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Mission to Mars

12/15/2019

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Sol One (Teresa Hislop, Crew 217 Journalist, reporting from the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS):
Today we learned how to be Martians.  It’s simple really. Stay inside. Suit up when going outside.   Or die.   
We are the 217th crew to occupy MDRS and the first cadre of NASA Spaceward Bound UT (NSBU) teachers.   NSBU is the result of a NASA grant, written to give UT teachers (and vicariously their students) a Mars-like experience. We are NSBU pioneers.    
MDRS is one of only two permanent Mars simulation stations in the world; the other one is in the Arctic.  It is the only station that allows analog astronauts to do independent research. Today, Sol One, was our last day on Earth; Tuesday through Thursday we will engage in a full simulation (sim) experience.  While in sim, water is limited--550 gallons per 2 week mission-- but energy is not. There are regulations--like no TP in the toilets and no exiting the habitat (Hab) without space suits-- and responsibilities--like submitting nightly reports and getting COM approval for all excursions.   The sun will come up tomorrow...ON MARS!!!


On November 19, I read the following email.   
Spaceward Bound Utah is a 5-day workshop at the Mars Desert Research Station in Hanksville, Utah where K-12 teachers from Utah will be able to experience what living on Mars might be like in the future. The Mars Desert Research Station is a research facility that has been developed to simulate an early research base on Mars. The campus includes a mock spacecraft designed to land on Mars and which is the living quarters for the crews when they are on site. There is also an engineering bay, a greenhouse, a fully equipped science laboratory and two observatories on campus. Electric vehicles and spacesuits designed to mimic what we would have on Mars are available for crews to explore the landscape surrounding the station, which is a true geologic Mars analog. The focus will be on in situ experiences that can be replicated in a classroom and allow all students to conduct activities and experiments that will be done on Mars.

We are looking for eight enthusiastic teachers interested in living and working under the same operational constraints that would be encountered while living and working on Mars, while participating in a workshop led by a master teacher who has developed a semester long Mission to Mars Science elective that is offered to all seventh and eighth grade students at her public school.

On a whim, I applied.   

On November 20,  I received an invitation to join the crew.

On December 9, I found myself at the Mars Desert Research Station with five other teachers (1 from Connecticut, 2 from Colorado, and two from UT) and an MDRS scientist (Washington State) and her intern (from Peru).   Honestly, going into the experience I was certain it would be a much better experience to tell about than to live. Eight complete strangers, living 24/7 in tight quarters for five days…. Yikes! Certainly there would be at least one annoying person.  Certainly there would be times when I was counting the time until I could go home. Certainly….NOT!

Not all certainties are certain.   The people I lived on Mars with for a week were fabulous.  In fact, I could not have chosen better people if I were to have hand picked them.     They were gracious, generous, intelligent, hard working, sharing and ….. old! All but two of the teachers were older than I.   

Though I knew we were only simulating a Mars experience, living in the Hab and going on missions seemed amazingly realistic.   Honestly, living in the Hab felt like living in a space station. And suiting up, driving a Rover, using radios for communication and walking around in spacesuits felt like we were on a different planet.   I learned so much!

  • Freeze dried food tastes amazingly good.  The reconstituted broccoli, cauliflower, and chicken tasted like the real thing.   And freeze dried blueberries are REALLY, REALLY good.
  • Having the oxygen on when wearing a space suit is important.  On our first excursion my air was not on and it was not good.  
  • I was the only crew member who did not exceed the 2 minute shower restriction.   Of course, I was also the only crew member who did not shower. [I was in full camping mode.]
  • It is possible to live harmoniously with 7 complete strangers 24/7 in a space smaller than most living rooms for five days.
  • There are TONS (figuratively and probably literally too...) of exciting, rigorous, academically rich Mars-related science activities that I can do with my students.   Maybe I could even create a Mission to Mars class at OPA....?!?!?!
I had a fabulous experience.   One could say it was “out of this world”.   

