FMARS 2007

Finally, we would like to conclude by thanking many, many people for all the help and support you’ve given us over the past 4 months, as well as during the several months of planning leading up to the mission. We could not have accomplished our mission goals nearly as successfully without your help.

In particular, the F-XI LDM Crew would like to thank several groups and individuals for outstanding contributions to our mission. First, thanks to Robert and Maggie Zubrin, without whose vision and passion this mission might not have been come into being. Thanks to Chris McKay who has been there for us every step along the way, and has helped us to overcome every road block we stumbled across. Thanks to Paul Graham for leading the Advance Engineering Team, and preparing the hab for our 4 month stay, and to Emily Colvin, crew alternate who went the extra mile and helped us throughout the mission. Thanks to Mission Support and our dedicated CapComs for checking in on us every night and helping us out with everything we’ve asked; to the Engineering Team for making sure we had a safe and comfortable habitat to live in; and to Science Advisory Group for providing scientific guidance. Thanks to all of our sponsors, including Greenleaf, NASA Spaceward Bound, Mars Society Canada and their grant from the Canadian Space Agency, Wataire Industries Inc., Aerogrow, COM DEV, McNally Strumstick, University of Colorado Book Store, The Mac Shack, Solutions, Government of Quebec, and Strider Knives. Thanks especially to a few of the most dedicated members of our remote support team, including Tony Muscatello, Julie Edwards, Artemis Westenberg, Dr. Tam Czarnik, Dr. Marc O Griofa, Judith Lapierre, Gordon Osinski, Bob McNally, Grant Bonin, Kevin Sandell, Kevin Sloan, Alex Kirk, Penny Boston, and Shannon Rupert. Thanks to Aziz Kheraj and the Southcamp Inn, as well as our guides from Resolute, Stevie, James, Jason, and Norman, and to First Air for providing help in the north. Thanks to the Polar Continental Shelf Project for logistical support, and acting as our safety net. Thanks also to Peter Muckerman of First Lead Inc. for providing wilderness first aid instruction, and ultimately a safe summer. Thanks to everyone who has followed our mission and sent us emails of support and praise. You have all kept us inspired, and focused on the big-picture reasons for doing this challenging long duration expedition.

Last but not least, thanks to all of our family (thank you Mom and Dad!! The crew appreciated your gifts and recipes!) and friends for providing support in a myriad of different ways, but especially for the moral support, gifts, and entertainment you’ve provided us with throughout our 4 months away from home. You provided the motivation we needed during our most stressful times, and we can’t wait to see you when we return home!

With that, Commander Battler & the F-XI LDM Crew are signing off from FMARS for the last time this season, and looking forward to seeing you in L.A., or perhaps on Mars.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 at 9:16 pm and is filed under Melissa Battler, Crew Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.