ESA introduces 'ground-breaking' LUNA facility to train astronauts for Moon missions

Upping the preparations to return humans to the moon, the European Space Agency (ESA), on Wednesday, introduced the soon-to-be-built LUNA facility. The agency informed that the facility is taking shape in Cologne, Germany and will be used to train the Moon-bound astronauts selected for future lunar missions. According to ESA, the project will be completed in collaboration with the German Aerospace Centre DLR and the facility will be ready for initial operations by 2022.

ESA project manager Juergen Schlutz said, according to ESA’s report, "The ground-breaking is planned for early 2022 at the latest, and we are aiming for LUNA to be ready for initial operations in late summer 2022. (sic)"

Next-gen facility to make astronauts Moon-ready

The basic idea behind the construction of LUNA is to provide astronauts with training in a simulated lunar environment. Besides, scientists would also use the facility to test technologies and gain knowledge before executing the actual mission. LUNA’s concept is something that the scientists were planning since 2015 and now, fast forward six years, the construction planning of the facility is in its final stages. 

Meant to serve as a testbed and research location for different activities, LUNA will be spread across an area of about 1,000 square metres as it will consist of preparatory rooms, lab space and supporting infrastructure. According to the ESA, the facility will contain a 700 square metre regolith testbed in its main hall which will be prepared from a lunar dust simulant called EAC-1. Interestingly, the area will be designed in such a way that the scientists will be able to create a simulated lunar environment including surface conditions and control the lighting based on different locations of the Moon.

A habitation module, named Future Lunar Exploration Habitat (FLEXHab) is also being constructed to represent the future lunar base module. The agency revealed that it is this module, astronauts will live and work on the 'actual Moon' and it will be powered with solar energy systems along with the main hall.

In addition to this, the facility will also support activities such as robotic system simulation, human-machine interactions, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications and research and development for materials, tools and manufacturing, including the handling of lunar dust. 

"At ESA, we can already draw on a lot of experience from astronaut training as well as human and robotic space exploration and, with the help of LUNA and our partner DLR, we aim to transfer this and put Europe on the map of preparations for the Moon and eventually Mars," Juergen said as per ESA.

(Image: @ESA/Twitter)