I was miserable waiting. Every time the phone rang I'd get excited. Then, when it wasn't someone from NASA I'd get upset and that turned to anger. Fortunately, I was mostly alone in my lab at the University of Chicago at the time. Still, I had assistants that I ended up taking out for drinks after I got THE call because I owed it to them.
Why haven't I heard anything yet? At least an update on the time until they expect it to land, they could give me that. It's not like it's going to burn up in the atmosphere. What atmosphere? Ok, there is an atmosphere but not enough to burn up the probe on entry. Yes, all probes do heat up, but nothing like when spacecraft enter Earth's atmosphere.
The probe could miss the planet, but that's highly unlikely. NASA has spent too much time watching and correcting its trajectory when needed.
Something could happen when it lands. It's designed to be a bounced landing, so even if the balloons fail, the stuff inside shouldn't be destroyed. The clothes should still be usable. The food is freeze-dried. It might turn into powder, but it will still be edible, so long as you consider sweet and sour chicken shakes edible. Ugh, I'm so impatient. It makes sense, but it's also ridiculous. The computer will chime when I get a message, so I don't need to sit right here. I could go do something. I should go do something. Yet, here I sit. Fine, I'm going to go exercise.
Log entry Sol 797 (2)
I started doing some reps with the resistance bands and decided since I'm going to be moving crates soon, I don't want to wear out my muscles. Then I tried just pacing around the Hab. This one doesn't have all the partitions that the Ares IV Hab had. I think that's actually why we had them. Other than the bathroom area everything here is really open. That's fine with just me, but I could see it getting annoying if everyone were here. We'd all always be in each other's business, more so than usual. Everyone would have to go to bed at the same time. We usually did anyway, but there would be no exceptions as the lights to the whole Hab would have to be dimmed. They aren't sectioned off here.
The future colony plans have larger Habs connected by airlock tunnels. It's a smart decision if you ask me. Airlocks will allow people to move safely into another dome if their dome depressurizes. I'm not sure how much planning has taken place for those complexes, so I've started sketching some things out. I'm thinking there should be two sections for bedrooms with actually divided bedrooms like on Hermes or ISS2, as in they'll be small cubicles. The walls probably won't go all the way to the top of the dome as that's not realistic but as long as there is some measure of privacy. It's not been a big deal for the short Ares missions, but for a longer colony mission, people need their privacy. Besides, on a longer mission, people may be working on shifts and not all at once. It might be that they need to do nighttime observations or have an experiment that needs to run and be observed at certain stages throughout the sol, every few hours and someone has to be up to monitor it. Cubicle-style bedrooms in a separate sleeping module would allow for that. The size of the rooms could be changed if NASA decides to allow married couples to go on the same mission.
That last idea may sound crazy, but remember how the crew of the original Enterprise were all single, and then by the time Star Trek: The Next Generation was released, families were on board. Yes, I'm referencing science fiction. Hello, I'm Mark Watney, geek extraordinaire. What did you expect? Honestly, if you've been reading my logs you shouldn't be surprised I would make a suggestion based on a sci-fi show. Realistically though, I know how hard it was for Martinez, Lewis, and Vogel to be away from their families. Not that it wasn't hard for Beck, Johanssen, and me, but missing your parents you haven't lived with in years versus your spouse and children is very different. It makes sense that colonies would include at least couples and eventually families. Granted, the idea of children on Mars is a long way away. We have to consider how the lower gravity would affect children's growth. What if those kids wanted to move back to Earth someday? Would they be able to do that without lengthy physical therapy? Obviously, my own long stay here has affected my body in ways we're not even sure of yet. We won't even know until I can be examined by Ares IV doctor, Marianne on Hermes. Anyway, all that to say that we have to consider the kids as families living on Mars is our end goal, right? Eventually, it will be more than just a colony. It will be a place where people live their entire lives.
