'Like the Moon': Astronauts flock to Spanish island to train | Hacker News Reader

'Like the Moon': Astronauts flock to Spanish island to train

phys.org

66 pointsBrajeshwar21 comments

It's like the moon - provided the moon can only be explored with a pre-booked tourist bus, and any exploration on foot, or collecting of samples is strictly prohibited. Which is probably fine for a nature reserve, I just thought it deserves mention.

This isn't by far my biggest gripe with Lanzarote. That would be that after visiting about 10 years ago, I wondered whether they do geothermals, being in the absolute perfect position to do so. And then figuring out that because of not wanting a new power plant built on the island, they import oil by tanker ship, then burn it for electricity.

edit: they burn the oil. Not the ship.

No geothermals at all. Spain as a whole is very late on renewables, some early adopters are just picking up air-source heat pumps and solar panels are starting to become wide-spread. It didn't help that there was a prohibitive tax on solar panels dubbed the 'sun tax' here that ended recently.

I think I heard about some solar power investment scheme in Spain, a decade or so ago, that got a bunch of retail investors burned. Is that right?

I believe it also killed the solar updraft tower [0] project that was going on in Manzanares [1].

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_updraft_tower

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_updraft_tower#/media/Fil...

> No geothermals at all. Spain as a whole is very late on renewables

I'm being extremely nitpicky here, but geothermal energy is not technically "renewable" in the precise sense of the word. That's not to say that geothermal energy cannot be an excellent and environmentally friendly energy source. For contrast, hydroelectric power is renewable, but can easily be very environmentally damaging depending on its location.

El Hierro on the other hand, a smaller neighbour island, is 100% on renewable energy.

So something is happening, even though the change rate is frustrating.

I find numbers indicating 60% over a full year, but there have been stretches in winter where 100% was covered by renewable energy (wind power). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Hierro#Energy (German wikipedia has newer numbers). A good step in the right direction nevertheless compared to "previously spent on about 40,000 barrels of crude oil imported annually"

Video by their tourism board shows how it looks https://youtu.be/VWQYOrH_39Q

> Astronauts flock

How many Astronauts are there? How many Astronauts make a flock?

In this context it would mean they congregate there, they gather there in larger than normal groups. It's a figure of speech.

As per the article, at least 12

That IS quite a flock, for astronauts.

Yup, a strongly gregarious species that only travel in groups.

ESA has 7.

Immediately caught my eye as a vacation destination!

Those of you that have been there, do you have any tips to share? We're primarily interested in nature experiences and volcanoes rather than drinks at the bar. The Caldera Blanca on the sister island looks really interesting!

If you are interested in volcanoes. A visit to La Palma to see the effects of the sept 2021 eruption, is a must-see.

The western Islands had also Laurisilva evergreen forests. An humid ecosystem relict as close as one "European rainforest" as you can have. Very "Jurassic Park" vibes (the native giant lizards prefer the rocky areas in any case).

The small El Hierro Island is worldwide famous as diving spot. All Islands are good to dive, but in El Hierro is easier to spot big fishes. Whale sharks and Manta rays are not uncommon in the correct months.

Very good places also to do Whale Watching. Dolphins and the tropical species of Pilot Whales are easy to watch in Tenerife, Palma, Gomera or El Hierro. Sperm whales and marine birds frequent the area also.

Some very good spots also for Astronomy lovers. The visits to the big observatory and telescope in La Palma are suspended by now, it seems, but the visitor center is opened. See http://www.gtc.iac.es/

In short Tenerife is the most complete in terms of variety of ecosystems and Lanzarote is probably the most spectacular geologically. If you want nature avoid the most crowded destinations that receive zillions of tourists searching for beach and booze.

Been there many times, and even more in Fuerteventura. Both are very peculiar islands. Fuerteventura is kinda an offshore Sahara extension. You can walk into huge dune parks, and go to beaches with no one on sight for kilometers. Many locations will give you an otherworldly feeling. Nature, specially vegetation, in the eastern, newer islands, is not very abundant, but still plenty of things to be amazed to. Volcano visits in Lanzarote are bit touristy but still a must. You can eat volcano cooked chicken and see some geothermal action. If you are into volcanoes La Palma had a three months eruption last year.

All in all is a place ideal for quiet vacations, with plenty of amazing beaches and where time seems to flow slower. I will go again.

I was there in 2017, the landscape is stunning. I visited the volcanic park of Timanfay and smaller volcanoes you can go into like el Cuervo. There are also other nice places to visit like the Mirador Del Rio and (if you like it), the Saramago home museum. I also visited Tenerife, which while much more touristy, is also much cheaper and also has the Teide Volcano which you can visit.

I’ve been to Lanza a few times and, like another commenter, Fuertaventura even more times

Great island for a holiday for sure. Lanza is more bio diverse with lot of greenery in the north and then just barren rock desert in the south. I’ve mountain biked around the south quite a lot, it’s fun but go prepared, the rocks destroys bike components like nowhere else I’ve ridden (including the French Alps).

There is a sports resort over towards El Golfo in the south west that looks pretty great and I’ve heard good things about.

The surfing in the west is good but if you want surf then Fuerta is the island to go to.

FV is just pure rock desert everywhere and it’s a surf and kite surf paradise for sure. Corralejo in the north is a nice town and easy access to flag and glass beach for surf and also the north shore via the dirt track to El Cottilo. I have mountain biked in FV but it’s a boring cross country struggle fest and the wind is killer.

Clearly the production crew of Star Wars agreed about the Canaries as the North of FV was used as a location for some of the Star Wars movies as well.

“It’s like the moon” was my exact answer when my wife asked how I liked the trip to this place. Found it to be exaggeratedly rough and dry. I wouldn’t choose to live there. Imagine Mars and the moon would be a lot heavier going.

When I read the title I knew it was about Lanzarotte. Been there on holiday once, great barren landscapes, almost hellish. The cocktails though? Just like the place, barren, pure alcohol!

Is there any island on Earth that looks like Minmus?

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