Airlock seal: Active 14.1 psi Water reclamation system: Functional (carbon filter replacement in 13 sols) When you’re in a place like Mars, it’s only a matter of time when things begin to fail. Life isn’t as easy as it is back home, like trekking down the street to your local home improvement store when a […]

Read more "Limits"

A new episode of New York Times’ “Life on Mars” series is now available! Check out some of the great footage of me and the rest of the crew here at HI-SEAS Mission V. I got to give a quick shout out to ‘thetravelingspaceman’ for the sweet shots you captured, especially on Veggie. Awesome job, […]

Read more "NYT Episode 2: “Get to Know the Crew”"

Deep Space Network status: Active Telecommunications Sytems Upload / Download: (40mb/s, 70 mb/s) Status: nominal When it comes to space travel, timing means everything. Whether you’re relying on the sun for workplace lighting or performing a rendzvous maneuver with another spacecraft, being sure those hour and minute hands are lined up at the right place […]

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Solar Panel efficiency: 31% Back-up Power status: Active Rise and fall. Two words in summary to the greatest empires, philosophers, leaders, families, species, and worlds ever known. From a fast-paced, high-energy climb to the top, to a slow, merciful demolition into the depths of history. One may think this scenario is only realistic to those […]

Read more "Apogee"

The HI-SEAS Mission V crew were featured in the New York Times this morning. The series is titled, “Life on Mars”, in which video footage on our daily lives and activities in the first month of the mission was captured by a 360-degree camera. It’s an incredible piece of equipment, giving viewers a direct visual […]

Read more "“Life on Mars” Episode 1"

Fuel cells: charged Heat exchangers: stable “For every action there is an equal or opposite reaction”. Mars is a little bit like grease. A little of it and you can cope. Too much and you fly right off. The same thing can be said about a ‘dreamer’, a person who brings something to light that […]

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Environmental Control Systems: Nominal Water reclimation system: Limited I consider plants as one of the most incredible inhabitants on this planet. Their contributions to our every day life are forgotten, practically unconsciously, but their presense is felt in the hundreds of breaths we take in a single hour alone. When one considers the advantages plants […]

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Suit communications: Check Airlock pressure levels: Nominal Welcome to Mars. Warmth. The first thing I noticed above all other senses. It was almost like going to your baseball game, a spiritual enlightenment of sorts. Being in an enclosed environment for a week now, and the first sense activated is by way of the intense heat […]

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Entry velocity: 25 mph Status on vehicle thermal: 68degF, looking good Landing confirmation? . .. ….. Landing confirmed. Mankind, welcome to Mars. At 4:41pm Hawaii time, I, and the other five crew mates of Mission 5, entered the habitat airlock for the first time. It’s a little surreal; I’m not going to lie. So many […]

Read more "Welcome to ‘Mars’"

Habitat systems: Check. Exploration suit condition: Good. Compostable toilet instructions: Wait…what? Picture yourself as a star…Molten. Massive. Hungry for power. Life is good. But eventually your thirst turns against you. And boom, destruction…When you picture yourself as this bright, magnificent object in the night sky you capture this gaze, this awe from others around you. […]

Read more "Starlight"