Which country chosen by NASA for Apollo astronaut training due to its strikingly moonlike terrain?
Which country was chosen by NASA for Apollo astronaut training due to its strikingly moonlike terrain? The country chosen by NASA for the intensive geological training of the Apollo astronauts due to its highly moonlike terrain was Iceland. Specifically, NASA used the volcanic and barren Askja region in the remote central highlands for field training in 1965 and 1967. Nine of the twelve men who would ultimately walk on the Moon participated in the fieldwork there, studying the extensive basaltic lava fields, fissures, and calderas. Geologists considered the area the closest geological analogue to the lunar maria—the vast, dark plains found on the Moon—due to its lack of vegetation and volcanic rock composition.