It’s hard to believe that the mission is coming to a close. This has been an amazing experience for everyone involved. The crew has done a fantastic job and accomplished some very important and interesting research. We would like to thank the University of North Dakota team for allowing us to use their habitat and for all of their time and support as mission control. It has been a privilege to work with Dr. Pablo de Leon, Travis Nelson, Terry Rector, Lori Waters, and everyone involved on the UND side.
Mission Commander Bill O’Hara:
Today was our last full day in the IMLAH. Hard to believe that we end the mission tomorrow. I am incredibly impressed by what this crew has accomplished! We overcame unseasonably warm temperatures, full schedule of EVAs, challenging science research goals and a dynamic timeline with added events and pulled it off masterfully!
Today was spent finalizing projects, taking inventory and generally preparing for our departure. The end of a mission is always bittersweet. We learn so much during these missions that it is hard to stop, but we also have families and jobs to return to. The ILMAH station has been a great home for the last 10 days. I really liked working in the ILMAH and enjoying its capabilities. I hope that APUS and UND will be able to establish a cadence of missions here at the ILMAH station so that faculty and students get the opportunity to experience what it is like to be on an isolated, confined and extreme space mission. The real hands-on, in person immersed experience is invaluable and applicable to helping NASA solve the challenges of tomorrow!
