From the Lab: Why Lanzarote is drawing astronauts to the Canaries

Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, is a major tourist attraction known for its pristine beaches. Its volcanic landscapes have also made it an ideal training ground for geologists, astronauts and space engineers.

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Lanzarote's volcanic landscape is an ideal training ground for astronauts. © Dhananjay Khadilkar

The European Space Agency (ESA) has been training astronauts on the volcanic terrain of Lanzarote since 2016.

Under the Pangaea project, the ESA has so far trained seven European astronauts, two Americans, one Russian cosmonaut and a couple of engineers.

According to Loredana Bessone, who is the head of the Analogue Field Testing and Exploration Training Unit at ESA, the Pangaea project is a course in planetary geology involving both theoretical and practical sessions. 

“We bring the astronauts to field sites that are analogues of the Moon, Mars and asteroids. We bring them to sites that are volcanic like Lanzarote, but also sites that have sedimentary environments like what you have now on the Moon,” Bessone said.

'Analogue of Mars'

Lanzarote is an obvious choice for training astronauts for future missions to the Moon and Mars, Bessone says, because Lanzarote has been recognised as an analogue of Mars. 

“It is a barren, dry terrain with very little vegetation. There have been recent eruptions that have left the lava flows covering the terrain," she said.

"When you are in Lanzarote, especially in the geopark closer to the Timanfaya National Park, you pretty much look like you are on the Moon or Mars."

Bessone said the training at Lanzarote includes recognising volcanic rocks, performing field geological traverses on terrain, as well as training in different geological processes that are typical of the Moon, Mars and asteroids.