Log Entry Sol 547
Not much to report, so I haven't been making logs. I've been on the road for twenty days, the same amount of time I spent in the rover to retrieve Pathfinder, and I'm not even halfway to Valles Marineris. Every time I stop for the day I take rock, soil, and core samples, then label them with the sol date when I get back in the rover. If the equipment is all working when I get to the Ares I Hab I'll have more science to do. Hopefully, in the future, I'll be able to communicate with NASA again and they can pinpoint the actual locations of the samples based on my journey. I know they're watching me. Good thing I'm not paranoid or I'd be making a tinfoil hat. Did I bring any foil? Do we even have any? No, we didn't. I remember asking them to send some and I was only being slightly facetious.
I suddenly think it would be hilarious to go out and wander around in my EVA suit with a giant tinfoil hat over my helmet for a half hour or so just to be sure they can get my picture. Pretty sure there is no foil though damn it. That would have been fun… Wait! I just had a better idea. Good enough I'm going to get back into my damn suit and head back out.
"What is he doing?" Annie groused as the image came up on the screen. "Is he ever serious?"
"Really?" Venkat said with a laugh. "Have you met Mark?"
"I think it's adorable," Mindy giggled.
"It totally is," Beth agreed.
Melissa shook her head and smiled. "It's so Mark."
"That is a front page picture right there Annie," Martinez insisted, "and you know it."
"Leave it to Watney to walk the little rover like a dog," Vogel mused.
"Beck, what are you doing?" Beth asked.
"Just trying to see if we can enhance the photo a bit, to make it clearer. I want to see the ears he added to Sojourner. This is a great photo, Annie. Come on, you have to see the headlines for this: Astronaut faces death by taking his rover for a walk."
"Do me a favor, doc," Annie grumbled. "Keep your day job."
"Mindy, have you been tracking his stopping coordinates?" Lewis asked.
"For the samples, we've seen him collecting? Yes. I had planned to do it even before the first image showed him with the rake and core sampler. I have a spreadsheet I can share with you all. If or when we finally get communication with Mark again, I can send it to him to add the data."
"Thank you."
Log entry Sol 547 (2)
Okay, that was fun, ridiculous, but fun. Even more fun is imagining everyone's response back home. Montrose is going crazy. Dad is loving it, as are Rick and Chris. Vogel probably thinks I'm crazy. Beth is jealous. Lewis… hmm; I bet she loves it but is keeping that on the down low. She's too professional to do anything else. She's probably more focused on the samples I've been taking each day. You can take the geologist off of Mars but you can't… hmm that just doesn't quite work right does it? Oh, well.
I left my daily morse code message earlier. The messages aren't anything special. To keep it short and limit hurting my back further I've started just leaving ._ _ _ _ _._ that's a-ok for you non-Morse code readers, well without the hyphen that is. See? Short, sweet, and gets the point across.
I've started planning out a possible room to be made from the pop-tents in case I have to live in the rover long-term in the future for any reason. Once I get to the Ares I Hab, I'll have their two pop tents to work with too. I could make a really big room if I can figure out how to make it work and use spare canvas. It also has to fit in or be on top of the rover. It would be like a mini-hab. I'm drawing the plans out in good old Microsoft Paint. Yes, we have Paint on our computers. You'd think there would be more sophisticated CAD software, but maybe they didn't think we'd need it as anything more complicated would be sent to us from Earth.
I also started brainstorming where I might scavenge wire from to repair Pathfinder, though I'm not sure wire will be enough. Still, with two extra rovers and the base of the MAV left behind, I might be able to make it work. I'm going to try anyway after I get the Hab set up again and have run the diagnostics several times. I'll also start doing the Hab canvas scans at least part of the canvas every day. I'll be the only one checking the scans so it will take a while but it does have to be done. I'm already dreading it. I'll still do it though. I want to avoid another explosive decompression if I can.
Time to go and entertain myself. It's Zork 2 time, thanks to my 'lil sis'. She's such a geek.
Log Entry Sol 553
Getting closer to the halfway point. I should pass it in the next few sols. I'd be there already if I didn't have to stop for air days. Did I ever log about air days? I thought I did, but my memory isn't wholly reliable these days. Air days are when I stop for a day to allow the Oxygenator to process the air. You see, I like every other human exhale a lot of carbon dioxide. Over time it builds up and could become lethal. So the atmospheric regulator pulls the extra CO2 from the air. On my air day, the Oxygenator converts the stored CO2 into breathable oxygen. The process uses up the power so I can't drive. It means a day off, a day of staying in the same place, sitting around in the rover. I wish I didn't have to stop, but you know, I like breathing so I have to stop. I have come to enjoy those days though because I don't have to fight highway hypnosis. I can relax and rewatch crappy seventies tv, listen to disco, or play some Zork 2. All that being said I can not wait to get to the Ares I site. I don't even care if the Hab can't be used. Ok, that's a lie I do care, but I just need to be able to stand up with my EVA suit off. I can't do that in the rover or the pop tent. I can barely lie down straight. My back may honestly never recover.
I wonder if the crew left anything behind. They didn't have to. They had the option to load up all of their personal items on their MAV to take home. Still, maybe someone forgot something. Probably not, because they would have mentioned that in our training. They didn't even have to leave any computers. Hopefully, mine has the same or similar enough software that I can activate the Hab. I hadn't thought of that before. Great, one more item to add to the worry list.
"Any new messages?" Grace asked Mindy at dinner.
"No, just his usual."
"Ugh, that boy."
"Some of the times he's stopped there haven't been many rocks so it's easier for him to leave a short message."
"And there's no way he can do anything differently when he gets there?"
Mindy had answered this question at least a dozen times but she knew the desperation of the mother in Grace. "No, not unless he can fix Pathfinder, or we can get him a new radio."
"Damn it."
Log entry Sol 555
Nice round number there. I did pass the halfway point. I didn't bother to log it. I just kept going. Another fifteen to twenty sols and I should be there. I hope.
It's too bad I'm no good at writing. I could use this time to dictate a story into my audio log. I suppose I could still try. A novel would be different from a television show script. Well, it's something to think about anyway.
"So," Melody began the short meeting in her office, "is there any way to help him find the Hab? Anything we can do at all?"
"Can we use the satellites to broadcast the Ares III signal like we did the supply probe?" Mindy asked.
"We're looking into it," Bruce replied over the speakerphone from his office at JPL. "Venkat brought it up yesterday when we spoke."
"I did."
Bruce continued, "There's no power to the Hab right now so it's highly unlikely. The MDV is the only thing we can use and we're not sure it has power either."
Annie groaned. "Is anything here going to ever be easy? Wait, don't answer that. I know it was a stupid question. Nothing in space travel is easy."
Log entry Sol 556
Bored, bored, bored, so bored! I need to do something different. I feel the need to do something ridiculous, but I don't have too many options. I guess I should start brainstorming. I gave up on the novel concept. I just don't have any ideas. What I need to do is come up with something else truly ridiculous to do, and if I can be photographed doing it, even better.
"Mindy?"
"Yes, Annie."
"What the hell is he doing?"
"I think he's making dust angels."
"On his stomach?"
"Yeah, the pack on his back may be much smaller than older EVA suits, it's still probably too big to work that way."
"Has he lost his mind?"
"Most likely he's just relaxing a little," Dr. Shields said from behind the other two women. "I think it's a very healthy way for him to have a little fun."
"I'm going to need-"
"Yes, Ms. Montrose you may quote me on that," the doctor said very formally with just an inkling of sarcasm in her tone. "I can even write a statement if you'd like."
"Good. Now, what is that?" Annie pointed at the screen as Mindy began to giggle. "Oh my God, is that a clothesline? Did he hang a clothesline with his clothes on it between the rover and the pop tent? Like he's on some good old-fashioned camping trip and not fighting to stay alive. He's trying to give me a heart attack. He's trying to kill me."
