How the Astronauts Were Trained for the Moon Missions in the 1960s

NASA needed a diverse and raw landscape to train the astronauts for the Apollo program. Arizona had plenty of existing carters, exposed canyons, volcanic cinder cones, and lava fields to test the equipment, rovers, and suits. Additionally, the nearby Meteor Crater and the great cosmic gash of the Grand Canyon provided an unmatched geological classroom.

The Apollo program’s astronauts were trained in Flagstaff city. It is a small city nestled in a forest of ponderosa pines at the base of the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona’s tallest mountains. Between January 1963 and November 1972, scientists based in Flagstaff would lead 200 separate geological field-training exercises for NASA’s astronauts.

The Apollo program ran from 1961 to 1972, the first crewed flight in 1968. Apollo 8 was the first crewed spacecraft to orbit another celestial body, and Apollo 11 was the first crewed spacecraft to land humans on one.

Take a look at these photos below that show how astronauts were trained for the Apollo missions.

#1 C:UsersmuhamDesktopHow the Astronauts Were Trained for the Moon Missions in the 1960s

Both Duke and Young went on to walk on the surface of the moon in 1972, during Apollo 16.

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#2 Explosions send dirt into the sky during the construction of Cinder Lake Crater Field on July 27, 1968.

A total of 354 craters were carved out of the Arizona landscape in this field to create a simulated lunar surface.

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#3 A post-explosion aerial view of the completed Cinder Lake Crater Field showing very light ejecta caused by excavation of clay beds immediately below black basaltic cinders.

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#4 The astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Gene Cernan view a crater within the Cinder Lake Crater Field.

Both men went on to walk on the surface of the moon in 1972, during Apollo 17.

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#5 A Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation lunar-rover concept vehicle navigates boulders with a Grumman engineer driving.

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#6 An overview of what was referred to as “Apollo dike,” where early Apollo-suit tests were held, in Hopi Buttes, Arizona, in May 1966.

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#7 The USGS geologist Joe O’Connor wears an early version of the Apollo spacesuit during testing in the fall of 1965, at Apollo mesa dike in the Hopi Buttes volcanic field in Arizona.

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#8 The Explorer vehicle negotiates a crater in the crater field.

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#9 A suited subject stands on the edge of the Bonito Lava Flow near Arizona’s Sunset Crater volcano, with an early concept of a “lunar staff” with a sun compass on top.

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#10 The Mobile Geological Laboratory, or MOLAB, an early-concept lunar vehicle, tests at Merriam Crater, northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1966.

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#11 The astronauts Jim Irwin and Dave Scott check out an outcrop during the final geology exercise for the Apollo 15 prime and backup crew at Coconino Point, Arizona, on June 25, 1971.

Both men went on to walk on the surface of the moon in 1971, during Apollo 15.

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#12

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#13 The Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt stands on the edge of an erosional canyon that was used to simulate the large Hadley Rille at the Apollo 15 landing site.

Schmitt was originally part of the Apollo 15 backup crew and later slated to fly in Apollo 18. When that mission was canceled, Schmitt was moved up to Apollo 17 due to his previous work and studies as a professional geologist.

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#14 Cinder Lake Crater Field photographed after an additional 96 craters were added in October 1967.

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#15 The USGS geologists Tim Hait and David Schleicher work in spacesuits during an early Apollo field test at Cinder Lake Crater Field with a simulated lunar-module ascent stage mock-up parked on an earthen ramp in the background.

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#16 A view of Chezhin Chotah Butte as seen from inside the lunar-module mock-up through one of two triangular windows, photographed in 1965.

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#17 An explosion makes a large test crater on the surface of Black Point lava flow on August 1, 1968, along the Little Colorado River, north of Flagstaff, Arizona.

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#18 A demonstration of the rocket belt made by Bell Aerosystems, during Apollo training.

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#19 The astrogeologist Gene Shoemaker describes the geology of the rim ejecta of Arizona’s Meteor Crater to a large group of astronauts during a field trip in May 1967.

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#20 The astronauts Jim Irwin and Dave Scott pilot Grover near the rim of a large crater in the Cinder Lake Crater Field.

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#21 A modern satellite view, made in 2011, of Cinder Lake Crater Field north of Flagstaff, Arizona, decades after its use as a lunar training location.

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