Space on Earth

As long as I can remember I’ve wanted to be an astronaut—a fantasy I carry with me until this day.

Every time I looked up to the starlit night sky, I wished I could be somewhere up there, traveling among the stars, exploring strange new worlds.

I spent my spare time reading science fiction books, watching movies on space travel and kept dreaming about the day that I'd have my chance to make my dream come true.

As I grew older I became little bit more practical. Advanced technology that will allow us to travel to space has yet to come so I decided I better limit my space exploration to Earth.

When the first opportunity to travel the world arose, I knew immediately where I wanted to go. Instead of going to Paris or New York, my destination of choice was Valley de la Luna (The Moon Valley), a few kilometers outside La Paz, Bolivia. It’s a place that could easily have been mistaken for the moon if it hadn’t been for the Earth’s gravitation.

When I first came to Iceland, one of the first places I went to see after my feet touched ground at Keflavík airport was the stratovolcano Askja. It is also known as "the closest thing to Mars on Earth." I figured that the logical next stop after the closest thing to the moon would be the closest thing to Mars.

Somewhere in the Icelandic highlands, just north of Vatnajökull glacier, there is a special place where real astronauts once practiced landing on the moon. A place where ordinary human beings can follow in the footsteps of giants.

When NASA were looking for a place to train their astronauts, Askja was the ideal place. In a remote location in the middle of the highlands far from any human colony, there is a unique landscape that resembles a place out of this world.

The astronauts of the Apollo missions spent time there training for their journey to the moon and, considering how successful it turned out, it sure helped them a lot.

It was in the middle of the Cold War. The Soviets were leading the space race after Yuri Gagarin became the first man to in travel space. Now USA wanted to be the first nation to put a man on the moon.

John F. Kennedy set the timeline and NASA was given a limitless budget to fulfill the mission. They could have chosen almost any place on Earth to train their astronauts. But they chose Askja and anyone who has ever been there can tell you why.

For a few moments after looking down into the Askja crater, I sensed something that maybe Neil Armstrong sensed when he first stepped down from The Eagle.

For few moments, it felt as if I were the only person on the face of the planet. I experienced my first "real" moon walk and without noticing, inspired by years of anticipation, I found myself repeating in my head the timeless words: "One small step for me, one giant leap for mankind" (with a slight change).

There are many places around the globe that could resemble parts of other planets in the solar system.

Apparently our little island has a lot to offer, especially for the anticipating space travelers among us. Many of those "out of space" places can be found right here in Iceland. In fact, Iceland as a whole is like a small planet of its own, unique and challenging.

And for those of us who are still looking for their little piece of space here on Earth, maybe a trip to Iceland could provide a taste of some star dust.

A walk in lava fields, drive around crater lakes and climb up active volcanoes will surely make you feel like you have finally found your little space here on Earth.

Published in Iceland Review September 6 2009.
Aerial view of the Askja crater.