LUNA Analog Facility
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the European Space Agency (ESA) are jointly establishing a fundamental facility for the preparation of future human and robotic missions to the Moon at the Cologne site. With its unique infrastructure and the seamless integration into the campus, LUNA will enable complex simulations for lunar surface activities of astronauts and robotic systems. LUNA will be an important and relevant building block within the international capabilities.
LUNA establishes an internationally distinct and visible competence centre for Moon activities as German-European contribution to the continued exploration of space.
News
Installation of the network and video infrastructure
Our mission? A team from Oberpfaffenhofen – consisting of video engineers Heike and Ilinca and network engineer Uwe – spent a week in Cologne to set up the perfect technology in the Luna Hall and optimise the lunar simulation for future astronaut experiments and training sessions.
From now on: lunar surface!
Over the last few weeks, the main hall of LUNA has been transformed into a real lunar surface. The industrial building has become a dark, dusty environment that can only be entered with protective equipment similar to astronaut suits.
Lava tubes as subsurface shelters against micrometeorites
Lava tubes as subsurface shelters against micrometeorites or habitats with nearly constant temperatures will become an important exploration target. Additionally, they are of scientific relevance as they could host ice deposits and provide access to the underlying bedrock.
Seismic measurements – Round 2
LUNA lay silent for almost 4 days – no trucks delivering regolith simulant, no interior works, no rover tests – just some boxes and sensors in a triangular configuration, and lots of cables. What was going on?
First drive of the rovers in the LUNA hall
ollowing successful outdoor tests in the car park next to the Microgravity User Support Centre (MUSC), the two HiverR rovers have made their first cautious drive-out inside LUNA.
The rovers – developed by NEUROSPACE GmbH (Berlin) – are based on a CubeSat design, have an overall size of 45x35x30cm3 and
First measurements in LUNA hall: Imaging the deep floor area with radar waves
For two days, researchers from the Chair of Radio Frequency and Photonics Engineering at TU Dresden performed ground-penetrating radar (GPR) measurements in the LUNA hall. The group is involved in GPR experiments e.g. on NASA’s Mars rover Perserverance and the rover of the upcoming ESA ExoMars mission (scheduled launch in
