Arizona’s role in preparing for next moon mission

by Adnan Alam

Cronkite News Service

Here are attributes that make Arizona part of NASA’s preparations to return Americans to the moon:

_ Landscape: Arizona offers rocky, desolate expanses similar to those found on the moon and Mars. These places are windy as well, making them ideal to test how equipment would hold up against grit carried by the Martian wind.

_ Geology: The state has experts and rock formations allowing astronauts to receive field geology training. Kip Hodges, director of Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, is helping train the next class of astronauts in geology.

_ Facilities: Arizona’s universities offer experts on topics related to space exploration, and the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff coordinates with NASA on test sites.