Anyway, on to the rest of the colony. I'm picturing a large center Hab that would essentially be the community center where everyone can gather and watch movies, play games, have colony meetings, and things like that. Maybe they can have one large kitchen/cafeteria area with a big sign that says "Your mother does not live here and we don't have house elves - please clean your own dishes". Leading off from the center would be several airlock tunnels which would lead to different departments and sleeping areas. Each sleeping area would have its own bathroom, maybe a small kitchenette. We have different lab spaces or at least different lab areas on Hermes. We should have the same here. I know there are concerns about durability, as evidenced by my previous Hab, though this one is still in good shape. The colony could also be constructed underground, or maybe they're made of more modular plastic than canvas or a combination thereof.
Wait, the computer just dinged. It's landed. The supply probe is here. Ok, I'm off to work.
Audio Log entry Sol 797
The drive isn't short. However, it's not as far as it could have been. They didn't want to risk hitting the HAB or anything else at the Ares I site. Since they launched before I left Acidalia Planitia, they had to adjust the trajectory during the flight. I won't be able to get all of the supplies from the probe today. Actually, I'll probably only be able to make one trip today. I'll have to make at least one tomorrow, possibly two. I just wish I knew which crates have the new clothes and toiletries.
Audio Log entry Sol 797 (2)
Some amazing wonderful human beings labeled the crates in the probe so I know what's in each. Someone else, or possibly the same someone, arranged the crates so the ones I wanted most were right there when I opened up the probe. I'm heading back now to shower with soap and shampoo and to get dressed in fresh clothes. I wish this damned rover could go faster!
Log entry Sol 797 (3)
I'm clean, truly clean, for the first time in ages. Well as clean as I can get with recycled water, which isn't really that different from back home because honestly all water on Earth is recycled too. We just don't think of it that way. Anyway, I'm clean and in clean, new clothes. Someone even added a new sheet so I'm laying on that in my cot. I hadn't even thought to request bedding. I don't need to really sleep under anything since I can control the temperature and I'm the only one here so there's no arguing about the temp. I like the feel of a sheet though, so I'm glad it was sent. There were also handwritten letters from my parents right on top of the clothing crate. I didn't go through all of it. I just grabbed the first clean shirt, pants, and boxers I could get to. I'll stop being lazy and empty the crates that I brought back in a little while.
I'm going to have to figure out what to do with all of the extra crates. I could put them back outside. Maybe I could fill them with dirt and stack them around the Hab for additional protection. I could also leave them empty, save my back, and stack them around the wall in the Hab. Of course, then I can't see if there are any tears forming in the Hab canvas. I suppose I could ask someone back at NASA for a suggestion. Either way, I do think using the crates to help protect me from additional radiation exposure is a good idea.
Alright, enough with being lazy, time to put away my new things.
~~~~~
Martinez,
You jackass!
Watney
~~~~~
Watney
What did I do now?
Martinez
~~~~~
Idiot Pilot
Just think about it, it will come to you, or ask your wife.
Aggrieved Botanist
~~~~~
"He found the Mr. Potato Head boxers you numbnuts," Beck said, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes as Beth nearly fell over laughing behind him.
"Oh, yeah," Rick grinned. "But how does he know that?"
"Um, because he knows you," Beck replied.
~~~~~
Whiny Watney
Whatever it is you think I did, it was Beck and Johannssen.
The Awesome One
~~~~~~
Dumbass,
Next time you want to blame someone else for your prank, don't sign your name to it.
Watney
~~~~~
"What the hell? Who put my name on the Mr. Potato Head boxers? I thought I'd gotten rid of the tag before they went to JPL," Rick yelled, looking up from his laptop.
"Not me," Chris said, hands held up in front of him.
"I wish I had," Beth added. "That was brilliant."
"Nicht ich," Alex replied.
"What?" Martinez asked, spinning around to face the other man.
"Not me."
"Commander?" Rick inquired.
"I'm afraid I can't take credit for it, but I do know who it was," she said with a straight face and a twinkle in her eye.
