T-minus 3 days. That's all the time that is left until we land.

Management put a stop to all testing this week, so we were been busy running simulations and tests on the hardware all last week.

The first week on Mars will be characterizing the instruments, and we need all those blocks tested before we land. Some teams are doing better than others.

The TEGA team was here several days for testing blocks that will be run after the first week on Mars, so they're ahead of the game. I spent a lot of time running blocks for the RAC team that needed to be done by last Friday.

Even though this week we're not supposed to be testing, we are running a few tests. That's not really surprising. But the quantity has dropped, so I've been taking some vacation time.

Next week, I start my Mars schedule. Four days on, three off, following the Mars Sol (or day) which is 40 minutes longer than an Earth day. This can really throw one off. We'll see how it goes.

Three days determine everyone's future. Whether I still have a job. If we'll do any science. Will anyone get to see a picture from Mars?

I've been working on the project for 2 and one-half years. Others for upwards of six, including the original proposal to NASA. I remember when our countdown timer read 500-plus days until launch. Now it reads three days until we land on another planet.

Kinda cool, isn't it?

E-mail this entry to a friend