LOG ENTRY: SOL 81 (Jan. 28, 2036) Almost made it to Pathfinder today, but I ran out of juice. Just another 22km to go! An unremarkable drive. Navigation wasn’t a problem. As Lighthouse receded into the distance, the rim of Hamelin Crater came in to view. I left Acidalia Planitia behind a long time ago. I’m well into Ares Vallis now. The desert plains are giving way to bumpier terrain, strewn with ejecta that never got buried by sand. It…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 80 (Jan. 27, 2036) By my reckoning, I’m about 100km from Pathfinder. Technically it’s “Carl Sagan Memorial Station.” But with all due respect to Carl, I can call it whatever the hell I want. I’m the King of Mars. As I mentioned, it’s been a long, boring drive. And I’m still on the outward leg. But hey, I’m an astronaut. Long-ass trips are my business. Navigation is tricky. The Hab’s nav beacon only reaches 40km, then it’s…

Jan. 20, 2036 (Sol 73) “Welcome back,” Cathy said to the camera. “We’re chatting with Marcus Washington, from the US Postal Service. So, Mr. Washington, I understand the Ares 3 mission caused a Postal Service first. Can you explain to our viewers?”  “Uh yeah,” said Marcus. “Everyone thought he was dead for over two months. In that time, the Postal Service issued a run of commemorative stamps honoring his memory. 20,000 were printed, and sent to post offices around the…

Jan. 19, 2036 (Sol 72) Venkat sipped his coffee and frowned at his computer. A month ago it would have been unthinkable to drink coffee at 9pm. Now it was necessary fuel. Shift schedules, fund allocations, project juggling, out and out looting of other projects… he’d never pulled so many stunts in his life.  “NASA’s a large organization,” he typed. “It doesn’t deal with sudden change well. The only reason we’re getting away with it is the desperate circumstances. Everyone’s…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 71 (Jan. 17, 2036) As predicted, it took 12 hours to charge the batteries to full. I came straight home.  Time to make plans for Sirius 4. And I think it’ll be a multi-day field trip.  Looks like power and battery recharging is solved. Food’s not a problem; there’s plenty of space to store things. Water’s even easier than food. I need 2L per day to be comfortable.  In the long term, I’ll need to bring the…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 70 (Jan. 16, 2036) Today, I write to you from the rover. I’m halfway-through Sirius 3 and things are going well.  I set out at first light and drove laps around the Hab, trying to stay on untouched ground. The first battery lasted just under two hours. After a quick EVA to switch the cables, I got back to driving. When all was said and done, I had driven 81km in 3 hours and 27 minutes.  That’s…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 69 (Jan. 15, 2036) Found the RTG.  It wasn’t hard to find. I drove 4km south and saw the flag right away. Commander Lewis had buried it atop a small hill. She probably wanted to make sure everyone could see the flag, and it worked great! Except instead of avoiding it, I bee-lined to it and dug it up. Not exactly what she was going for.  It’s a large cylinder with heat-sinks all around it. I could…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 68 (Jan. 14, 2036) Well shit.  I came up with a solution, but… remember when I burned rocket fuel in the Hab? This’ll be more dangerous.  I’m going to use the RTG.  The RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator) is a big box of Plutonium. But not the kind used in nuclear bombs. No, no. This Plutonium is way more dangerous!  Plutonium-238 is an incredibly unstable isotope. It’s so radioactive that it will get red hot all by itself.…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 67 (Jan. 13, 2036) Sirius 1 is complete!  More accurately, Sirius 1 was aborted after 1 hour. I guess you could call it a “failure” but I prefer the term “learning experience.” Things started out fine. I drove to a nice flat spot a kilometer from the Hab, then started going back and forth over a 500m stretch. I quickly realized this would be a crappy test. After a few laps, I had compressed the soil enough…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 66 (Jan. 12, 2036) The time has come (ominous musical crescendo) for some missions! NASA gets to name their missions after gods and stuff, so why can’t I? Henceforth, rover experimental missions will be “Sirius” missions. Get it? Dogs? Well if you don’t, fuck you.  Sirius 1 will be tomorrow.  The mission: Starting with fully charged batteries, and having the solar cells on the roof, drive until I run out of power, and see how far I…