"Seriously?" Beth asked, face full of mirth.
Lewis nodded and grinned.
Beck chuckled. "Hmm, I think we owe her a gift."
"That woman's gonna be the death of me," Rick griped as realization dawned.
"More likely you'll be the death of her," Alex observed.
"She got you good," Beck pointed out. "You have to admit that."
"I do not," Rick grumbled as he turned back to his computer.
~~~~~
Watney,
We've both been had. My wife signed my name.
Martinez
~~~~~
Martinez,
Ah, the beautiful and wonderful Marissa. I knew she was too good for you. That must mean you did pick them out though, so you're still a jackass.
Tell your wife I owe her a drink when I get back.
Watney
~~~~~
Watney,
No way!
Martinez
~~~~~
Martinez,
Fine, I'll tell her myself. I have her email.
Watney
~~~~~
Marissa,
Oh dear, darling, wonderful Marissa. You got your husband good. Thank you! I owe you a drink. No, I owe you dinner when I return.
Mark
~~~~~
Mark,
Dear friend, you owe me nothing. It was worth it just for the fun. Rick is so frustrated. I knew you'd figure out it was him anyway but I wanted to be sure. Now, get home so I can feed you some good, non-freeze-dried food.
Marissa
~~~~~
Marissa,
I'll be back as soon as I can and I can't wait to sit at your table, eating your amazing food, looking at your beautiful face, teasing David, and annoying your husband.
Mark
~~~~~
Crew,
I'm not sure whose idea the crazy boxers were but thank you! They made me laugh. I only opened two of them, did they really need to be individually vacuum sealed? Didn't that up the weight? Or were you just trying to hide what they were? Is that why you used black plastic to seal them? Whatever, it doesn't matter. I was thrilled just to have new clothes. I was expecting NASA-issued plain old boxers so the ridiculous ones were a real treat.
Obviously, I opened the Mr. Potato Head ones from Martinez, I may not wear those ever though. They may become a flag or maybe I'll turn them into clothes for Soju. I also found the Green Lantern pair. Those are either Beck or also Martinez. They're not as bad as Potato Head, so they will be worn.
I'm almost afraid to see what else you sent. I may have to wear each pair as long as I can possibly stand them to stretch out opening all of them, to keep the surprises coming.
I just wanted to let you all know you made my sol.
Mark
~~~~~
Watney
Btw, you and your whole King of Mars calendar thing? Dude, you suggested solidays? You keep calling me Dumbass and you used solidays? Holisols, you dumbass! You're supposed to replace days with sols. How did you miss that? While you're at it, call it a solendar, because why not?
Martinez
~~~~~
Martinez,
This one time, just this one time, only this one time will I admit that you're right. Damn, it hurts to type that. Holisols is what it should be. Damn. You get no credit though, none, you left me here, so there. Ok fine, maybe I'll have them put your name in a tiny little footnote somewhere, maybe. I'll give you twelve percent of the credit.
Watney
~~~~~
Watney,
Really a Marvel joke? I should have known, but I'm taking the twelve percent and you can't take it back.
Martinez
~~~~~
Log entry Sol 798
I have all of the supplies at the Hab. I've begun unpacking. Plenty of food, more soap, and shampoo than I thought they'd send. I immediately put some away so I won't use it all. I want to have it to clean myself up just before the Ares IV crew arrives. The last thing I want to do is stink them out. I also found a data stick. I'm almost afraid to plug it in and see what's on it. How do I know who made it? I could ask but they might lie. Well, nothing for it but to try it out.
