The European Space Agency (ESA) uses Lanzarote as a training ground for astronauts.
In 1969, NASA astronauts landed on the Moon for the first time. 50 years later, scientists are training for their next mission in an unexpected place.
Once a week at around 21.00, guided by the light from the millions of stars in the sky, Raúl Martínez Morales and Amanda Mandry set out to survey the ‘planet Mars’.
The pair, a former astrophysicist and obsessive astronomer, begin by carefully removing their research tool before crossing a sea of cold lava onto a fiery red sand dune.
On certain nights, they create impromptu laboratories next to giant lava tunnels or prehistoric craters large enough to land their rocket ships in them.
The night becomes even more dramatic when they see a foreign object appear in the darkness. Maybe a meteor shower of galaxies or stars they’ve never seen before.
“I’ve always been obsessed with planets and other worlds we haven’t known since I was a kid,” says Morales, gazing in awe at the scenery around him. “Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon, they all fascinate me.”
The scenery at the location is quite stunning, but the team of scientists are not on the real surface of Mars, even though they feel like they are there. In fact, they are 54.6 million kilometers from Mars, in the middle of Los Volcanes Natural Park in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain.
The “magic” would “disappear” as they returned to the main road outside the reserve, as they passed the Yaiza City Camel Riding Center.
This is an island in Spain. Not outer space.
“Pretty amazing, isn’t it?” said Mandry, who runs the island’s Cosmos Planetarium with Morales.
“In fact, this landscape is closer to space than to other areas. Uniquely, there are caves here that are similar to those found on the Moon and Mars. Amazing, isn’t it?”
Lanzarote Island was inaugurated in 1993 as a Unesco Biosphere Reserve and is geologically very similar to the Moon and Mars. So much so that the island is one of the world’s most important research centers for space exploration.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) are using Lanzarote as a training ground for astronauts and testing Mars Rovers (remote-operated droids).
Here, scientists simulate what it’s like to be in a space landscape and take the next step in preparing astronauts for adventures beyond Earth.
For anyone who loves the world of space exploration, this summer is more important than any other season.
About 50 years ago, NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans in history to walk on the surface of the Moon when Apollo 11 landed on July 20, 1969.
Many things will be celebrated on the anniversary: Armstrong’s iconic words, the installation of the American flag, half a billion TV viewers, and a strong sense of nostalgia. There will also be discussions that lead to wild ideas and what the next plans for the space agency are.
The most awaited? Plans to send humans back to the Moon in 2024, and then to Mars.
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