Moon scouts

Three astronauts from three space agencies are at work looking for interesting rocks at the rim of a volcanic crater in Lanzarote, Spain. From left to right, NASA astronaut candidate Jessica Wittner, Takuya Onishi from Japan’s space agency JAXA and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet document samples during a simulated expedition on another planetary body.

The crew stands at the top of an ancient volcano called Caldera Blanca. The remnants of magma eruptions from hundreds of thousands of years ago helped the astronauts in the search for samples from the Earth’s interior. The island of Lanzarote is one leg of ESA’s geology course PANGAEA, now running its sixth edition.

“Among craters and solidified lava flows, this is a very special place that does not look like Earth at all. You can easily picture yourself wearing a spacesuit and walking on the Moon or Mars,” says Thomas, who admitted to having discovered a new passion for geology.  

The astronauts do not wear spacesuits during these field trips but are equipped with a kit for sample collection and scientific analysis. Rock hammers at hand, the trainees carry spectrometers and microscopes connected with the all-in-one tool for future space explorers – the Electronic Field Book. The crew took up different roles and swapped responsibilities as part of the training.

The training course took the rookie geologists from theory-packed lessons to the wild outdoors in locations across Europe, such as the Bletterbach canyon in Italy and the Ries crater in Germany. The astronauts learned to document their findings, to understand the geology behind a landscape, and to unlock unanswered questions about the history of Earth, the Moon and Mars.

Follow the latest news about PANGAEA on the blog and follow their steps with our Flickr gallery.