{NOTE:  For a complete report on our experience go to 
http://mdrs.marssociety.org/] 


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Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS)
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View out the window of the Hab
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A Sim Selfie
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My bedroom
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Inside the Hab
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Outside the Hab
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The greenhouse has veggies, flowers, ....
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...and herbs.
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The science dome (lab)
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Using a mortar to grind rock samples
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Pouring petri baggies
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I love blueberries!
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Four members of Crew 217 ready to head out.
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In the airlock....5 minutes to pressurize...
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Does anyone else find it ironic that 911 was headed out on a mission in the Rover?
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Being on Mars puts a star in my eye!
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Collecting samples to take back to the lab
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A beautiful day on "Mars"
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#LightTheWorld

12/8/2019

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What Is Light the World?

#LightTheWorld is an invitation to transform Christmas into a season of service. It’s a worldwide movement to touch hearts and change lives by doing the things Jesus did: feeding the hungry, comforting the lonely, visiting the sick and afflicted, and showing kindness to everyone. Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). #LightTheWorld is the perfect way to let our light—and His light—shine brightly.

I am a week into doing daily acts of service and already miracles have happened.....mostly in my own attitude and level of joy.

Go to https://www.comeuntochrist.org/light-the-world for information on how to sign up for daily service prompts, find a giving machine, attend a Christmas service and/or put Christ into your Christmas.

The video below is a beautiful, reverent depiction of the Christmas story.   May the you be blessed by the beauty of the season and may His peace rest upon you.


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Famous....NOT!

12/1/2019

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I recently finished reading a fabulous autobiography about a man who has truly made a difference in the world.  Also relatively recently I watched a woman in action who has a significant positive influence on literally millions of young people.   Also, relatively recently, I realized that I will never do either of those things.

I grew up with illusions of grandeur.  I really thought I would be Someone, that I would do Something Big.  I imagined my classmates from Sugar-Salem High School [GO DIGGERS!!!} telling people “I went to school with her.”   I saw myself smiling graciously as people--lots of people-- thanked me for whatever great thing it was that I did. I dreamed that I would change lives on a grand scale and that my name would be known far and wide.    And I loved the feeling of acceptance, even adulation, my delusions evoked.  

Not to be.  Chances are strong that I will never experience the satisfaction of knowing that I have had a significant impact on society.  Nor will I ever experience the large-scale adulation the man and woman mentioned in my opening paragraph experience. How would it feel, I wondered, to be them?   To feel thoroughly accepted, acclaimed, and adored?

Pondering as I prepared for a shower (some of my greatest insights come while showering…) I had an “ah-ha” moment.   One does not have to be publicly acclaimed to be thoroughly accepted and adored. That is what families are for!

God gave us families so that everyone can know what it feels like to be a famous NFL quarterback, an acclaimed vocal artist, or an influential religious leader.   We may not experience the thrill of the completed pass, the roar of an appreciative crowd, or a request to shake our hand at a restaurant but we can know what it feels like to be completely accepted and absolutely adored.  We can experience those feelings at home.

My Mom and Dad think I am much better than I am; they think I am totally wonderful, better in fact than any rock star or world leader.   In their presence I feel totally adored. My husband thinks I am pretty great too, as do my children much of the time. “You are the greatest,” all of them have told me, in one way or another, at one time or another.

I know what it feels like to be thoroughly accepted, acclaimed, and adored because I have felt it in my home.   And it is my right, duty, and privilege to make sure the members of my family know what it feels like as well. Realistically, it will not happen every day.  But, realistically, it does not happen every day for famous people either; not every day is game day, concert day or General Conference. I am confident famous people do not always feel adored.   To quote a favorite musical “Life is made of moments” and not every moment is glorious for anyone.

However we can all have glorious moments, moments in which we feel totally loved and absolutely adored.  Enter the family. It is in the family that everyone, regardless of social status, economic standing, or educational opportunity, can experience what it feels like to be one of “them”, one of the rich, famous, and/or influential people whom we hypothesize to have ideal lives.

I can still be Someone. I can still do Something Big.    Likely not on a world scale, a national scale, nor at the state level.   Chances are I will not even be recognized at the city level. But I can be Someone and do Something in my home.   I can make sure my husband, parents and children, my sister, siblings and in-laws, my nieces and nephews and neighbors know what it feels like to be thoroughly accepted and completely adored.   

Love YOU! 

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    Author

    Teresa Hislop
    thislop@msn.com

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