Reykjavík Grapevine - Oct 2020, Page 8

8 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 08— 2020
FROM 1965 AND INTO THE FUTURE
Iceland’s
Unlikely Role
In Space
Exploration
Words:
Andie Sophia
Fontaine
3D illustrations:
Sveinbjörn
Pálsson
Photos:
Art Bicnick,
Nasa, Space Iceland,
Space Nation
With the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957,
Earth’s exploration of space began in
earnest. Since then, the focus had been
primarily on two countries—Russia
and the United States—although
in more recent times, India, China,
Japan and a host of others have made
remarkable strides in the exploration
of Earth’s orbit, the Moon, Mars and
beyond. Even Iceland has played an
important role in space exploration
since the 1960s and continues to do so.
Today the country has its sights set on
becoming a member of the European
Space Agency (ESA).
Iceland’s unique geography, its
technical expertise and its keen inter-
est in participation on the world stage
have all played a part. Its involvement
in space exploration has included the
launching of a suborbital rocket from
Langanes just last August; the ongoing
development of AI and remote sens-
ing technologies; the study of Iceland’s
pristine lava caves as a means to ascer-
tain the possibility of building habitats
on Mars, where such caves could shield
inhabitants from the unforgiving levels
of radiation that bombard the planet;
and the development of what may
become Iceland’s very first orbital satel-
lite. In this feature, we spoke with a few
of the people trying to make Iceland’s
role in space exploration even greater.
Walking on
the moon
While the Soviet Union and the US
engaged in heated competition to
achieve a series of firsts in space explo-
ration, the former had been outpac-
ing the latter for years, and Iceland
largely stayed out of it. The 1950s and
1960s had been a time of prosperity for
Iceland, but it remained largely neutral
during the Cold War, focusing instead
on internal matters and enjoying the
wealth of the post-WW2 years.
All that changed in 1965, when
NASA sent prospective astronauts to
Iceland to train for a potential moon
landing. They were sent again in 1967.
In all, 32 astronauts trained in Iceland
and 14 who would eventually get to the
moon—including Neil Armstrong—
trained here first.
The reason was simple, best
summed up by Apollo Program geolo-
gist Dr. Elbert A. King: “We took one
of our best field trips to Iceland. If you
want to go to a place on earth that looks
like the Moon, central Iceland should
be high on your list, as it beautifully
displays volcanic geology with virtually
no vegetation cover.”
“When the Americans went to the
moon, that was a huge part of space,
which was why they came here to
train,” Thor Fanndal, the director of
Space Iceland, explains. “The reasoning
was that obviously we have an amazing
environment when it comes to space.
Iceland does look a bit like the moon,
and even more like Mars. The astro-
nauts were mostly pilots; they weren't
scientists. There was a need for them
to have the ability to pick the best
rocks, for example, for analysis down
here. NASA at first attempted to teach
them in classrooms, and apparently,
they showed absolutely no interest in
it. So the idea came up that maybe they
should do field trips."
Today, you can visit the Astronaut
Monument, located outside the Explo-
ration Museum in Húsavík, commem-
orating Iceland’s contribution to the
space race. But the adventure didn’t
end there.
Enter Space
Iceland
Space Iceland, as Thor describes it, is