Oregon’s Moon Country
November 22nd, 2020 at 7:05 pm (Geology)
Did you know that the NASA Apollo astronauts trained and sharpened their field geology skills in the 1960s in central Oregon?
This excellent 28-minute documentary by PBS called “Oregon’s Moon Country” describes how Oregon’s lava fields and craters were chosen as good training sites. The historical footage of the astronaut field trips in Oregon is combined with videos of their subsequent explorations on the Moon (videos from the Moon!!!) as well as interviews with astronauts, geologists, and other experts.
Apparently one astronaut, Jim Irwin, became good friends with Floyd Watson, who served as a local host in Bend, Oregon. Later, Floyd sent Jim a tiny sliver of Oregon lava and asked him to take it to the moon, and Jim Irwin did (!). (I find this story a little hard to believe.)
I look forward to the chance to visit some of these sites myself – including Fort Rock (a ring of tuff):
and Newberry National Volcanic Monument:
You can learn some more about the Newberry sights with this virtual tour. The area seems to be closed for the season, but it could be a great place to visit next spring!