July 15, 2008 - My first traverse of the season!

Photos of the Day: HMP Trinity Lake Traverse | July 15, 2008 - HMP RS

[Note: Click "Read More" below for my personal journal that I am keeping as Mars Projects Manager for the Space Frontier Foundation. See MarsOnEarth.org for the daily status reports for the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) that I post as EPO for the Mars Institute.]

Today I got lucky and was able to go on a rather lengthy traverse with Charles Cockell (Open University) and three students from the University of Western Ontario, and Jesse Weaver (a young technician). Azhar Rafiq, from the medical team, decided he couldn't go at the last minute and I was able to take his ATV. We traversed to Trinity Lake and a few other geologically and biologically interesting sites along the way. We left in the morning and got back just before dinner. Haughton Crater is an amazing site, and there is no way these pictures will do it justice, but it's worth a try.

copyright 2008 Mars Institute

The photo set from our traverse is here, in addition to a short interview I did with Charles Cockell (with my voice strategically removed). I exhausted the batteries in all three of my cameras since we were out so long - my snapshot camera, video camera, and laptop camera. I have quite a bit of footage to go through! It's probably a good thing the batteries died when they did. I will put together at least two videos - I filmed the students working in the field, and after all possibilities had been exhausted and the rare bird and footprint filmed, I made some videos for my personal youtube, which I will put on here if they turn out ok. :) Who knows when I will even have a chance to look at those!

copyright 2008 Mars Institute

After dinner, Gordon "Oz" Osinski (PI, CSA) gave a lecture on impact structures that was perfect for the layperson like some of us were. I learned a thing or two! Also after dinner one of the guys who works in the Arthur C. Clarke Mars Greenhouse was presented with a birthday "cake" shaped like the Greenhouse.

After such a long adventurous day, I am looking forward to spending time in the office tent and the warm medical tent tomorrow. Sometime in the afternoon the medical team will be doing a mock scenario, pretending to have a person with a chest injury and performing mock surgery with instructions via video conferencing with Vancouver General Hospital. Being the camp photographer has it's benefits. The medical tent is the most comfortably warm place here other than the greenhouse.

over and out.
-Elaine

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Elaine Walker

Mars Projects Manager
Space Frontier Foundation
marsfrontier.org