Pangaea-X has a strong focus on near-future lunar missions. The craters, lava seas and caves of this volcanic island offer a great setting to recreate expeditions to the Moon and Mars. Rocks and minerals from the Earth’s mantle remain almost pristine for the spacewalkers to train old and new sampling approaches.
Eight experiments involving a crew of engineers, scientists and an astronaut from a dozen countries will simulate different situations and anomalies in the alien-like landscapes of Lanzarote, Spain. Pangaea-X is a test campaign that brings together geology, high-tech survey equipment and space exploration. Astronauts, scientists, operations experts and instrumentation engineers work side-by-side to advance European know-how of integrated human and robotics mission operations.
An extension of ESA’s Pangaea geology training, the training involves working with the latest technologies in instrumentation, navigation, remote sensing, 3D imaging and geoscience equipment.
The Pangaea-X crew explores the barren and dry landscape of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, Spain, to prepare for the day when we set foot on other worlds. Known as the island of a thousand volcanoes, Lanzarote was chosen because of its geological similarity with Mars, such as a volcanic origin, mild sedimentary processes owing to a dry climate, hardly any vegetation and a well-preserved landscape.