# @usgs on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DJJ9asbplZu
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69013884-usgs-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/2dec7e6240.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-05-02T15:07:05.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) (@USGS) — https://gondola.cc/USGS

## Caption

From Apollo to Artemis: USGS Supports NASA’s Return to the Moon 🌍🌕✨ 

This #NationalSpaceDay, we’re proud to celebrate our ongoing partnership with NASA in preparing astronauts for a new era of lunar exploration through the Artemis program. This “rocket backpack” was one of the bold ideas being tested in 1966 by USGS and NASA for personal propulsion to expand astronaut mobility. 

At the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, our scientists are working closely with NASA to train astronauts, test equipment, and refine field science techniques for use on the Moon, and maybe even someday Mars! By using terrestrial analog sites, Earth locations with geology similar to the lunar surface, astronauts gain valuable experience in field observation, sampling, and mapping. These exercises also provide critical opportunities to test mission tools (maybe not rocket backpacks anymore) and exploration strategies, ensuring the missions are safe, efficient, and scientifically productive.

This work builds on a legacy that began during the Apollo program. In the 1960s, USGS scientists created the first geologic maps of the Moon and led astronaut training in both classroom and field settings. In fact, every astronaut who walked on the Moon trained with USGS scientists in Flagstaff—a tradition that continues to this day. 

As Artemis prepares astronauts to put boots on the ground, we will continue advancing our scientific and exploratory programs—toward the Moon, and on to Mars. 

This #NationalSpaceDay, we’re proud to continue a decades-long partnership with NASA—from mapping landing sites to walking astronauts through lunar fieldwork. 

📹: Snippet of footage from a 1966 USGS video showing a person testing out a Lunar Flying Vehicle (aka “Rocket Backpack”). Credit: Walt Roeder, Tom Lee, Bob Skinner, Don Hart, Pete Shelton. 

NASAArtemis NASAAstronauts NASASolarSystem #NASA #Artemis #Apollo

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 1,143
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 21

## Tags

apollo, nasa, artemis, nationalspaceday

---
Copyright (c) Gondola