Alan Shepard studying rocks in the Marathon Basin, West Texas
Astronauts Rock!
Between 1964 and 1965, they spent 120 hours on class work and took 8 field trips to learn about impact craters, mineralogy and petrology. They visited exotic locales like Iceland, West Texas and Katmai National Monument in Alaska. Lesser known astronaut training images!
Michael Collins (center) and Russel Schweickart (right) with geologist Dr. Al Chidester in Marathon Basin, West Texas
Transcripts of the Katmai trip show astronaut C.C. Williams and Buzz Aldrin chatting it up on the radio. Williams especially seemed to be enjoying the day, and also in great need of geological training: “Good evening sports fans, this is C.C. Williams and Buzz Aldrin broadcasting to you from the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes...I don’t know what this is, it has a lot of glass in it wouldn’t you say--there’s pink stuff on the outside….are you ready for us to begin this fiasco?...Ok, we’ve just landed in, we’ve stepped out here and we’ve looked around….these mountains to the south of our position are all stratified layers of somethingor other, I can’t figure, do you think you figure what that is over there, Buz?” Buzz responded: “Not from here.”
Charlie Bassett (center) and David Scott (right) discussing structural geology with Geologist Uel Clanton in Marathon Basin, West Texas
Neil Armstong (left), Geologist Foss, Ed White (right) in Marathon Basin in West Texas
Alan Bean using a compass to take measurements, Marathon Basin, West Texas