Log entry Sol 798 (2)
I now have all of the Marvel movies and TV shows, even the bad ones. Not that I care, the bad ones are still better than rewatching crappy seventies tv shows for the millionth time. I have all of the Star Trek movies and shows. Again while I may not love some of them, it's something new to watch. Who knows I may find a new appreciation for the ones that haven't been my go-to before. Well, except for the whales. I know people say the best Star Trek movies are the even-numbered ones and there are people who love number 4: The Voyage Home, but I just can't with the whales! However, I do prefer it to the God-seeking in number 5. Who the hell am I to complain though? I'll watch the whales because it's something new and different. Okay, not new, but you know what I mean. I'll even watch the God-seeking and probably complain the whole time to no one in particular. I can treat the movies and shows that aren't my favorites like I'm doing an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. That ought to make it more fun. Huh, I guess I could have done that for the crappy seventies stuff too. Well, I still have ages left on this planet, maybe I'll get to that.
There's music on the data stick too that is actually not disco! Stuff from a bunch of decades. I think everyone may have chosen their favorite songs to send me, everyone other than Lewis that is. I already had hers so she didn't need to send me any music. I'm in entertainment heaven.
Oooh, and someone packed a deck of cards. I can now play solitaire to my heart's content without using a computer. I know a few different versions as well. One summer, we went on a vacation to Florida, somewhere on the Gulf outside Tampa. I don't remember where exactly. Anyway, the condo we rented had games and books provided. One of the books was just directions for a whole bunch of solitaire games. I decided I wanted to teach myself one new game each day. Most of them I still remember. I'll play all of the games I remember. If I don't remember them quite right, then I'll just end up making up new games. So, like I said entertainment heaven, well for Mars anyway. Martian heaven? What would we call that? Marven… Marvin… Marvin the Martian. Sometimes, I'm way too easily amused.
Log entry Sol 798 (3)
Dirt! They packed dirt! Real honest to-goodness earth soil, hermetically sealed, and a bunch of different seeds. There are new sets of the ferns I was supposed to test in the Martian soil, as well as spinach, tomato, and bell pepper seeds. No more potatoes or green beans. YAY! This of course does mean I now have to go get some Martian soil and drag it into the Hab. I'll have to clear some floor space. I don't need much. I can even use a few of the empty supply crates from the probe as planters. I can run the original experiments comparing growing in Martian soil and Earth soil. They even sent enough soil that I can also mix it with the Mars dirt like I did back at Acidalia Planitia. I can do several experiments with what they sent. I can't believe they actually sent as much as they did, the soil is not light.
Log entry Sol 800
I've been back and forth through the airlocks collecting Martian soil, dirt, sand, whatever you want to call it. Anyway, I have a few containers full. Since I don't need food, I'm going to start with the experiments I was supposed to do originally. I have three small rigid sample containers ready to go. For the laymen out there reading this…whenever you're reading this, that would be like small Rubbermaid containers. There was more than enough Earth soil, so I have one filled with it, one with only Martian dirt, and one that's a mix of both. I've planted the same fern seeds in all three containers and I will be watering daily…solly…that looks really odd. Once a sol, once a sol I'll be watering all of the containers with the same amount of water. Essentially, the Earth soil container is the control. I'm running this first round of tests without fertilizer. In the second round, I will use what NASA sent. Yes, they even sent fertilizer. No more farming in my own shit, though I am considering doing a third round of the experiment using good old night soil, yes I might be farming in feces again. We'll see.
Log entry Sol 803
Nothing yet in any of the pots, not that I expected there to be any sprouts yet, but I'm enjoying checking on them daily, solly, yeah I gotta figure that one out, or just give up on it. Anyway, it feels really good to finally do my own science again. It's not that I didn't enjoy some of the other science I've been doing, but none of it is what I've trained to do. I'm a botanist and I haven't done any botany work since the airlock blew, and I lost my potatoes. There's just something soothing for me to be running my fingers through soil again.
Log entry Sol 807
I have sprouts. The Earth soil has sprouts of the fern seeds I planted. I haven't been this excited since the potatoes sprouted, and then it was more because it was a sign I wasn't going to starve to death. Yes, it was exciting to have plants grown in partial Martian soil, mostly Martian soil, but the bigger factor was FOOD. This time it's growing plants for the sake of experimentation. I expect sprouts in the mixed Earth/Martian soil in another day or two. Obviously, I know I can grow in that mix. The big test is seeing if the ferns will grow in Martian soil alone.
