ABSTRACT Every astronaut who walked on the Moon trained in Flagstaff, Arizona. In the early 1960s, scientists at the newly formed United States Geological Survey (USGS) Branch of Astrogeology led this training, teaching geologic principles and field techniques to the astronaut crews. USGS scientists and engineers also developed and tested scientific instrument prototypes, and communication and transportation technologies that would aid in lunar exploration. Astronomers and cartographers based at the USGS and Lowell Observatory, using telescopes at Lowell Observatory and the U.S. Naval Observatory, also played a key role, preparing lunar navigation charts and landing site maps. This historical and educational field trip will take participants along a historical path to some of the key sites where the Apollo astronauts trained. Field trip participants will see: (1) Grover , the geologic rover simulator on which the Apollo astronauts trained, which is on display at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center; (2) telescopes at Lowell Observatory used to map the lunar surface, as well as some of the original airbrushed maps; (3) the Bonito Lava Flow training area at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument; (4) the Cinder Lake crater field, which was created in 1967 to simulate the lunar landscape for training astronauts and testing equipment; and (5) Meteor Crater, the best-preserved exposed impact crater on Earth. During this field trip we celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the most remarkable events and most significant achievements in the history of humankind. We hope that the sites we visit will connect participants with the experiences of the astronauts and the excitement and inspiration of the origins of human space exploration. We also hope to communicate the historical significance of these sites, facilitate continued visitation of the sites (e.g., through class field trips), and educate the broader scientific and science education communities about the role that Flagstaff scientists and engineers played in the Apollo expeditions to the Moon.

Abstract The physics of thermal infrared aerospace measurements is based on Planck’s Radiation law, Wien’s Displacement law, and Kirchoff’s law. The electromagnetic spectrum for thermal infrared aerospace measurements includes measurements beyond the reflected short- (2.5 μ m) to the long-wave infrared (14 μ m). Thermal infrared sensors measure thermal emission from the Earth’s surface in single wavelength bands (broadband), tens of bands (multiband), and in hundreds of bands (hyperspectral). Broadband thermal infrared measurement techniques include surface temperature mapping and thermal inertia mapping. Multiband and hyperspectral techniques involve mapping of changes in thermal emission at different wavelengths (emissivity mapping). Today, broadband surface temperature mapping is mostly done with satellite sensors. Thermal inertia mapping is done using broadband measurements taken during the day and night. Emissivity mapping is done using tens to hundreds of bands, and it requires sensors capable of measuring small changes in radiant emittance. Sensor systems discussed in this study include: Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Simulator (MASTER), the Spatially Enhanced Broadband Array Spectrograph System (SEBASS) and the ASTER satellite sensor. Several areas of Nevada, such as Brady’s Hot Springs, Steamboat Springs, Geiger Grade, and Virginia City, were used as sites for demonstrating the geologic applications of thermal infrared remote sensing. Corrected day and night images over Steamboat Springs were acquired by TIMS. These day-night images were combined together to produce a final processed temperature image, in which the temperature effects of albedo, topographic slope, and thermal inertia were minimized to facilitate the detection of geothermal anomalies. Spectral variations in emitted thermal energy were detected over the Geiger Grade and Virginia City areas using the MODIS-ASTER Simulator (MASTER) and (SEBASS). MASTER thermal infrared image data allowed two primary mineralogic units in the Steamboat Springs area to be identified: sinter and/or chalcedony deposits and quartz-alunite alteration, which have spectral emissivity features around 9.0 μ m; and clay-rich soil and clay alteration, which have spectral emissivity features around 9.7 μ m. The higher spatial and spectral resolution SEBASS data allowed six different alteration assemblages to be identified: quartz, alunite, pyrophyllite, feldspar, kaolinite, and montmorillonite and/or illite.