Astronauts are preparing for space journeys in Germany´s unique facility in Cologne, which imitates the moon environment on Earth like never before.
Moon on Earth in Germany
The LUNA facility at the European Astronaut Centre near Cologne now has 900 tons of ground-up volcanic rock simulating that of the moon, spread over the surface of a 700-square-metre hall. Launched on September 25, astronauts are now preparing for space in LUNA, opened by the European Space Agency.
In spacesuits and visors, astronauts Thomas Pesquet from France and Matthias Mauer from Germany, with a little canine robot, tested the facility almost identical to the moon. At the opening ceremony of LUNA, ESA Director General Josef Aschabacher noted that the new facility “marks a significant milestone in Europe´s space exploration efforts.”
The centre has also created the EAC-1, based on volcanic powder spread out over the Eifel region in Germany 45 million years ago, which replicates the lunar regolith – the material that covers the Moon´s surface and was produced by millions of years of bombardment by meteorites and the solar wind.
Moon on Earth; future discoveries
The ESA Director General also shared that the ESA is working on developing three more locations for future moon mission preparations under the NASA-led Artemis programme by 2030. The agency is now building the service module for the Orion crew capsule that will fly to the moon as part of Artemis, instead of relying on NASA to get its astronauts to space.
ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst also reported that LUNA will offer “most aspects that we will encounter on the moon,” making the astronauts perfectly prepared for future space travels. The moon´s low-gravity environment will be simulated using movable ceiling-mounted trolleys that follow the astronaut´s or rover´s movements. “It´s the surface, it´s the lunar dust, the rocks, the lighting. We will work in spacesuits that limit our movement, limit our view,” shared Gerst.
Not only will it mimic the moon´s environment, but LUNA will also allow astronauts to adapt to space-time by letting astronauts practise under the lunar day-and-night cycle under a specialized illumination simulator. It will also use gravity off-loading systems, stimulating and reducing gravity to make astronauts easily transition to their time in space, bringing the moon closer to Earth and astronauts closer to discoveries.
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