"He's enjoying himself, Annie. Relax," Irene scolded gently.
"Sure, I'll relax after you get me that statement."
Log Entry Sol 556 (2)
Annie's gonna kill me, but coming up with stupid things to do on air days is keeping me sane and it's fun. I may be getting a little giddy laughing at the clothesline. Fortunately, there haven't been any really bad winds so my clothes didn't end up all over the place. I took them down just before it got dark. Everything is back in the rover now. I already have an idea for five days from now, if I can find enough rocks that is.
Annie was coming to dread every fifth day of this cross-Mars journey Mark was making. He was getting more ridiculous with each stop. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it but they didn't have to talk to the press. Anytime now she was going to get an image that would have her pulling her hair out. She knew she could delegate the responsibility, and that she had competent people in the department, but this was the biggest story NASA had right now. She just couldn't let go of the reins.
She looked up at the knock on her door and braced herself.
"Come in," she called.
Mindy entered the room carrying a stack of images. "I think you're going to like this one."
"What crazy thing has he done now?"
"He made a maze for the kids he says."
"He says?" Annie raised an eyebrow. "And what do you mean a maze?"
"He's been at it for hours. Here, look," Mindy said, laying out the images across Annie's desk. "Here he left the message, then he started walking, shuffling his feet the best he can in the lower gravity."
"He literally created a maze."
"Yeah. It won't last but we have plenty of images. He must have planned it out. He's carrying a piece of paper. We can recreate it online and make it printable so kids can do the maze he created. As soon as I saw what he was doing I made sure to get every image. They may have to be overlaid to get the whole maze, but I'm sure someone here can do that."
"This I can work with," Annie replied. "Leave those here and send me the digital files please."
Log entry Sol 562
I slept better last night than I have since I left my Hab. I haven't been that active since then either. I hope they were able to get good pictures. I'd love to do it again, but I don't know if I'll have the space or the energy.
Log entry Sol 568
Air day tomorrow, and I don't have any plans. I was going to make a list of things to do, but I never got any further than a maze. Well, that's not totally true. I thought about using rocks to make a dot-to-dot, but I'd have to use some big rocks. They'd have to be nearly boulder size, and that would be exhausting to create. I also have no idea how I'd indicate what order to go in to complete the image. I wish I knew how often images are being taken. If I did I could just do it slowly and let them label the dots back at NASA. Oh well, it's a fun idea but just not realistic. Not on the road anyway. I might be able to do it at the Ares I Hab site if I bring out a bunch of containers and label them somehow. Ok, I'm putting that on my "to-do when bored in the Hab" list. I could use duct tape to make the numbers. It'll depend on how many containers I can find though.
I've spent more time trying to determine if there will be enough wire for me to rehab Pathfinder. It dawned on me as I was brainstorming that I should have taken apart the supply probe. Even if it wasn't enough electronics to make a fix, if I added it to anything I can take from the Ares I site, I might have stood a chance. Of course, if I'd had just a little bit more time I could have stripped the MDV.
Speaking of stripping the MDV, I hope I get in contact with NASA again. I want to know why their plan is for the Ares IV crew to strip their MDV and travel overland instead of stripping the one at the site down and filling it with fuel from the MAV fuel tanks. The fuel-generating tanks stay behind and both spacecraft use the same fuel. I should be able to take those tanks and use them to fill the tanks on the MDV. I could fly to Schiaparelli, or their pilot could fly it remotely from Hermes. Then they can come down in their MDV and meet me there. The MDV I'd use wouldn't need to lose quite as much weight as it only needs to carry me so it would start with less weight. I don't need to take much with me. I'm sure they'll share clothes with me, or they'll have fresh ones added to one of their supply drops. They'll be sure there's enough food for all of us. I only need to take myself and a memory stick or two filled with my data. Even if I can reconnect with Earth and send data back, I want a copy for safekeeping.
