WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.185 --> 00:00:02.291
♫

2
00:00:02.291 --> 00:00:05.250
Before landing on the surface 
of the moon in 1969,

3
00:00:05.625 --> 00:00:08.291
astronauts Neil Armstrong and 
Buzz Aldrin needed

4
00:00:08.291 --> 00:00:09.875
a training ground 
that matched their

5
00:00:09.875 --> 00:00:11.666
destination's cratered surface.

6
00:00:11.666 --> 00:00:13.291
>> Blast Captain: Fire!

7
00:00:13.291 --> 00:00:14.750
[Explosions]

8
00:00:14.750 --> 00:00:16.625
>> Narrator: In the U.S., 
that turned out to be

9
00:00:16.625 --> 00:00:18.208
northern Arizona.

10
00:00:18.208 --> 00:00:21.541
[Explosions]

11
00:00:21.541 --> 00:00:24.708
Starting in 1967, 
the U.S. Geological Survey

12
00:00:24.708 --> 00:00:26.458
used hundreds of pounds
of dynamite

13
00:00:26.458 --> 00:00:28.250
to blast holes
into the surface

14
00:00:28.250 --> 00:00:30.791
of ancient lava fields
south of Sunset Crater

15
00:00:30.791 --> 00:00:31.916
near Flagstaff.

16
00:00:31.916 --> 00:00:33.958
The first Cinder Lake
crater field

17
00:00:33.958 --> 00:00:36.583
was designed to mimic
the Sea of Tranquility,

18
00:00:36.583 --> 00:00:39.333
the lunar surface on which
the astronauts would land.

19
00:00:39.333 --> 00:00:43.208
A second crater field 
was created in July of 1968.

20
00:00:43.208 --> 00:00:46.833
Its 380 craters have lost
contours to time

21
00:00:46.833 --> 00:00:48.875
but the pock marks are still
apparent

22
00:00:48.875 --> 00:00:51.250
in aerial shots of the area
which is now used

23
00:00:51.250 --> 00:00:52.916
by offroad vehicles.

24
00:00:53.083 --> 00:00:54.791
>> Archival Narrator:
The size and location of each

25
00:00:54.791 --> 00:00:56.833
of the 426 craters

26
00:00:56.833 --> 00:00:59.916
have been reproduced with
remarkable accuracy.

27
00:01:00.208 --> 00:01:03.750
This is the Orbiter photograph
of the lunar surface.

28
00:01:03.750 --> 00:01:07.791
And this is an aerial photograph
of the new crater field.

29
00:01:07.791 --> 00:01:10.250
>> Narrator: Apollo astronauts
would continue to train

30
00:01:10.250 --> 00:01:13.583
in the Flagstaff area for years
after the first moon landing.

31
00:01:13.583 --> 00:01:19.416
♫