Log entry Sol 808
And there are sprouts in the Martian/Earth mixed soil.
Log entry Sol 815
The plants in both the Earth soil and mixed soil are doing well. The one in Earth soil only is growing faster and stronger. I didn't prepare the mixed soil the same way this time as I did when I planted the potatoes. I simply mixed them. I didn't add any fertilizer, so it makes sense that it would take longer for the ferns to grow. It is growing in that mix though.
Log entry Sol 821
Both ferns that have grown are happy and healthy. I finally dug into the plain Martian soil and found the seed sitting there doing nothing. I suppose I'm lucky it didn't rot. I should be able to use it again.
Time to plant new seeds in all three soil types with fertilizer and see what happens. Once again the Earth soil is the control. Considering my potato growing I could almost consider the mixed soil a second control, except for the change in fertilizer.
I've set aside the ferns I grew to create a compost pile along with the last of the potatoes that I just don't want to eat. I'm going to add to it any food scraps I have. In a few months after I have a decent amount that I've turned over several times I'll try mixing it with the Martian soil and trying to grow in that medium. It will be a good data point for future colonies, just like everything else I'm doing here.
Log entry Sol 835
Holy crap! It worked. There are plants growing in all three boxes. By the way, I should make a quick correction. I've been calling the Mars dirt/sand soil when it's not. The definition of soil means it must have organic matter in its makeup and we've yet to find a sample of Mars dirt with organic matter. That all means what we have here on Mars is regolith, a blanket of unconsolidated, loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering solid rock. It includes dust, broken rocks, and other related materials, but nothing organic. I'm still going to call it soil for ease of understanding. When I write my article for the professional journals I'll call it regolith like I'm supposed to. Anyway, all that to say is that we don't need to bring along Earth soil to grow plants here. We just need fertilizer. The plants growing in the mixed and Earth soil however are growing faster.
I wish I had the equipment to test plant growth rate in all three soils versus hydroponically. I could spare water. I have a container I could use. The lighting is fine. I might be able to find a way to aerate the water continuously. The problem is I don't have the correct nutrients for growing hydroponically. We didn't plan on doing that on the surface. I had a hydroponic set-up in my lab on Hermes. I wonder if that's still going to be there when Ares IV comes to get me. They don't have a botanist on their crew. I guess I'd better ask.
~~~~~
Mindy,
Quick question: Do you know or could you find out if the hydroponics lab is still set up on Hermes?
Mark
Mark,
I don't know the answer to that, but I'll find out.
Mindy
~~~~~
"Mindy!" Venkat greeted cheerfully. "What can I do for you today?"
"The Ares IV crew doesn't have a botanist, correct?"
Venkat nodded.
"So is it safe to… no, will there be…" Mindy paused and pursed her lips.
"Is Mark worried about not having anything to do on the trip home?"
"I don't know, all I know is he asked if there is still hydroponics on Hermes."
"It has been shut down. However, there was a discussion on keeping it so that they can grow some fresh greens and vegetables. Ultimately, it was decided there were too many other chores and experiments for the crew," Venkat explained.
"But can all of the necessary equipment and materials be packed so that Mark can use them on the way home?"
"I think we can manage that," Venkat replied.
Mindy sighed in relief. "Perhaps the crew can have it set up for him by the time they rescue him."
"I'm sure they can manage that, but you should run it by Alannah first," Venkat suggested.
Mindy nodded. "Thanks."
~~~~~
Mark,
The hydroponics lab will be ready for you when you board Hermes. If there are any specific plants you want to grow just send us a list and we'll load the seeds on board to wait for you.
Mindy
Mindy,
Thank you!
Mark
~~~~~
A/N thanks to JP Anderson and my beta at ao3 who both pointed out it should be holisols instead of solidays thanks to everyone reading, big thanks to all of you lovely reviewers.