I know in training we had a lecture on why we have both an MDV and a MAV instead of a two-stage craft like the lunar module, but I don't remember the reasoning now. They use a two-stage for moon landings now. They just updated the old lunar module but kept the ascent and descent idea. Why not the same for Mars? They could have just sent the fuel plant ahead and we could transfer the tanks. I'm sure they could find a way to land the fuel plant like the MAV is landed now. The tanks are interchangeable after all. Everything that can be is interchangeable between all NASA and JPL craft now. It would have simplified the process. It's too late to change things now, but if I get home I'm bringing it up for future missions not yet fully planned and funded. Congress loves to save money on things that aren't their pet projects. If we can make a combo MDV/MAV for less, maybe we can more easily get new missions approved.
Back to me and the Ares I MDV. I know they don't want me trying to fly it myself because I'm not a pilot. Additionally, having their pilot trying to fly it remotely might be difficult. There's plenty of time to train for it, though. Anyway, if they don't want to try that I could go overland. There are two more rovers at the Ares I site. I could add them to the train here, or at the very least add their batteries. No, if I add their batteries to try and to get more distance in a day I'd still need to have more space to add solar cells. I'd need to add at least one more rover to the train. That would make maneuverability more challenging. I'd have ages to practice though, to get used to the feel of driving that big a convoy.
After I check the Hab systems, provided I can get it running, I'll have to do an inventory of supplies. They brought personal items back, but they probably left most of the equipment. It would have been too much weight to bring it all. That was one of the complaints from Congress, all the money spent on the stuff left behind that wouldn't be used again. Several representatives and senators argued that we should use the same site over and over again. Others argued we should go straight to a colony-style mission, and send astronauts to live here for a year or more. NASA argued, rightly so, that it was simply too dangerous to send a long-term mission until we'd proved the viability of a short-term mission. They also argued that any mission to Mars is long-term, considering the travel time.
The selection process for astronauts has always been highly rigorous. Once they added the Mars missions, psychological analysis became a more significant part of the process than it had previously been since Mercury Seven were chosen. I was selected as an astronaut with hopes of Mars although I would have been happy with a moon mission or a space station mission too. Any mission that let me use my mechanical engineering skills and had the possibility of growing plants in space or on a foreign body was appealing. Honestly, the only style mission I wouldn't have wanted, but would have still taken, was a simple lob up and drop back down like Alan Shephard and Gus Grissom did on Mercury, as Bezos did in his penis rocket. Getting into space was my first goal, but I wanted to do science in space.
I think that's part of why I'm so frustrated with this trip. I'm not doing any science. I will be if I get the Hab up and running, all the samples I've picked up need to be analyzed. Hmmm, if I get permission to drive from Valles Marineris to Schiaparelli and I can add another rover to the convoy, maybe I can get enough power to bring some lab equipment like the spectrometer and use it on my air days to do some work. I can keep taking samples between the two. Damn, I need to be able to talk to NASA.
Enough for today. I've written more than I have in ages anyway. Time to get some rest and maybe plan something for tomorrow's air day. If I'm lucky I should only need one more after tomorrow and then I'll be at the Ares I Hab.
"Mindy, I'd like you to meet Deborah Winghaven, the director of orbital mechanics," Venkat said.
Mindy looked up from her computer, quickly stood, brushed out wrinkles from her skirt, and held out her hand to the other woman.
"It's nice to meet you Dr. Winghaven."
"Please call me Deborah and the feeling is mutual."
"Deborah wanted to talk to you about something," Venkat told the satellite engineer.
"Oh," Mindy replied, unsure what else to say.
Deborah smiled. "When Mark reaches Valles Marineris, specifically the Ares I Hab, and is done traveling, I'd like you to come work in my department."
A/N ok so I have to be honest, I have no idea if pictures could be taken that would be zoomed in enough or clear enough to see Mark doing all these things but hey: future tech, that's my argument and I'm sticking to it ;)