Sep 032010
A panorama of the “Indian Tunnel” lava tube at Craters of the Moon.
3 Responses to “Lava Tube”
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A panorama of the “Indian Tunnel” lava tube at Craters of the Moon.
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Absolutely fantastic!
Just how similar to the Moon’s surface is that park?
> Just how similar to the Moon’s surface is that park?
Not even a little bit. The moons surface is smooth and dusty; the park is rough and razor-sharp.
Not really an exact match, yet NASA did choose it for Astronaut training. There aren’t any “craters”, but it is a fairly fresh lava flow such that few there’s relatively little life growing there – evocative of the moon’s remoteness. The ground is a mix of boulder-strewn flat areas and dangerous craggy areas – good for testing astronauts and spacesuits against before heading to the moon. (I shudder to think what it dod to the Indian’s mocassins).
If you climb the cinder cone, you’ll end up covered with broken-glass-like dust. I climbed it but it was a pretty miserable experience that I don’t particularly recommend without safety goggles. (A disposable biohazard suit would have been useful too to keep the dust out).