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NASA engineers, managers, and flight directors recently traded their cubicles and conference rooms for an ancient volcanic field in the northern Arizona desert to participate in a field geology course aimed at arming them with first-hand experience in what Artemis astronauts will do when they explore the Moon.
The two-and-a-half-day exercise for Artemis mission support teams was a condensed version of the rigorous training astronauts receive to prepare for Artemis missions to the lunar South Pole region, but shares an important purpose.
"We are building a common language and a common understanding of what it will be like to do field geology on the surface of the Moon," said Cindy Evans, Artemis geology training lead at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "This is so the people who are building spacesuits, building tools, building software systems, the people who will be flight controllers, and the managers who direct and fund all of this, can all understand the interlocking parts of surface exploration."