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Crew training and concept of operations testing for future lunar mission at the ESA-DLR LUNA facility

Casini, Andrea Emanuele Maria and Mittler, Petra and Uhlig, Thomas and Rometsch, Flavie and Schlutz, Jürgen and Ferra, Lionel and Cowley, Aidan and Fischer, Beate (2023) Crew training and concept of operations testing for future lunar mission at the ESA-DLR LUNA facility. 17th International Conference on Space Operations (SpaceOps 2023), 2023-03-06 - 2023-03-10, Dubai, Vereinigte Arabische Emirate.

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Abstract

The space sector is nowadays experiencing profound changes with the advent of a new commercial era expected to be extended to the forthcoming lunar surface missions. In this context, European institutions will eagerly play a fundamental role in this new lunar renaissance in cooperation with other institutional partners such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Artemis program. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the European Space Agency (ESA) are currently working together towards the construction of LUNA, a lunar analogue facility in Cologne, Germany. This facility will bring together experts from the DLR Cologne campus, the European Astronaut Centre (EAC), the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) and from the surrounding European institutions ranging from industries, research institutions, start-ups and universities. The ultimate ambition of LUNA is to offer a platform where to train all future Moon astronauts by providing the capabilities for a full mission simulation on ground under realistic conditions, also enabling the validation of robotic systems and operations. In fact, cooperation between human and robots will be paramount to roll out a new era of lunar surface exploration missions. In this sense, the LUNA facility will be the first and most advanced of its kind for allowing different engineering and operational teams to work together within the same common platform. The worldwide unique selling point for LUNA will be its scale since it will incorporate a regolith testbed area of 700 m2 that will allow for end-to-end testing of lunar Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) and rover traverses, including prospecting activities for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU). Being able to close the gaps between analogue field activities and lab testing is what characterizes the new facility. The main features of LUNA include a gravity offload system, a solar illumination simulator, a dust and gas laboratories, a regenerative energy system, a future crew habitat and the possibility to integrate Virtual (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) tools. All these features are paramount for utilizing LUNA in a campaign mode set up in support of full Artemis mission simulations, also enabling the possibility for infrastructure deployment and operational concept testing for training. As a technology centre, LUNA will also be utilized as a technology platform for the technical maturation of specific hardware to be flown onto the lunar surface.

Item URL in elib:https://elib.dlr.de/195281/
Document Type:Conference or Workshop Item (Speech)
Title:Crew training and concept of operations testing for future lunar mission at the ESA-DLR LUNA facility
Authors:
AuthorsInstitution or Email of AuthorsAuthor's ORCID iDORCID Put Code
Casini, Andrea Emanuele MariaUNSPECIFIEDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-3608-9724UNSPECIFIED
Mittler, PetraUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Uhlig, ThomasUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Rometsch, FlavieUNSPECIFIEDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5827-431XUNSPECIFIED
Schlutz, JürgenEuropean Astronaut Centre (EAC), European Space Agency (ESA), Linder Höhe, D-51147 Cologne, GermanyUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Ferra, LionelEuropean Astronaut Centre (EAC), European Space Agency (ESA), Linder Höhe, D-51147 Cologne, GermanyUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Cowley, AidanEuropean Astronaut Centre (EAC), European Space Agency (ESA), Linder Höhe, D-51147 Cologne, GermanyUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Fischer, BeateUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIEDUNSPECIFIED
Date:9 March 2023
Refereed publication:No
Open Access:No
Gold Open Access:No
In SCOPUS:No
In ISI Web of Science:No
Status:Published
Keywords:Moon, Lunar exploration, Human spaceflight, Lunar science, Lunar operations
Event Title:17th International Conference on Space Operations (SpaceOps 2023)
Event Location:Dubai, Vereinigte Arabische Emirate
Event Type:international Conference
Event Start Date:6 March 2023
Event End Date:10 March 2023
Organizer:Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC)
HGF - Research field:Aeronautics, Space and Transport
HGF - Program:Space
HGF - Program Themes:Research under Space Conditions
DLR - Research area:Raumfahrt
DLR - Program:R FR - Research under Space Conditions
DLR - Research theme (Project):R - FLEXhab miXed Reality (FLEX-XR)
Location: Köln-Porz
Institutes and Institutions:Space Operations and Astronaut Training > Astronaut Training
Deposited By: Casini, Dr.-Ing. