Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
In 1969, astronauts Cernan and Engle trekked through Idaho’s black lava fields to simulate lunar missions—a surreal training ground beneath Earth’s skies.
Credit: NASA
Though the Moon’s craters come from impacts and Idaho’s from eruptions, the terrain’s jagged likeness gave astronauts a haunting preview of lunar isolation.
NASA’s training wasn’t just physical—it was geological. Volcanologist Ted Foss guided Apollo crews through alien-like landscapes to teach rock sampling and terrain reading.
Credit: NASA
Idaho’s lava flows are just 2,100–15,000 years old—new by cosmic standards—but their preserved forms mirror billion-year-old lunar fields in texture and layout.
Landsat 8 and 9 images show Craters of the Moon morphing with the seasons—from sun-scorched black basalt to ghost-white winter snowscapes shaped by ancient cones.
First came lichens. Then, as cracks widened and soil deepened, hardy shrubs and trees took root, proving nature’s stubborn will to survive a seemingly dead world.
Older land marooned by younger lava, kipukas shelter Idaho’s oldest junipers. They hint at how Martian micro-ecosystems might cling to life in geological pockets.
Recent NASA-backed studies show microbial life thriving in Idaho’s lava tubes—conditions shockingly similar to those on Mars, where such caves may harbor life.
From Apollo’s past to Mars’ future, this Idaho monument remains a training ground for dreams not yet realized—bridging Earth, Moon, and the Red Planet.