Writing Science: Science-speak - jargon or dialect?

How good is your ear? How does scientific language play in a piece written for a broad popular audience?

Writing prompt
You are headed for Mars, you may take 2 kg (not quite 4 and a half pounds) of personal gear. What would you take and why? Bear in mind that you will have varying gravity conditions during the trip. What could you not bear to run out of?

Reading

• "Avoid Fancy Words" in Strunk, William, and E.B. White. The Elements of Style Illustrated. Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007. pp 111-113
• "Do not use dialect unless your ear is good" in Strunk, William, and E.B. White. The Elements of Style Illustrated. Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007. pp 113
• "Avoid Foreign Languages" in Strunk, William, and E.B. White. The Elements of Style Illustrated. Penguin (Non-Classics), 2007. pp 115
• Carl Zimmer's list of words that should be banned from science writing (H/T ejwillingham)