The astronauts from the European Space Agency (ESA), Luca Parmitano (Italy) and Pedro Duque (Spain), and the Eurocom (link of astronauts and cosmonauts in orbit) Matthias Maurer (Germany), have participated in a training course in the Spanish Geopark, due to its resemblance to Mars, in order to increase knowledge and efficiency when it comes to identifying geological and volcanic structures that could bear resemblance to missions and expeditions to other planets.
The astronauts developed the training programme ‘Pangaea’, a training system that the ESA is conducting in landscapes that are similar to the red planet and the Moon. Both, researchers and instructors highlighted these similarities, and pointed out how well preserved the Geopark is.
The Pangaea training course appreciates the scientific and logistic supportprovided by the following institutions: CISAS (Center of Studies and Activities for Space – University of Padova), Cabildo Insular of Lanzarote, National Park of Timanfaya, IGEO (Institute of Geoscience) and Lanzarote and Chinijo Islandas UNESCO Global Geopark.
