Notes for apprentices before your first season

Every year around forty new apprentices join the Guild, and every year I give the same talk at the Tharsis camp before they head out. A few of them asked me to write it down, so here it is.

First, learn your instruments before you need them. Your Spectra Assay Lance will be your constant companion. Practise on reference samples until you can get a consistent reading in your sleep. A lance used carelessly gives confident nonsense, and confident nonsense has cost members their claims.

Second, respect the vehicle. The Lodeseeker Prospector Rover is slow and forgiving on Mars, but on Phobos the gravity is so weak that a fast turn can tip it. Check the radar maps for buried voids before you drive, and never drive alone. Each rover carries three crew for good reason.

Third, learn rigging even if you never plan to visit an asteroid. The Tether Anchor Kit is simple to use and very easy to misuse. Watch an experienced rigger like Tavita Fale set a spike at least three times before you try. An anchor that pulls loose under load can injure people a long way off.

Fourth, write everything down. Location, time, instrument, reading, weather, what the rock looked like. Your notes become the Guild's knowledge, and some of today's best deposits were found by re-reading another member's notebook ten years later.

Finally, ask questions. The Guild exists because prospectors share what they learn. Nobody will think less of you for asking how something works. They will think a great deal less of you if you guess. See you at the Tharsis camp.