State-of-the-art reproduction of Moon’s surface in Europe

What initially looks like a sandy island is actually a pioneering advancement in space technology.

The decade-long initiative to build the Luna facility aims to create a realistic simulation of the Moon’s surface.

Located near the city of Cologne in Germany, the facility will provide astronauts from Europe and around the globe with the opportunity to prepare for their upcoming lunar missions.

The installation, which will soon contain 900 tonnes of lunar dust, is the result of cooperation between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Centre and has no equivalent anywhere in the world.

“This installation is unique because here we find everything we’re going to find on the Moon. We have lunar sand that is really small and fine, and it’s dangerous if you breathe it in, and also dangerous for the equipment,” said Matthias Maurer, ESA astronaut and consultant on the project.

“We also have the lunar rocks, rocks that come from the Earth, but [are] really identical to the rocks we’re going to find on the Moon,” he said.

To recreate this lunar surface, project designers sourced rocks from Norway, Germany, and Italy.

Astronauts will be able to familiarise themselves with the texture, slopes, and crevices of the Moon.

Moon’s gravity will be simulated

By 2026, the facility will include a structure capable of mimicking the Moon’s gravity.

Astronauts will use a rope system to move around as if they were on the lunar surface, with Maurer noting that a person who weighs 60 kg on Earth would weigh just 10 kg on the Moon.

A simulated lunar base will also be attached to the structure so that missions lasting a week or more can be carried out in complete isolation.

The installation also reproduces the special light conditions that astronauts will encounter when they reach the lunar poles.

“On the Moon, there is no atmosphere, so there is a very, very sharp contrast between an intense darkness and intense light. People who have experienced it will tell you that it’s challenging. It’s not something we’re used to,” explains ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

For better equipment

The Luna system is also aimed at manufacturers.

They will be able to test their equipment, such as rovers and spacesuits, and check their resistance to the sand that seeps in everywhere and to extreme conditions. Engineers and astronauts know that every hour saved on the Moon saves millions of euros.

“It’s important because we want things to fail on Earth before they fail on the Moon,” said Juergen Schlutz, who is working on the project.

“We want to test everything here to its extreme so that we know how the things are working, how we distribute also tasks between astronauts, robots and teams on the ground. And we want really the technologies to be tested in real, in realistic environments,” he said.

A delegation from the United States, Japan and Canada have already visited the structure. All the designers of the project, which was launched just over 10 years ago, have a single objective: to give astronauts the feeling that they already have one foot on the Moon.