Over 40 years ago, astronauts prepared for life on the moon by picking up dirt and driving golf cart-looking vehicles around Hawaii.
A group of recently discovered photographs provide a glimpse into the life of astronauts from Apollo missions training on Hawaii's Big Island dating back to the '70s, the Associated Press reported. The black and white photos, provided by NASA, are to be displayed at the Hilo-based Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems.
The pictures show astronauts picking up the island's soil and walking near massive pits with packages on their backs.
One photo from 1971 shows astronaut Harrison (Jack) Schmitt, from Apollo 17, riding with an unidentified man in a "moon buggy," a golf cart-looking vehicle with no roof and what appears to be an antenna attached to the front.
Rob Kelso, executive director of PISCES, found the pictures at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Kelso told the AP that astronauts from Apollo missions 13 to 17 trained on the island.
Some astronauts trained on volcanoes like Mauna Kea and near recent lava flows. Engineers say the soil, volcanic basalt, is similar to the moon's soil, the AP reported.
The Apollo Program was a series of NASA missions to the moon that began in 1967 and continued until the 17th mission in 1972, according to the agency's website. The goal was not to only send Americans to the moon, but to gain a better, scientific understanding of the moon and further U.S. interests in space.
It was during Apollo mission 11 that astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon.
The Big Island is now used to test robots for missions to the moon and Mars, the AP reported. Scientists hope the robots will one day be able to extract oxygen from the island's lunar-like soil. Astronauts could then use the same technique to extract oxygen from the moon's soil instead of bringing it from Earth.
See more photos of astronauts-in-training here.
