The Canadian Space Agency has released a video From Apollo to Artemis: Astronaut training in Canada’s craters which features Canadian astronauts being trained for future exploration of the moon’s surface.
Canadian impact craters
“Canada is home to about 30 impact craters, where certain rock formations resemble those on the Moon. In the 1970s, Apollo astronauts took geology training at the Sudbury Basin in Ontario. Over 50 years later, Dr. Gordon Osinski from Western University is leading astronauts on expeditions in various craters in Canada to prepare them for future lunar missions.”
Video transcript
36 million years ago, where we are now sitting here in northern Labrador, an asteroid or comet, maybe one or two kilometres in diameter, struck the surface.
We’re bringing astronauts to the Kamestastin lake impact structure here in northern Labrador for a few reasons. The first is that it’s a well-preserved meteorite impact structure, a well-preserved complex impact structure, and there are relatively few of those, period, on Earth.
Here at Mistastin, Kamestastin, we also have a couple of other unique aspects. The target rocks that it formed in, part of that was anorthosite. And anorthosite is the pale white rock that most of the lunar crust is comprised.
We also have some exceptionally preserved what we call impactites. These are rocks produced from the impact. So we have impact melt rocks, impact breccias, and some quite large expanses, including cliff sections over 80 metres thick.
We actually see similar textures, similar features in a lot of the Apollo samples. So being able to put that together to come here to Mistastin and see the rocks in situ is really an important learning experience.
It looks like a Sudbury breccia, and that’s the truth. I can’t believe it.
Apollo astronauts actually came out to Canada to another impact crater: that is what we call the Sudbury impact structure around Greater Sudbury in Ontario.
And we actually have a great record here in Canada of meteorite impacts. Probably one of the best in the world. There are about 30 meteorite impacts here in Canada, which does make it, you know, I think it’s quite a unique destination for training astronauts in general.
I’ve had and others have had Canadian astronauts over the past decade out on various field expeditions to northern regions primarily. I’ve had Canadian astronauts Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques out with me on a number of occasions to various meteorite impact craters all over Canada.
My hope is that we’ve laid the foundation here with this expedition for future missions and expeditions.
