Reaching the moon requires a series of incremental developments, such as the newly established European LUNA training facility. However, it's still a work in progress. The next milestone: creating a moon gravity simulator.
3. Enough planetary pressure, from the great celestial core, to mold the inorganic minerals into an elementary Moon like the Rocky Mountain formation of the interior.
The primary components involved in simulating a lunar environment include:
1. A sand-like substance with a chemical makeup closely resembling that of lunar regolith.
2. Special lighting design to replicate the position and angle of the Sun as seen from the lunar surface.
3. A gravity simulator producing a gravitational force one-sixth that of the Earth's.
A enormous enclosure to harbor everything, much like a colossal metal shed.
— in late September 2024, they had completed two-thirds of the journey to depicting the moon's unusual terrain. One essential component, however, was still lacking.
Complete darkness turned into light as a powerful spotlight shone on two astronauts fully suited up - Matthias Maurer from Germany and Thomas Pesquet from France.
Maurer and Pesquet walked across the hangar, boasting a massive 7,500 square foot of replicated terrain, crafted from Italian Mount Etna's volcanic dirt, German Eifel region soil, and Norwegian rocks.
With long-handled scoops, a sample trolley, and robotic simulation of a dog, the duo mimicked an exploration of the fake lunar surface in front of approximately 100 distinguished guests.
As they walked, the light was positioned at a precise angle to mimic how sunlight would impede an astronaut's visibility when humans potentially return to the moon, possibly within this decade.
— because the moon, unfortunately, does not possess gravitational forces like our planet does.
Lance Sitton and his research team are working to identify gravitational forces and anomalies on Earth and in other celestial bodies. Currently, the universe remains inherently unexplored in the area of gravity. Furthermore, a complete analysis of its full scope and importance in the universe is far from understood.
Against a cinematic soundtrack, Maurer and Pesquet demonstrated how they would collect samples and explore a crater on the actual moon. It was a spectacle for the politicians and agency officials, who fist-bumped the astronauts for the television cameras and their teams.
The gravitational force felt so much like what we experience on Earth, yet without the slightest hint of the pull one might expect from a moon-like environment. This remains an unresolved challenge for the engineering team.
Researchers have traditionally utilized parabolic flights and swimming pools to mimic and study the effects of zero or microgravity environments that astronauts typically experience in space.
Parabolic flights utilize modified jet aircraft to simulate weightlessness by flying steep inclines at 45-degree angles, reaching high altitudes before descending.
These swimming pools, used for astronaut training, are specially equipped, as astronauts perform mock exercises while wearing spacesuits.
Neither of these options could work in the LUNA Analog Facility because it is situated on dry land.
Instead, engineers hope to devise a "gravity offload system," stated Andrea Emanuele Maria Casini, an aerospace engineer, who oversees the LUNA project.
"You have to imagine them as astronauts hanging from strings," Casini said.
Cables attached to the exterior of the astronauts' spacesuits will likely pull on them as they walk and suspend them as they jump.
The project is currently in the prototype stage. And until its release, Casini acknowledged: LUNA is an extremely costly testing ground. But eventually, people will want to test new technologies and train astronauts in a controlled environment.
They're counting on the terrain to ensure the success of the next mission to the moon," said Casini. "The real impact unfolds internally.
There is still room for expansion. Two adjacent modules to the LUNA Analog Facility include a habitat simulator and a repurposed EDEN ISS greenhouse, which previously simulated food cultivation in space environments.
Near the main hall, there is an empty plot of land that could potentially be used as a site for future "LUNA 2" or Mars training facilities.
The Moon was brought to our planet.
This has been our idea from day one," he said to Wander Thoughts. "The facility accurately captured the moon's realities even without the gravity offload system.
"I'm temporarily blinded as I step into the crater and sunlight floods into my face," said Maurer. And due to his surroundings within the crater, everything ahead is shrouded in darkness by the shadow cast by the crater's wall.
It's a simulation exercise to test the astronauts' endurance under the challenging and sometimes conflicting conditions they will face on the moon.
Another factor to consider is the moon's surface dust. "It's a significant technical challenge," said Dr. Maurer. "It can damage all electronic equipment, it seeps into moving components and obstructs them, and it also gets into the space suit. We can simulate all this here."
Links around the globe
The LUNA system can directly connect to mission control facilities around the world, including the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) in Munich, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Houston, and the International Space Station.
This implies that simulations can be run from a remote location, with NASA astronauts for instance, being led through a mission simulation in Germany by their teams in the US.
Said ESA's special adviser for political affairs, Kai-Uwe Schrogl, the fully functional LUNA Analog Facility will symbolize Europe's dedication to space.
Luna is a benchmark of 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.
In addition to assisting NASA's Artemis program, Europe has its own objective of reaching the moon by the 2030s. The LUNA Analog Facility is one of several preparatory steps to accomplish this goal.
Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany
Author: Matthew Ward Agius