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A new test facility at the European Astronaut Training Center will test new technologies and materials.
Interest in the Moon has increased significantly in recent years. NASA's latest spacecraft, Apollo 17, visited the moon in December 1972. Thus, there are only 12 men in the air who have walked to the surface.
But now everyone wants to return to the moon – or in a circle around it; the Americans (NASA and SpaceX of Elon Musk), the Russians, the Chinese and, of course, the ESA of the European Space Agency.
Assignments are entered in the calendar with adjustable years. For example, the service module developed in Europe for NASA's SLS program with the Orion space capsule – which will bring astronauts to the moon and further into space – was sent Monday from Germany. .
As part of the preparations, ESA and two partners will now also build their own test facility, Luna, in the Astronaut Training Center in Cologne, Germany, ESA explains.
Energy system and moon dust
It is planned that the 1,000 square meters will replenish the surface of the Moon to allow ESA and suppliers to test technology and materials in an environment reminiscent of the Moon.
Among other things, Luna has its own lunar base with an energy system equivalent to what one expects to spend on the moon.
It is based on solar energy, which must be used directly for heating and electricity, as well as for cleaving water into hydrogen and oxygen. Both components must then be stored separately until they are reconnected in a fuel cell, which allows access to energy during the 14-day night of the Moon. .
They detected an appropriate "moon dust" – volcanic eruptions 45 million years ago – in the volcanic region of Eifel, near the factory.
They will also use this dust in the design of Moonbase, the future lunar exploration habitat (FlexHab), which aims to keep astronauts inside.
Luna is a collaboration between ESA, the Romanian Romanian organization DLR and Air Liquide Advanced Technologies.
The article continues under the image.
Andreas Mogensen: Maybe the moon landing will take place in 15 years
Danish astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, told Ingeniøren that astronauts were not supposed to be training on the Moon's test site yet.
"In the near future, our goal is to build Gateway (a smaller space station) in circuits around the moon, so it will take at least 15 years to land on the moon again. is my guess, although I hope I'm wrong and we'll get there sooner than that, there is still no concrete project to build a Moonlander, "writes Andreas Mogensen to Ingeniøren.
The article was first published on ing.dk
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