Growing up in the shadows of your sibling
When John F. Kennedy delivered his famous "We choose to go to the Moon" speech on September 12, 1962, the US President set in motion a national goal of landing a man on the Moon before 1970. Thus was born the Apollo program. But long before Neil Armstrong could take his "one small step for man" on July 20, 1969, dozens of astronauts went through years of rigorous training to get a sense of what space would be like. To make this instruction as realistic as possible, sites were chosen on Earth that looked eerily similar to the lunar surface. But where is this unworldly terrain, and who are the men who trained there?
Click through and discover destinations of Earth where Apollo astronauts trained for the Moon.
Where on Earth does our planet resemble the surface of the Moon? That was a question NASA scientists had to answer before training their astronauts to head into space. These are some of the destinations they chose.
Located in what is now known as the Cinder Hills OHV Area just northeast of Flagstaff in Arizona are the remnants of the Cinder Lakes Crater Fields.
The crater fields were conceived and constructed by NASA in July 1967 for astronaut training.
The environment was specifically designed to duplicate an area within the Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility)—Apollo 11's planned lunar landing site.
The crater fields later proved suitable for testing rover prototypes and also for testing procedures for determining location within a cratered lunar landscape. Pictured are Apollo 16 astronauts Charles Duke, John Young, and Thomas Mattingly II with the lunar rover, in February 1972.
Training for the Apollo 16 mission also took the astronauts to Rio Grange Gorge in New Mexico. John Young and Charles Duke are pictured participating in geology training in September 1971. Image: NASA
In fact, the landscape of the American southwest allowed all the Apollo astronauts to hone their geology expertise. And the Grand Canyon proved especially productive.
Since the main focus of Apollo missions was to collect lunar samples, it was vital that astronauts were trained in gathering and studying rock samples.
In 1964, Neil Armstrong (pictured) was among those taking part in field training with geologists in the Grand Canyon. And the best way to reach the canyon floor was by horseback.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin also made a geological field trip to Sierra Blanca in Texas. Located 144 km (90 mi) southeast of El Paso, Sierra Blanca, near the Quitman Mountains, is peppered with volcanic rocks and stood in as a perfect moonscape.
During their time in the Sierra Blanca, Armstrong and Aldrin fine-tuned skills properly identifying and describing rock samples. They also had to learn how to crack open rocks properly.
The Pinacate volcano area of northwestern Sonora, Mexico, was the site chosen for Apollo 14's Edgar Mitchell and Alan Shepard to undergo geological and lunar surface simulation training.
Apollo 14 astronauts Edgar Mitchell (left) and Alan Shepard pictured in 1970 training near the Pinacate volcano. Apollo 17's Jack Schmitt also trained here, in February 1970.
The Nevada National Security Site was once the site for the testing of nuclear devices. In 1962, a huge crater was formed by a subterranean thermonuclear explosion. It was later named the Sedan Crater after Project Sedan. The huge depression soon attracted a curious public (pictured) but, more to the point, it was considered by geologists to be "an ideal training site" for astronauts.
In February 1965, the crew of Apollo 11 carried out numerous geological and geophysical studies at Sedan.
Armstrong and Aldrin also explored ancient volcanic formations that closely resembled the surface of the Moon, including the Timber Mountain caldera. Pictured is the expanse of the Nevada National Security Site.
Actually, it wasn't the first time Armstrong had visited the area. Back in August 1963, he'd undergone NASA training in the Nevada desert, an intensive three-day survival course all potential astronauts were required to take. He's pictured peering from underneath a makeshift tent.
Astronaut Eugene Cernan seen photographing the terrain near Boulder City, Nevada, in January 1972, during geology training for his upcoming spaceflight. Cernan had been chosen as the commander of Apollo 17, which launched for the Moon in December of that year. Cernan, together with Harrison Schmitt, had also trained at Cinder Lake Crater Field, and up in Sudbury, Ontario, among other locations. Apollo 17 was the final lunar landing mission of NASA's Apollo program.
The Apollo 11 crew spent a considerable amount of time in January 1965 on Mauna Loa, one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii, and the world's largest volcano.
Their visit enabled them to study Mauna Loa's lunar-like surface and the different physical aspects of volcanoes, including gas and lava vents, lava lakes, pit craters, and more.
Astronauts from Apollo missions 11 through 17 also trained in Hawaii.
Apollo 13's Jim Lovell (left) and Fred Haise during geology training in Hawaii, in January 1970. Their flight to the Moon was famously aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module failed two days into the mission. Image: NASA
Iceland played a pivotal role in propelling humankind into space. Húsavík, in the country's north, hosted 32 astronauts between 1965 and 1967.
Scientists determined that the Moon's lunar landscape was strikingly similar to that just outside Húsavík, a quiet fishing community surrounded by crater-like terrain.
NASA astronauts who would eventually crew Apollos 7, 8, 9 and 11 were among those bounding across Iceland's lunar landscape, learning which geological samples they should bring back from the Moon. These included William Anders (center) of Apollo 8, seen with respected Icelandic geologist Sigurdur Thorarinsson (left) and NASA's Dr. Ted Foss. Apollo 8 in fact only flew to the Moon and back. But the three astronauts— Anders, together with Frank Borman and James Lovell—were the first humans to witness and photograph Earthrise. Image: NASA
NASA astronauts photographed during their week in Húsavík in July 1967.
Of the 32 astronauts in Iceland, nine would eventually walk on the Moon, including Neil Armstrong (second right).
And this is what all that training was about, to land a man on the Moon. Neil Armstrong's footprint is clearly visible in the lunar soil on the real Sea of Tranquility.
Sources: (The Guardian) (Smithsonian Magazine) (The Wilderness Society) (BBC) (The Atlantic)
See also: Alien-looking landscapes you won't believe are found on Earth
Destinations on Earth where Apollo astronauts trained for the Moon
Earth's bizarre terrains that mimicked the lunar landscape
LIFESTYLE Space
When John F. Kennedy delivered his famous "We choose to go to the Moon" speech on September 12, 1962, the US President set in motion a national goal of landing a man on the Moon before 1970. Thus was born the Apollo program. But long before Neil Armstrong could take his "one small step for man" on July 20, 1969, dozens of astronauts went through years of rigorous training to get a sense of what space would be like. To make this instruction as realistic as possible, sites were chosen on Earth that looked eerily similar to the lunar surface. But where is this unworldly terrain, and who are the men who trained there?
Click through and discover destinations of Earth where Apollo astronauts trained for the Moon.