The project is still in the prototyping phase. And until its arrival, Casini agreed: LUNA is a very expensive sandpit. But eventually they will want to test new technologies and train astronauts in a closed environment.
“The magic happens inside,” said Casini. “The terrain will help the next generation of astronauts go back to the moon.”
And there is room for expansion. There are two additional modules next to the LUNA Analog Facility — a habitat simulator and a repurposed greenhouse from an experiment called EDEN ISS, which simulated food cultivation in cold space environments.
Adjacent to the main hall, there’s a vacant lot, which may be used for a future “LUNA 2” or Mars training environment.
Astronauts walk on the moon, without leaving Earth
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The moon brought down to Earth
The LUNA Analog Facility has been in development for 12 years. Maurer, who has spent 177 days in space, has driven idea from day one. He told DW the facility captured the realities of the moon, even without the gravity offload system.
“When I step down into the crater [in the facility] and have the sunlight fully in my face, I’m blinded,” said Maurer. And because he’s in a crater, everything in front of him is cast in darkness by the shadow of the crater ridge.
It’s a stress test for astronauts, exposing them to the difficult and sometimes contrasting conditions they will encounter on the moon.
Another factor is the moon’s regolith. “It’s a major technical obstacle,” said Maurer. “It destroys all electrical equipment, it gets into moving parts and blocks them, and it gets into the space suit. We can test [all that] here.”
ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer: The moon’s regolith “gets into everything!”Image: ESA
Links around the globe
LUNA can hook into mission control centers across the planet: From DLR in Cologne and the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) in Munich to NASA in Houston, US, and the International Space Station.
That means simulations could be run remotely: NASA astronauts could be guided through a mission simulation in Germany by their teams in the US.
When fully functional, the LUNA Analog Facility will stand as a totem of Europe’s commitment to space, said ESA’s special advisor for political affairs, Kai-Uwe Schrogl.
“[LUNA] provides credibility,” Schrogl said. “You can talk a lot about going to the moon and beyond, but if you only have a few rockets or a lander on the drawing board, then you are not really credible. You need such a facility to show that you are serious.”
Aside from aiding NASA’s Artemis program, Europe has its own ambition of getting to the moon by the 2030s. The LUNA Analog Facility is one of many small steps to achieve that goal.
Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany
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Publish date : 2024-10-01 07:04:00
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