January 30th 1999

Today I got up at 6 in the morning. It looks as though this may be the time that we will be waking up for the rest of the field test. We all met at the restaurant at 6:30 and ate breakfast. After that we went to the site. I had a feeling that my cell phone would work at the site but I wasn't sure. About half way there I lost the signal, but to my delight it came back as we approached the site and arrived. For the first time arriving at the site I thought it looked cool.

The group decided that they needed to go to the actual site where the rover would be tested. They were going to test the wireless ethernet, set up a camera, and figure out where the actual landing site would be for the rover. They asked me if I would drive some of them and some equipment there because it was rough road and their 4x4 hadnÕt arrived yet. Being enthusiastic about four wheeling I gladly said of course. So we packed up and went down the primitive road. We had to get out once and put some rocks in a ditch to ease the way for other vehicles that might traverse the path. After they did their tests and set up equipment we came back to the RV and started to work on other things. Some of the team worked on the rover while some of them went out and surveyed the land.

I gathered some photos, got biography information, and took some video. I also was going to set up the encoder to test it but I came to find out that there is not a straight connection to Ames, which is vital in the encoding process. I made some calls and talked to Hans and it looks like we will have to do some work to get things to work out. Meanwhile the team tested the rover out. There were some things that they needed to fix, and they easily worked the problems out and continued. It seems that they will need some parts though. They will be going to the city tomorrow to buy supplies. I also need to get some things so I will probably be going with them. As I am writing this, the moon has just risen over the mountainous desert. It is very beautiful here. If it were not for the generator noise in the background all the time it would be quite peaceful out here. So far he project is looking good. There are a few things to be worked out, but I am pretty confident that everything will eventually come together. Well it is late already. I have been out here for twelve hours so far. It has gotten rather nippy out also. Earlier it was actually nice and warm. When I woke up it was 32 degrees out. I sense that it will reach that temperature tonight also. That is all for now. This is Seth Carter signing off.