How Europe’s creating the moon on Earth

And a immense instrumentality to location it all, similar a monolithic metallic hangar.

When the German Space Agency (DLR) and European Space Agency (ESA) unveiled their mentation of the moon — the LUNA Analog Facility — successful precocious September 2024, they got two-thirds of the mode to representing the moon’s unusual landscape. One important constituent was missing.

Pitch acheronian was breached by a spotlight trained connected 2 fully-suited astronauts — Germany’s Matthias Maurer and France’s Thomas Pesquet. Maurer and Pesquet marched crossed the hangar, with its 700 quadrate meters (7,500 quadrate foot) of artificial regolith, made from the volcanic soils of Italy’s Mount Etna, the Eifel portion successful Germany and rocks from Norway.

Equipped with long-handled scoops, a illustration trolley and robotic dog, the brace pretended to research the fake lunar aboveground successful beforehand of astir 100 dignitaries. As they walked, the airy shone from a precise space to simulate however the prima would obstruct an astronaut’s imaginativeness erstwhile humans instrumentality to the moon, perchance this decade.

But they walked — they didn’t bounce arsenic successful footage from the 1969 Apollo 11 ngo — due to the fact that LUNA has nary lunar gravity.

Gravity simulator: Missing portion of the LUNA puzzle

Against a cinematic soundtrack, Maurer and Pesquet demonstrated however they would cod samples and research a crater connected the existent moon. It was a spectacle for the politicians and bureau officials, who fist-bumped the astronauts for the TV cameras and their crews.

But it felt truthful earthly without a moon-like gravity. It’s a occupation the engineers person yet to solve.

In the past, astronauts person utilized parabolic flights and swimming pools to simulate and acquisition the effects of zero oregon microgravity. Parabolic flights usage refitted pitchy craft to recreate the nonaccomplishment of gravity by ascending to and descending from precocious altitudes astatine 45-degree angles. Astronaut grooming swimming pools are besides specially equipped, and the astronauts execute mock exercises successful spacesuits.

But neither of these options would enactment successful the LUNA Analog Facility due to the fact that it’s connected adust land.

Instead, engineers anticipation to make a “gravity offload system,” said Andrea Emanuele Maria Casini, an aerospace engineer, who manages the LUNA project. “You person to ideate it similar hanging the astronauts arsenic puppets,” Casini said.

Cables volition beryllium attached to the exterior of the astronauts’ spacesuits, apt pulling backmost connected them arsenic they locomotion and suspending them arsenic they jump. The task is inactive successful the prototype phase. And until its arrival, Casini agreed: LUNA is simply a precise costly sandpit. But yet they volition privation to trial caller technologies and bid astronauts successful a closed environment.

“The magic happens inside,” said Casini. “The terrain volition assistance the adjacent procreation of astronauts spell backmost to the moon.”

And determination is country for expansion. There are 2 further modules adjacent to the LUNA Analog Facility — a situation simulator and a repurposed greenhouse from an experimentation called EDEN ISS, which simulated nutrient cultivation successful acold abstraction environments. Adjacent to the main hall, there’s a vacant lot, which whitethorn beryllium utilized for a aboriginal “LUNA 2” oregon Mars grooming environment.

Moon brought down to Earth

The LUNA Analog Facility has been successful improvement for 12 years. Maurer, who has spent 177 days successful space, has driven thought from time one. He told DW the installation captured the realities of the moon, adjacent without the gravity offload system.

“When I measurement down into the crater [in the facility] and person the sunlight afloat successful my face, I’m blinded,” said Maurer. And due to the fact that he’s successful a crater, everything successful beforehand of him is formed successful acheronian by the shadiness of the crater ridge. It’s a accent trial for astronauts, exposing them to the hard and sometimes contrasting conditions they volition brushwood connected the moon.

Another origin is the moon’s regolith. “It’s a large method obstacle,” said Maurer. “It destroys each electrical equipment, it gets into moving parts and blocks them, and it gets into the abstraction suit. We tin trial [all that] here.”

Links astir the globe

LUNA tin hook into ngo power centers crossed the satellite — from DLR successful Cologne and the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) successful Munich to NASA successful Houston, US and the International Space Station. That means simulations could beryllium tally remotely, with NASA astronauts, for example, guided done a ngo simulation successful Germany by their teams successful the US.

When afloat functional, the LUNA Analog Facility volition basal arsenic a totem of Europe’s committedness to space, said ESA’s peculiar advisor for governmental affairs, Kai-Uwe Schrogl.

“[LUNA] provides credibility,” Schrogl said. “You tin speech a batch astir going to the satellite and beyond, but if you lone person a fewer rockets oregon a lander connected the drafting board, past you are not truly credible. You request specified a installation to amusement that you are serious.”

Aside from aiding NASA’s Artemis program, Europe has its ain ambition of getting to the satellite by the 2030s. The LUNA Analog Facility is 1 of galore tiny steps to execute that goal.

Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany