Desert RATS Team Ready for Traverse, Day 1

by Matt Leonard
Matt Leonard is this year’s Mission Management Team (MMT) Lead for D-RATS 2010.

Today is the first day of the desert traverse! What a great amount of effort the team has put in to getting us ready and going.

The dedication and hard work of this team shows through in everything they do. It has been a very proud time for me personally to see the Lunar Surface Systems team pitching in everywhere – working on fences, cooking lunches, preparing Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) sample bags, distributing gear and managing contact lists. It’s not the neat space stuff you might expect, but we can see where it is benefitting the whole team.

It was interesting Sunday night to see the science team all together. They’re a large group of very talented scientists, and it will be good to get their input on how the rovers work as science platforms. Watching all of the engineering teams bring their pieces together has been very interesting. The value and excellence of all of these teams is evident as their equipment comes to life.

D-Rats Mission Management Team

The Desert RATS Mission Management Team meets every day to discuss the day’s activities.