Apollo Astronaut Training Memorial

When you drive around Iceland, it is easy to feel as if you’ve landed upon the Moon. The geography of the country is wild and rocky, a testament to the geological activity that continues to shape our planet.

NASA apparently felt the same way, because when they were preparing to send the first astronauts to the Moon in the mid-1960s, they decided to train in the most Moon-like environment they could find. And they decided that the most extraterrestrial environment on Earth was just outside the charming fishing village of Húsavík on the northern coast of Iceland. The site was chosen for its geological features, as the astronauts would need to bring back lunar rock samples.

In 1965 and 1967, NASA sent 32 astronauts to Iceland. Several of the humans who have walked on the Moon, including Neil Armstrong, participated in training in the area. While Iceland was not the only training location, even the astronauts themselves felt that the island country's rugged landscape was the closest to what they would eventually experience on the moon. Iceland's geography continues to be a fertile training ground for future space missions for various space agencies.

While Húsavík has historically been a fishing village, these days, it has become Iceland's whale-watching capital. The town also found new fame thanks to the 2020 movie Eurovision Song Contest, starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams as a pair of Húsavík singers who dream of winning Eurovision. The Apollo Astronaut Training Monument is located directly across the street from the JaJa Ding Dong Bar and Eurovision Song Contest Museum.

The memorial consists of a plaque engraved with the names of 32 Apollo trainees suspended between two basalt columns, as well as the United States and Iceland flags, and an Apollo mission patch. There are steel globes atop the columns which represent the Earth and Moon. It is installed in a small field overlooking the town, and was unveiled on July 15, 2015, by the grandchildren of Neil Armstrong.

Örlygur Hnefill Örlygsson created the Exploration Museum in Húsavík in 2014 to commemorate the town’s historic connection to the Apollo missions. The memorial was opened in relation to the museum. In addition to its Apollo memorabilia, it also has information about the history of human exploration, from Vikings to polar voyages to modern day.