LOG ENTRY: SOL 40 (Dec. 17, 2035) Things weren’t 100% successful.  They say no plan survives first contact with implementation. I’d have to agree. Here’s what happened:  I summoned up the courage to return to the Hab. Once I got there, I felt a little more confident. Everything was how I’d left it (what did I expect? Martians looting my stuff?)  It would take a while to let the Hab cool, so I started that right away by turning the…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 39 (Dec. 16, 2035) Well I think I’ve got it.  Soil bacteria are used to winters. They get less active, and require less oxygen to survive. I can lower the Hab temperature to 1C, and they’ll nearly hibernate. This sort of thing happens on Earth all the time. They can survive a couple of days this way. If you’re wondering how bacteria survive long periods of cold on Earth, the answer is they don’t. Bacteria further underground…

Chapter 5  LOG ENTRY: SOL 38 (Dec. 15, 2035) I’m still cowering in the rover, but I’ve had time to think. And I know how to deal with the hydrogen.  I thought about the Atmospheric Regulator. It pays attention to what’s in the air and balances it. That’s how the excess O2 I’ve been importing ends up in the tanks. Problem is, it’s just not built to pull hydrogen out of the air.  The regulator uses freeze-separation to sort out…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 37 (Dec. 14, 2035) I am fucked and I’m gonna die!  Ok, calm down. I’m sure I can get around this.  I’m writing this log to you, dear future Mars archeologist, from Rover 2. You may wonder why I’m not in the Hab right now. Because I fled in terror, that’s why! And I’m not sure what the hell to do next.  I guess I should explain what happened. If this is my last entry, you’ll at…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 34 (Dec. 10, 2035) Well that took a really long time. I’ve been at it all night with the Hydrazine. But I got the job done.  I could have finished faster, but I figured caution’s best when setting fire to rocket fuel in an enclosed space.  Boy is this place a tropical jungle now, I’ll tell ya.  It’s almost 30C in here, and humid as all hell. I just dumped a ton of heat and 50L of…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 33 (Dec. 9, 2035) This may be my last entry.  I’ve known since Sol 6 there was a good chance I’d die here. But I figured it would be when I ran out of food. I didn’t think it would be this early.  I’m about the fire up the Hydrazine.  Our mission was designed knowing that anything might need maintenance, so I have plenty of tools. Even in a space-suit, I was able to pry the access…

Chapter 4  LOG ENTRY: SOL 32 (Dec. 8, 2035) So I ran in to a bunch of problems with my water plan.  My idea is to make 600L of water (limited by the hydrogen I can get from the Hydrazine). That means I’ll need 300L of liquid O2. I can create the O2 easily enough. It takes 20 hours for the MAV fuel plant to fill its 10L tank with CO2. The Oxygenator can turn it in to O2, then…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 30 (Dec. 6, 2035) I have an idiotically dangerous plan for getting the water I need. And boy do I mean *dangerous*. But I don’t have much choice. I’m out of ideas and I’m due for another dirt-doubling in a few days. When I do the final doubling, I’ll be doubling on to all that new soil I’ve brought in. If I don’t wet it first, it’ll just die.  There isn’t a lot of water here on…

LOG ENTRY: SOL 29 (Dec. 5, 2035) Over the last few days, I got all the dirt in that I’d need. I prepped the tables and bunks for holding the weight of soil, and even put the dirt in place. There’s still no water to make it viable, but I have some ideas. Really bad ideas, but they’re ideas.  Today’s big accomplishment was setting up the pop-tents. The problem with the rovers’ pop-tents is they weren’t designed for frequent use. …

LOG ENTRY: SOL 26 (Dec. 2, 2035) It was a back-breaking yet productive day.  I was sick of thinking, so instead of trying to figure out where I’ll get 250L of water, I did some manual labor. I need to get a whole assload more soil in to the Hab, even if it is dry and useless right now. I got a cubic meter in before getting exhausted.  Then, a minor dust-storm dropped by for an hour and covered the…