Sep 27: NASA and Iceland - part 2

Earlier in the week I added a mention for NASA, who were testing their robots for a future mission to Mars.

The link with the space race goes back much further than that though, dating back before 1969, when Apollo 11 touched down on the moon

In the years preceding the Apollo 11 mission, NASA believed it was essential for its astronauts to prepare for their intragalactic journey by training in the most otherworldly terrain on Earth. After scouring the globe, officials determined that the Moon’s lunar landscape was strikingly similar to that just outside Húsavík, a quiet 2,300-person fishing community on Iceland’s northern coast. 

NASA sent 32 astronauts to train in its crater-filled terrain in 1965 and 1967. Incredibly, of the 12 humans who have ever walked on the Moon, nine first touched down in Húsavík – including Armstrong himself.

The full story is here.

Husavik now has another claim to fame of course with a starring role in the Netflix Eurovision movie.