scientists of the NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA for its acronym in English) have an ideal site on Earth to train astronauts who in the future can travel to the Moon or Mars. It is an island that meets geological conditions comparable to our natural satellite and the planetary neighbor.
According to a report published Clarion, the site is called Parque Natural de Los Volcanes, located on the island of Lanzarote, Spain. The volcanic activity of the insular territory made its soils turn black as a result of the lava that emerged in its history.
In addition, this same presence of magma caused the creation of craters and caves, leaving geological conditions similar to those of the Moon or Mars. These features caught the attention of NASA scientists and their ESA collaborators, who have been using the site to train astronauts for years.
For Alexander Gerst, a 46-year-old astronaut working for ESA, Parque de Los Volcanes in Lanzarote is “a unique training ground. This place has lava formations that are very, very similar to what you get on the Moon,” he points out.
VIDEO: Astronauts take part in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Pangaea training course on the Spanish isle of Lanzarote, which has a volcanic landscape similar to that of the Moon pic.twitter.com/iaLq2HYHaR
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 12, 2022
They have a course prepared for astronauts
It started as a research project and they have already settled in the region with courses prepared for future astronauts. The idea is that the participants go on excursions, collect rocks and even analyze the soils at the site, without having to collect samples.
Apart from proving themselves as expert scientists in “extreme” conditions, they also test the instruments manufactured by NASA and ESA for space missions.
“Here they can experience what it is like to explore a terrain, something they will have to do on the Moon,” Francesco Sauro, technical director of the course told AFP. The idea is that “if there is a problem, we have to solve it ourselves,” Gerst concluded.