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1 January 2022
Flagstaff is already an interesting city by itself from its unique land formations to its impressive dedication to the Dark Sky Advocacy. What many are not aware of, however, is that there is more to Flagstaff’s role in the success of space study in the history of space science.
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Who doesn’t know the name “Neil Armstrong”? The very first man to step foot on the moon in 1969 belongs to the Apollo 11 group. Because the world is too fixated on the historical milestone of a man making it to the moon, the behind-the-scenes of the Apollo 11 were not talked about as much as they deserved.
Before Neil Armstrong and two other astronauts from the Apollo 11—Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins—step foot on the moon, they completed rigorous training at Flagstaff. Yes, Flagstaff served as a training ground for the men who took a giant leap for mankind.
The astronauts’ training, which began in 1963, involved exploration on the sunset and meteor craters on Flagstaff as well as extensive studies on the moon’s map.
The Apollo 11 astronauts were definitely not the last spacemen who will train in the northern part of Arizona. Today, Flagstaff remains to be a great contributor to space study as it continues to serve as a training camp for future astronauts.
In 2019, the astronauts underwent the same training as the Apollo 11 astronauts in Flagstaff to prepare them for visits to the NASA space stations, the moon, or maybe this time, Mars. They were taught how to conduct geological processes, analyze different rock qualities, take field notes, and collect samples. Flagstaff was where the astronauts completed their final geological training session.
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Founded in 1894 by astronomer and mathematician Percival Lowell, the Lowell Observatory is one of the oldest observatories in the United States. Lowell Observatory houses the Lowell Discovery Telescope which is one of the most versatile in the world. It was originally designed to study Mars and the possibility of intelligent life living on the planet.
The Lowell Observatory has made history frequently. One of the most notable was in 1930, Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto (which we all agree is still considered a planet). Other notable discoveries include discoveries that lead to the understanding that our universe is expanding, rings of Uranus, the three largest known stars, and the first Trogan of Neptune to name a few.
Developed specifically for the search for “Planet X” – an imaginary ninth planet in the solar system that Percival Lowell believed must exist – this telescope is one of the most famous in the history of astronomical research in America. The first sighting of Pluto was made on February 18, 1930, when observatory assistant Clyde Tombaugh reviewed glass negatives.
Henry Giclas used the telescope after discovering Pluto to study the actual motion of celestial objects, not just their apparent motion. The telescope was then moved to the Observatory’s dark-sky site on Anderson Mesa and then returned to Mars Hill in the early 1990s for our visitors to see this historic instrument in person.
This is the impact of Flagstaff not just on local space study but on the history of the world. And the city’s contributions to space science aren’t ending any time soon.
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