From Bavaria to the moon: Alexander Gerst is practicing in a crater near Nördlingen for a space mission

Created: 2022-09-07 07:54

By: Stefan Sessler

Astronaut Alexander Gerst is training in Bavaria for a mission in the meteorite crater (symbol image).

© Political Moments/Imago

Alexander Gerst will soon be practicing in the Nördlinger Ries – like famous astronauts before him.

The German astronaut is preparing for the “Artemis” moon mission from Bavaria.

Nördlingen – 52 years ago Alan Shepard, called "Al", visited the Nördlinger Ries.

His job: astronaut.

He was the first American in space and the fifth person to walk on the moon.

When he boarded the satellite in 1971, he said, "Al is on the surface and it's been a long way, but we're here." The mission was called Apollo 14, and Shepard had extraordinary baggage with him.

His golf club, a 6-iron. On the moon, he unpacked it and hit a few balls one-handed because of the bulky space suit.

Shepard, born in 1923, is considered the first golfer on the moon.

He laid the foundation for this feat in Bavaria.

Shortly before the moon mission, NASA sent its astronauts to the Donau-Ries district.

There in the Nördlinger Ries there is a gigantic crater that was created 14 million years ago by an asteroid impact.

It is the perfect training ground for future moon visitors.

Bavaria: Astronaut Alexander Gerst practices for the moon mission in the Nördlinger Ries

The German astronaut Alexander Gerst (46) has now also registered there.

Together with Stephanie Wilson (55) from Nasa, he has just started a training program lasting several weeks to prepare the two for a moon mission.

The program includes the selection of a suitable landing site for the "Artemis" mission and the planning of work on the lunar surface.

The course begins in the Bletterbach Gorge in the Dolomites.

Here the geology of Mars and asteroids is on the curriculum.

From September 12th the two will be in the Nördlinger Ries.

They should learn how to work scientifically in lunar-like terrain, how to take rock samples or transmit geological findings to the colleagues who stayed behind on Earth.

Roland Eichhorn is head of the geological service at the Bavarian State Office for the Environment.

He's something like Bavaria's top geologist - and he's happy that space travel history is possibly being written again in the Ries.

There's no better place in Germany for someone who wants to go to the moon than the area around the town of Nördlingen, he says.

"This is the only place in Germany that was created with real heavenly assistance." Here you can examine crater structures that will also exist on the moon.

After the asteroid impact, special stones were formed here in Bavaria.

"The area is famous for the so-called Schwabenstein," says Eichhorn.

These are rocks, technical term suevite, which only come about under extremely high pressure and extreme temperatures.

For example, the tower of the Nördlingen church is made of suevite.

That's pretty unique too.

Like a trip to the moon.

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Nördlinger Ries: From Bavaria to the moon?

"Artemis" mission starts in 2025 at the earliest

Whether Gerst will actually fly off is still in the stars.

The manned "Artemis" mission is scheduled to start in 2025 at the earliest.

However, the German geophysicist, volcanologist and former ISS commander is considered a promising candidate.

American Stephanie Wilson would be the first woman to walk on the lunar surface.

Bavarian city in the meteorite crater: Nördlingen can be seen from afar.

© Stefan Puchner/dpa

If Roland Eichhorn has his way, then the German should definitely fly.

"It's a source of pride for every geologist when someone can experience something extraterrestrial and get to touch the rocks there," he says.

The only thing Gerst should probably do without is the golf club.

That only leads to problems.

Shepard claimed his golf ball flew "miles and miles and miles."

Mile after mile after mile.

Decades later, experts measured using high-resolution images of the moon.

It was 37 meters.

Shepard, the training astronaut from the Nördlinger Ries, was convicted of being an imposter, at least in this respect.

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder has been dreaming of space for a long time, and in the summer of 2021 his plans came a step closer: a gigantic project was inaugurated in the Munich district.