| Nov. 10th, 2002, 1:53 PM
Brian Grigsby
WE MADE IT! To the summit and back
The trek to the top is now a vivid memory for
Team-A, and we all carried a piece of the mountain
away with us. As we look back at our adventure,
we all are beginning to realize, we actually climbed
Licancabur. We had studied it, we had researched
it, and now we had achieved the goal that all
of us had dreamed about for so long.
Following our climb, we traveled back to San
Pedro, and then on to Antofagasta, where we brought
some of the samples that were collected. Cecelia
met with us as we delivered core samples, and
water samples for further study at the university.
Other samples would be taken back to NASA Ames
to perform more tests and experiments to further
understand the conditions that exist at the world’s
highest lake.
Our first educational outreach also took place
while we were still in Antofagasta. We visited
a public school and we were able to show the students
many of our pictures, and discuss the process
of conducting a scientific expedition. It was
great to see the reaction of students to our stories,
and to answer their many questions. Marcus and
Christian put MARVIN together and had students
trying their hand at driving a Martian vehicle.
It was all very rewarding.
Eventually, our time came to an end with the
students and with the expedition. Each of us made
our way back to the United States with the fond
memories of what we had just accomplished.
Our bodies are healing up nicely, and we are
beginning to examine the data that was collected.
The coming months will bring new information and
facts to light as the scientists begin to study
the samples that were collected from our expedition.
We continue to keep in touch with each other,
and we are beginning to make plans for next year,
and the follow-up science that will continue to
push the limits of what we know about extreme
life.
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