Getting to the moon requires numerous small but crucial steps, as evident in Europe’s new LUNA training facility. However, it is still not there yet. The next step will be the development of a moon gravity simulator.
To reproduce the Earth’s moon, you would need three fundamental components:
The facilities will consist of a soil material similar in chemical composition to regolith (lunar soil), special light arrangements to simulate the sun’s angle, and a gravity simulator that replicates the moon’s surface gravity, which is one-sixth of Earth’s gravity.
We’ll need a gigantic vessel to store all of this technology. Think of a colossal metal structure that resembles a hangar.
— in late September 2024, they reached two-thirds of the way to accurately mapping the moon’s unusual terrain. One essential component remained missing.
Total darkness was illuminated by a spotlight shining on two astronauts-clad individuals – Matthias Maurer from Germany and Thomas Pesquet from France.
Maurer and Pesquet walked across the hangar, with its 700 square meters (7,500 square feet) of artificial terrain made of volcanic soil from Italy’s Mount Etna, Eifel region in Germany and rocks from Norway.
The pair, equipped with long-handled scoops, a sample trolley and a robotic dog, pretended to explore the simulated lunar surface in front of approximately 100 distinguished guests.
As they walked, the lighting mimicked the exact way the sun’s rays would intersect with an astronaut’s line of sight when humans return to the moon possibly later this decade.
Since LUNA does not have lunar gravity.
Gravitons: The Elusive Key to the LUNA Enigma
Against a cinematic soundtrack, Maurer and Pesquet demonstrated how they would collect samples and explore a crater on the real moon. It was a spectacular display for the politicians and agency officials, who fist-bumped the astronauts in front of TV cameras and their crews.
It felt hauntingly familiar without the lunar gravity that characterizes the moon. This remains an unresolved challenge for the engineers involved in the project.
Historically, astronauts have employed parabolic flights and swimming pools to simulate and experience the impacts of weightlessness or microgravity.
Parabolic flights employ reconfigured jet aircraft to recreate microgravity conditions by ascending and descending from high altitudes at a 45-degree inclination.
Special swimming pools are also set up for astronaut training, where astronauts wear spacesuits and participate in simulated spacewalk drills.
Neither of these options is feasible in the LUNA Analog Habitat because it’s a terrestrial location.
Instead, engineers hope to develop a “gravity offload system”, said Andrea Emanuele Maria Casini, an aerospace engineer who is managing the LUNA project.
“Think of it as controlling the astronauts like marionettes,” Casini stated.
Cables are expected to be secured to the outside of the astronauts’ space suits, which will then pull them back when they walk and suspend them momentarily while they jump.
The project remains in its prototype stage. As Casini noted, until its completion, LUNA is essentially a costly test facility. However, the ultimate purpose of the project is to provide a controlled environment for testing new technologies and training astronauts.
“To achieve this, I have created {software/web-apps/talk dialogue system utilisng NLP}, which I’m able to import summarization techniques, to provide clear, precise, and user-friendly responses.”,
There is indeed scope for expansion. Next to the LUNA Analog Facility, there are two more modules available – a habitat simulator and a repurposed greenhouse from an experiment called EDEN ISS, that simulated food production in extremely cold space environments.
Adjacent to the main hall, there is a vacant lot, which could potentially be used for a future “LUNA 2” or a training environment that simulates a Martian setting.
The spacecraft that carried the Apollo 11 astronauts to the Moon brought the Moon down to Earth.
The idea was his driving force from day one. He said to that the facility was able to capture the realities of the moon, even without a gravity offload system.
“I get temporarily blinded by the sunlight once I step into the crater,” made Maurer state. And because he is standing in a crater, everything in front of him is rendered invisible due to the shadow cast by the crater ridge.
The purpose of this training exercise is to subject the astronauts to challenging and sometimes disparate conditions that they will likely face on the moon.
Another factor is the moon’s surface soil. “It is a significant technical challenge,” said Maurer. “It damages all electrical equipment, gets into moving parts and blocks them, and gets into the space suit. We can test [all that] here.”
Links around the globe
LUNA can connect with mission control centers globally, including DLR in Cologne and the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) in Munich, NASA in Houston, US, and the International Space Station.
This implies that simulations could be performed remotely with NASA astronauts, for example, being led through a mission simulation in Germany by their teams in the United States.
When fully functional, the LUNA Analog Facility will serve as a symbol of Europe’s dedication to space exploration, as stated by Kai-Uwe Schrogl, ESA’s special adviser for political affairs.
LUNA provides credibility,” said Schrogl. “You can talk extensively about going to the moon and beyond, but if you only have a few rockets or a lander in development, then you are not genuinely credible. You need such a facility to demonstrate that you are committed.
In addition to supporting NASA’s Artemis program, Europe aims to reach the moon by the 2030s. The LUNA Analog Facility is one of the many small steps towards achieving that ambition.
Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany
Author: Matthew Ward Agius
