The inauguration of LUNA, the lunar analogue facility operated jointly by ESA and the German Aerospace Agency (Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, DLR), took place on 25 September in Cologne, Germany.
A ” important step ” of the past for the ESA leaders…
LUNA will facilitate the research, development and integrated testing of space technologies under realistic conditions, providing valuable information for future lunar missions, such as the Artemis NASA, which will send astronauts to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General, said: “The opening of LUNA marks an important milestone in Europe’s space exploration efforts. This unique facility, which replicates lunar conditions, advances our understanding of the Moon and prepares us for future missions. We are proud to lead this project, which places Europe at the forefront of lunar exploration and beyond, while fostering international collaboration in space research..”
The same goes for astronauts who live “ a historical period ”
This unique training ground, which can reproduce conditions almost identical to those on the lunar surface, will especially please the main people who will benefit from it: the astronauts.
At present, we do not know the composition of the crew ofArtemis III who will visit the surface of the Moon for the first time in over 50 years. While ESA astronauts could be part of it, nothing is set in stone yet. However, in the future, there is a strong chance that members of the European Space Agency will set foot on the moon. So we might as well prepare ourselves as best we can.
In the ESA press release, we find several interventions from some of the ESA's headliners who surely have the Moon in their sights, such as the Italian Samantha Cristoforetti, the German Matthias Maurer and of course Thomas Pesquet.
For Samantha Cristoforetti, opening LUNA and having it available is very important “to prepare for the challenges of living and working on the Moon. LUNA will play a crucial role in testing and refining lunar exploration systems and strategies.”
Matthias Maurer, for his part, speaks of its opening with emotion, given that he was partly responsible for it: “It’s a dream come true. I’m certain: LUNA is the best place on Earth to prepare for missions to the Moon. This unique platform is like a Swiss Army knife for exploration, offering many tools and assets to simulate lunar conditions.”
Finally, the Frenchman Thomas Pesquet is delighted with the opening of LUNA because “It will provide Europe with an extraordinary opportunity to train in conditions as close as possible to what can be expected on the surface of the Moon. We are living in a historic period for human spaceflight and I look forward to being part of the collective adventure that will take European astronauts around the Moon and, eventually, to its surface!” could be read in the ESA press release.
What does LUNA look like?
LUNA comprises a 700-square-metre area that replicates the surface of the Moon using 900 tonnes of volcanic grains and rocks derived from basalt, processed to create a material called a regolith simulant, providing a unique testing environment. A deep floor will allow drilling and sampling up to three metres below the surface, enabling research into the regolith, including frozen lunar soil.
At the same time, a Sun simulator reproduces the day and night cycles on the Moon, including the harsh lighting conditions found in the lunar polar regions.
The advanced control rooms are connected in real time to mission control centers in Germany and around the world. In the future, the analog facility will also be connected to the Lunar Gateway or even to the Moon itself for seamless mission simulations.
Additional features will be implemented soon, such as a gravity dump system to simulate one-sixth of Earth's gravity on the Moon and an adjustable ramp to test mobility on lunar slopes.
LUNA is designed as an open center, available to space agencies, universities, researchers, the space industry, start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises from around the world.
But to see it even better, don't hesitate to take a look at the ESA's animation on its very special new training center:
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