MOON LANDING EXPEDITION

Location: Odadahraun Lava Field and Askja Caldera, Iceland.

Duration: 6 nights and 7 days

Scientific skills: Astrogeology, field geology, sustainable energy production, CarbFix CO2 capture, satellite observation, mapping, 

Expeditionary skills: Navigation, ROVs, cave exploration, communications, problem solving, leadership, team building.

Historical relevance: Training in the same location as the Apollo astronauts did before going to the Moon

Category 3 Expedition

You are invited to participate in a unique astronaut training expedition to the geological training fields of the Apollo astronauts in Iceland. The aim of this expedition is for the participants to understand what the Apollo astronauts experienced when they landed on the Moon and to fully appreciate the challenges that await us now that we return to the Moon on Artemis in 2024 and go later on to Mars.

The main training themes of this expedition are expeditionary skills, navigation, cave exploration, team skills, problem solving and leadership as well as satellite observation, geological surveys and robotics, using both flying drones and cube rovers to complete your training missions.

GEOLOGY FIELD TRAINING

You will head to the North of Iceland and start at the Exploration Museum to learn about previous astronaut training missions in the region. The participants will then head towards the volcanoes of Askja Caldera, at the edge of the World’s largest lava field Ódadahraun, together with Head of Astrogeology and ROVs Dr. James Rice. Before Rice joined S.A.L.T. he was the Geology Team Leader on the Mars Exploration Rover Project (the Spirit and Opportunity rovers) at NASA JPL in California. Rice has additionally led 10 geology expeditions in Iceland and will take the participants through some of the exact same geology exercises in the exact same places as Neil Armstrong and his fellow Apollo astronauts trained. We will learn about the "seven minutes of terror", Armstrong's 3% and the difficulties in choosing  a landing site. Furthermore Rice will explain the challenges of returning to the Moon, the difference in satellite, robotic and field exploration and will share his learnings from working for 15 years on Mars with remote controlled robots.

COLONISATION OF THE MOON AND MARS

As humans head back to the Moon for a more permanent presence and onwards to Mars we will look at the challenges of colonisation and establishing a long term base. You will go on cave exploration into remote lava tunnels in the lava fields but lava tunnels have been suggested for habitation on the Moon and Mars and are a very important part of the ESA astronaut training. You will learn about energy production and food production in extreme environments. We will visit geothermal greenhouses, power plants and infrastructure were Iceland has taken the lead in developing solutions that might be suitable for a Mars base. 

Our expedition vehicle will be a heavily modified 49” Mercedes Benz Sprinter and our accommodation during the expedition will be in primitive mountain cabins and inside a lava tunnel.

This expedition is a unique opportunity to get to know first hand how the Apollo astronauts prepared for their Moon walks and experience what challenges will face us once we step into other Worlds, a reality that is only a few years away.

Trainers: Dr. Jim Rice Head of Astrogeology and ROVs and Hjortur Smarason, Founder and Principal.

Next start date: September 27th 2020 from Reykjavik, Iceland

LIMITED SEATS!