Ramp test in the underground car park

Rovers that want to explore a crater. Astronauts who need to rehearse the rescue of a colleague on the surface: Being able to set a defined slope in the regolith hall is an important feature for the LUNA facility. What sounds trivial required some discussions, thoughts and conceptual work: The very fine and sharp-edged regolith simulant, which will later be placed in the LUNA hall, makes many technical solutions difficult or even impossible.

Nevertheless, a promising mechanism for an adjustable ramp was ultimately found and a scaled-down prototype was developed. For a realistic test, a swimming pool was set up in the underground garage of the EAC, the small ramp was installed and covered with regolith simulant and then tested extensively. The result: the construction design works well! Another result: the simulant is everywhere – even though it is non-toxic, it still requires considerable effort to handle: Important “data points” for filling the hall on a large scale, which is due to start in early summer this year.