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Astronauts will be practicing moonwalks in Northern Arizona throughout October. 12 News reported that the astronauts are using Arizona's desert as a "stand-in for the moon."
Kelsey Young, JETT 3 Science lead and Houston test director said, "Our goal is to simulate one of the early missions to the moon." The JETT 3 Mission will take place at night with an artificial sun to replicate the low light conditions that they expect to face on the moon.
Two NASA astronauts, Drew Feustel and Zena Cardman, will be walking the one-mile circuit in space suits. There will be a full flight control team leading them.
Arizona has a long history with standing in for the moon that dates back to before the Apollo missions. Kevin Schindler, a historian at Lowell Observatory, said, "Every astronaut who went to the moon did geology training here."
Arizona has impact craters and volcanic formations that make it idela for the trainings. Scientists and engineers even blew holes in the ground at Cinder Lake to mirror craters on the moon.
Schindler said, "Half a century after those first pioneers walked on the moon, we’re now getting ready for the next people to go back, and they are training at some of the same places. It worked before. Why not do it again?"