Taylor Pipes

This is Arizona. 🌵

NASA blew it up. On purpose. To build the Moon. 🌑

In 1967, geologists took real satellite photos of the exact patch of the Moon Apollo 11 was set to land on, then reconstructed it — crater for crater — in a lava field outside Flagstaff. 426 craters. Three separate blasts. All so astronauts could practice walking and navigating the surface of the moon long before they got there.

This is Part 2 of the story we started last week — the one about the 700,000-acre family ranch NASA still trains astronauts on today. Missed Part 1? It’s the video right before this one on our page. Go watch the epic rule the rancher gave NASA. 👀

Every week, we profile a different American family business that’s quietly survived 100+ years. This one just happens to have a NASA plot twist.