2021VirtualScience MeteorCrater

In the fall of 2021, graduate students Alissa Madera, Katelyn Frizzell, and Krystyna Doran were selected for the EVA Exercise at Meteor Crater at the 2021 Virtual Science Operations Center hosted by NASA. During this experience, two teams of 9 other international early-career scientists practiced directing a mock astronaut across Meteor Crater, Arizona, to collect samples, avoid hazards, and track traverse in an effort to practice and train science communicators in preparation of future exploration activities such as with NASA’s Artemis program, the next space exploration missions that will return humans to the Moon. All three (with their respective teams) designed and agreed upon traverse plans and science goals, relayed critical science and traverse information, and actively altered plans when unexpected events occurred.