Stardate 97193.43 - Progress here on the Moon is going well, and despite some minor delays we are making New Huntsville a reality. We have assembled two of the permanent structures and will be starting the much anticipated Rec Dome next week. The crew is in very high spirits; I overheard one of the members of the assembly teams say, “If things went HALF as smooth as this on Earth, we would already be living on Mars!!!”. They deserve bragging rights - we are a full three days ahead of schedule, which is amazing seeing as we are 240 thousand miles from Earth.

First things first, we needed power - lots of power. So we built our solar array, a huge field of solar collection grids. Basically this is the New Huntsville power plant. Not only does it provide the power we need for life support, it will also provide the power we’ll need when the manufacturing facility comes online. Our power grid laid out very swiftly, with only minor damage to one panel. We were charging batteries from lunar collected solar energy within the first two weeks.

The habitat quarters were next; needless to say, the temporary habitats in the landing crater were a great motivator for us to increase the pace! After we got a little “elbow room” with the completion of the habitat quarters (which the crew calls “The Bunkhouse”), everyone started to feel a little more established. The temporary habitats that we were in were little more than support systems - purely utilitarian and no creature comforts. Now that everyone has permanent quarters we feel more like we are officially here. 

Despite all of this excitement, talk often went to the FPVCrate. A lot of the crew are avid model aviators, and many of them are FPV pilots. Most of us got our love of flight and space travel from model aviation, and that love affair lives on with us. Having a common topic that the entire crew can talk about and relate to is an amazing morale booster. Instead of everyone talking about Game of Thrones, they are planning on having a Game of Drones! This month’s Crate has some choice items as we start to get into the control systems of the drones. Here is the breakdown:

• Diatone Mamba F7225 Flight Controller 
• Now we are talking, a robot brain! Yes, we are all great pilots, but just like with the lunar lander we need a computer to translate our stick movements into movement commands. This Diatone Mamba is fitted with an up-to-date F7 processor, to run all of your load heavy components (LEDs, GPS, etc.) and protocols (DSHOT, RPM Filters, etc.). If the original lunar lander had this kind of power we could have flown all the way to Mars! 

• FPVCrate Edition Snapback Cap
• Having to spend HOURS in a spacesuit can often result in some serious helmet hair! So I decided the crew might need a little...cover. These FPVCrate covers are a great addition to the crew’s uniforms, and they also help shelter your eyes from the unobstructed rays from the Sun. 

• Diatone Quad Display Stand
• As the crew is working on their quads I wanted to give them something that they could display their ongoing projects on. It also works great for completed members of your fleet! Made from (slightly) bendable aluminum, these stands can be adjusted to accommodate drones with different balance points, allowing the crew to display any rig from their collection.

• GetFPV Storewide Coupon Card $10 (Offer expires 9/30/2019)
• Through a special deal with GetFPV we are able to receive a shipment from them on our resupply shuttles. This coupon card will help you stretch your drone budget even farther! 

• 2x Lumenier Digital RGB Arm LED Boards
• Want to put on a light show more fantastic than the end of Close Encounters of the Third Kind? The Rec Dome will look like a rave with all of those lights! These LED boards are a perfect way to light up the night and personalize your quad. With the aid of their flight controllers (Like the Mamba F7225) the crew will be able to customize their light colors and also help with Line of Sight (LOS) orientation.

• FPVCrate August Sticker Sheet 
• As long as the crew doesn’t tag the bridge with stickers, I’ll keep adding them to the shipments! This month’s stickers are just as epic as last month’s - just remember that the viewports are not the best location for stickers… except from the outside. That being said, imagine how cool the Bunkhouse would look with the entire outside sticker bombed…. 

• 1x T-Motor T5146 5" Propeller Set
• When landing on the Moon, finding that sweet spot is crucial to success - too much and you float away, too little and you crash. This is why the best mix of power and control is so important. These props from T-Motor find that crossover of power and performance, with a pitch, specifically engineered for excellence. I see a lot of record laps being established with these props.

• 10% OFF Diatone Products at GetFPV (Offer expires 9/30/2019)
• If the crew likes the Diatone products they received in the Crate this coupon will allow them to get even more quality Diatone gear to stock up their fleets. I am thinking about using this one, too….the captain needs to fly as well! 

Perhaps by my next log entry, we might be able to start using the Rec Dome, it will be great to see the crew flying together here. It will also be a historic milestone - the first indoor drone flight on the Moon! The mission here in New Huntsville is becoming almost as historic as it is exciting. I am truly honored to be a part of this, and I know the crew is humbled by the scale of this endeavor.

This is Bill D. Crater, signing off.