An ancient Ice Age lake now serves as a testing ground for exploring Venus.

Countries & Cities · Published 29 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Once a massive body of water nearly the size of Lake Michigan, Lake Bonneville vanished, leaving behind vast, flat salt flats. Today, these remnants of a prehistoric landscape serve as both a site for land-speed records and a high-tech laboratory for NASA scientists preparing to explore the surface of Venus.

Formed approximately 55,000 years ago, Lake Bonneville emerged when volcanic activity in southeastern Idaho diverted the Bear River, trapping water in basins across modern-day Utah, Nevada, and Idaho. For millennia, a natural dam at Red Rock Pass held the lake in place. However, about 18,000 years ago, this dam failed, triggering a catastrophic flood that drained the lake by over 350 feet in just six weeks. As the climate shifted, the remaining water evaporated, leaving behind the Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake, and Sevier Lake, alongside expansive, mineral-rich playas.

These salt flats are remarkably flat and reflective, making them ideal for high-speed engineering feats. In 1960, Mickey Thompson became the first American to exceed 400 miles per hour on the flats. More recently, in August 2026, Andy Green set a land-speed record for a hydrogen-fueled vehicle, reaching 406.320 miles per hour. These same surfaces, however, once proved treacherous for early pioneers; in August 1846, the Donner-Reed Party struggled to cross the region, with their heavy wagons sinking into the soft mud beneath the salt crust.

Today, the region serves a different purpose for NASA. Because the geological formations at Crater Island resemble the mountainous terrain of Venus, scientists used the site in June 2026 to test the DAVINCI mission's camera systems. By suspending instruments from a helicopter, researchers successfully mapped the area in three dimensions. This rehearsal provides the confidence needed for the upcoming DAVINCI probe, which will descend through the thick atmosphere of Venus to capture high-resolution images of the planet's surface, effectively turning a piece of Utah's ancient lakebed into a proxy for an alien world.

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