posted 01-26-2013 10:50 AM               

Thanks to a well-timed tip from landscape blogger Alex Trevi of Pruned, Venue made a detour on our exit out of Flagstaff, Arizona, to visit the old black cinder fields of an extinct volcano — where, incredibly, NASA and its Apollo astronauts once practiced their, at the time, forthcoming landing on the moon.

posted 01-28-2013 11:51 PM               

For those interested in Apollo-era lunar geology and astrogeology, there is a lot to see in and around Flagstaff, Arizona.

The iconic 24in Clark Telescope at Lowell Observatory was heavily used in the 1960s to create lunar surface maps.

The Ground Rover ("Grover") that Dave Scott and Jim Irwin used to practise driving on Cinder Lake Crater Fields is in the lobby of the US Geological Survey Astrogeology Center at Flagstaff.

The Grand Canyon, Sunset Crater, and Barringer/Meteor Crater were all used as instructional sites for the Apollo astronauts by geology instructors Lee Silver, Gordon Swann, and Gene Shoemaker.

Lunar Analogue Test Sites This 6.59Mb pdf file has excellent information on the Cinder Lake, Black Canyon, and Black Point Crater Fields in Northern Arizona.

Making Craters - Mare Tranquillitatis in Flagstaff Arizona This USGS Astrogeology Science Center video shows the construction of Cinder Lake Crater Field.

USGS Apollo Astrogeology Resources

Lunar and Planetary Institute Apollo Documents contains some great Apollo lunar astrogeology document links.

Apollo Geology Field Training Exercises documents dates, locations and details of Apollo geological training.