About an hour north of Flagstaff….in the middle of nowhere is a spot NASA says looks a lot like the surface of the moon.   In fact NASA officials used this area to test equipment back in the 1960’s for the Apollo missions.  Now they’re at it again, gearing up for a possible return to the moon in 2020.

During the last two weeks the space agency has been conducting lunar field simulation tests inside the latest version of the lunar electric rover.  Two crew members, an astronaut and a geologist actually lived on the tiny rover for fourteen days.  They ate, slept, showered and used the facilities in close quarters all the while trying to simulate an actual moon mission.  

What did they do to pass the time?  The same things they might do on the surface of the moon, gather rock and soil samples, and they even did a couple of space walks or EVA’s as they are known; extra vehicular activities.   During the EVA’s the crew donned unpressurized suits that look exactly like a real space suit, except at 70lbs, they weigh a lot less than the 215lb suits that would be used on the moon.  

Mike Gernhardt, the veteran astronaut who lived aboard the LER told us for the most part it was very comfortable.  He was able to drink plenty of coffee which he brewed on board and remarked that he felt very clean after numerous sponge baths taken toward the back of the rover.

While the activities performed during the mission seemed routine, the goal was to carry them out while living aboard the small rover. One day NASA hopes to be able to use vehicles just like these to perform experiments and provide transportation on the moon.

The Bush Administration had set a goal of returning to the moon by the year 2020, but astronaut Mike Gernhardt believes the space agency works best under pressure, and believes it could realistically get there by 2018.  Gernhardt hopes to be behind the wheel of LER when the time comes.

Anita Vogel, Producer Chris Spinder and Photographer Eric Barnes contributed to this report