Behind the Scenes of a NASA ‘Moonwalk’ in the Arizona Desert – NASA Science

During the Arizona moonwalks, scientists learned how to communicate their priorities succinctly and clearly to the flight control team, which then talked with the astronauts. If scientists needed to change the traverse plan to return to a site for more pictures, for instance, they had to rationalize the request to the flight director in charge. If the director approved, a designated person communicated the information to the crew. For this simulation, that person was NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins, pictured above, who’s  a geologist by training.