Geology training for the Moon

PANGAEA trainees document a sampling site using NASA's Handheld Universal Lunar Camera (HULC) and ESA Electronic FieldBook in Lanzarote, Spain. 

While ESA member of the astronaut reserve Arnaud Prost takes a picture, Norishige Kanai from the Japanese space agency documents the location and details of the sample using the Electronic FieldBook – a tool that allows PANGAEA’s geology instructors to follow and support the crew from the science room.

Engineers, scientists and astronauts tested the camera to improve its design for NASA’s future Artemis missions on the lunar surface during PANGAEA.

ESA’s PANGAEA training course prepares astronauts and space engineers to identify planetary geological features for future missions to the Moon, Mars and asteroids.

The PANGAEA campaign provides the crew with introductory and practical knowledge to find interesting rock samples as well as to assess the most likely places to find traces of life on other planets. Leading European planetary geologists share their insights into the geology of the Solar System.

Course participants of the seventh edition in 2024 are ESA astronaut Rosemary Coogan, ESA member of the astronaut reserve Arnaud Prost and Norishige Kanai from the Japanese space agency, JAXA.

The theory part is followed by field trips to the Italian Dolomites, the Ries crater in Germany and the volcanic landscapes of Lanzarote in Spain.

PANGAEA is the first step in preparing European astronauts to become planetary explorers on missions to other planets allowing them to communicate with science advisors on Earth effectively.