ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer uses a magnifier to identify minerals in an igneous rock. The exercise was part of a dry run developed in 2019 for a new session of Pangaea geology field training in Lofoten, Norway. Lofoten shares many geological features with lunar highlands, such as the Apollo 16 landing site, making it a perfect site to train astronauts on lunar geology.
The Pangaea course is designed to provide European astronauts with introductory and practical knowledge of Earth and planetary geology to prepare them to become effective partners of planetary scientists and engineers in designing the next exploration missions.
The course also aims to give astronauts a solid knowledge in the geology of the Solar System from leading European scientists.