Remote Labrador location potential training ground for astronauts

When scientists determined in the mid-1970s that the Mistastincrater in Labrador had lunar-like properties, the last Apollomission had flown and it was too late for astronauts to takeadvantage of the site for training.

But now, as Artemis astronauts prepare for the next moon mission,one Canadian expert says the remote crater could provide vitalinsight into what awaits them.

Gordon Osinski, a professor in the department of Earth sciencesat Western University in London, Ont., said Mistastin was found tobe an impact crater in the mid-1970s.

An impact crater is created when an asteroid or meteorite crashesinto the Earth, melting and recrystallizing rock through shockwaves. One of the unique things about Mistastin, he said, is that itis formed from anorthositea light-coloured, highly reflectivestone that makes up large parts of the moon's surface called lunarhighlands.

"That also makes it one of the best training sites for theArtemis astronauts," Osinski said. "My dream would be everyastronaut who walks on the moon in the next few years will havevisited this impact crater up in northern Labrador because of thoseattributes."

A Canadian astronaut is to be part of Artemis II, planned for May2024. This would make Canada the second country to have an astronautfly around the moon. During the 10-day mission, the crew is expectedto set a record for the farthest human travel beyond the far side ofthe moon.

Artemis III, currently set for 2025, is expected to takehumans back to the moon's surface to explore for the first time theregion near the lunar South Pole.

Mistastin, also known as Kamestastin, is on the traditionalhunting grounds of the Mushuau Innu First Nation. George Rich of the Innu Nation said they welcome the scientists as long as they getthe required permission to be on their traditional lands.

A spokeswoman for the Canadian Space Agency said no decisionshave been made regarding astronaut training at the moment.

"We'd be happy to support opportunities for the profile andtraining when the time comes," Sarah Berjaoui said in an email.

Apollo astronauts trained at Arizona's Meteor Crater, which atjust over a kilometre across, is much smaller than the gaping28-kilometre-wide Mistastin. Astronauts from the Apollo 16 and 17missions in the early 1970s trained in Sudbury, Ont., because of itslack of greenery and extensive bedrock, which gave the crew afeeling of being on the moon.

Cassandra Marion, a science adviser at the Canada Aviation andSpace Museum in Ottawa who has been to the Mistastin crater sixtimes, described the place as "breathtakingly beautiful." Thecrater sits on the tundra-taiga line and is accessible via a cargoplane that lands on one of two airstrips.

It is quiet and its rocks are similar to those found on the lunarsurface, she said, but Mistastin differs in several respects,including having abundant blueberry bushes and a lake that is aremainder from the last Ice Age.

Osinski, who has been to the crater twice, said Mistastin couldbe used to train astronauts in field geology, teaching them how torecord observations of a totally new area.

"These are obviously critical, because the astronauts wouldn'tbe the ones looking at samples when they come back to Earth," hesaid."It would be scientists, so making sure they capture all theobservations that we need is important."

The Mistastin crater couldbe a training ground for selecting the best rocks for study andmaking notes for researchers, he said.

"Faced with dozens and dozens of potential samples, how do wechoose the best ones to bring back to answer the questions that thescientists have?"

In September 2021, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk and NASAastronaut Matthew Dominick, a member of the Artemis team, spent sometime training at the Mistastin crater, where they learned to identifyrocks that can be seen on the moon. Most of the rocks are accessiblethrough cliff faces and outcrops,and are millions of years old.

"I've been in discussions already about returning this comingSeptember with a bigger group of both Canadian and U.S.astronauts," Osinski said.

The prevailing theory is that the moon was formed out of debrisfrom when a Mars-sized body struck Earth billions of years ago. Themolten surface cooled over time and the lighter rocks known asanorthosite floated to the top, he explained. Those rocks make upmuch of the lunar surface and give the moon its white shimmer, butthey are rare on Earth. Marion said the area where Artemis hopes toland on the far side of the moon in the south polar region is mainlymade up of anorthosite.

For all but a select few, Mistastin is about as close to a lunarlandscape as it's possible for a human to get.

The crater that was sculpted about 36 million years ago when anasteroid crashed into the Earth's landscape is striking, Osinskisaid.

"You have this magnificent bull's-eye of this meteorite impactcrater. It's definitely one of the most unique geological sites thatI've ever been to."

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