Astronaut Meets Volcano 14 November 2017

Astronaut meets volcano 14 November 2017

efficiently," says Pedro.

"Pangaea gives participants a solid knowledge in the geology of the Solar System from leading European scientists," adds course director Francesco Sauro.

There is also a lot in store for the ESA engineers who are designing the next space exploration missions – the training will put their protocols and operations to the test.

How to read a landscape

The Geopark of Lanzarote is one of the best areas ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer communicates with on Earth to understand the geological interactions planetary scientists to discuss interesting geological between volcanic activity and water – two key sampling sites during the first ESA Pangaea training factors in the search for life. course in 2016. Credit: European Space Agency The dry climate and a well-preserved landscape turn the island into a unique geological museum. While lava flows resemble vast plains on the lunar An expedition of astronauts, planetary scientists surface, its volcanoes are similar to those in some and engineers is off to Spain's Canary Island of regions of Mars. Lanzarote to learn best how to explore uncharted planets. The training will equip space travellers "Learning to observe geological features is not too with a geologist's eye. different from learning the words of a new language. And some rocks are like open books," This is the last leg of the intensive Pangaea points out science coordinator Matteo Massironi. campaign for astronauts to become effective explorers for missions to the Moon, Mars and In the week ahead astronauts will get to recognise asteroids. interesting rocks and assess the most likely places to find traces of life – on Earth and on other planets. The crew will explore and collect samples in Lanzarote, also known as the island of a thousand On 20–24 November, Pangaea-X will bring together volcanoes, with the best field geology and commercial partners, space agencies and research planetary observation techniques. organisations to test instruments, scientific procedures and operations. ESA astronaut Pedro Duque will use his experience from last year's course and act as a "Pangaea-X will improve our understanding of how crew communicator from 'ground control' for humans and robots can work together on astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. geological field traverses. We're simulating the future of our planetary explorers," explains project "Astronauts must learn the skills from field leader Loredana Bessone. geologists to obtain scientific data. We also need to learn from each other how to communicate

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A crew of astronauts explored the barren and dry landscape of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands in 2016 to simulate a planetary mission. Lanzarote is one of the best areas on Earth to understand the geological interactions between volcanic activity and water – two key factors for the search of life. Credit: European Space Agency

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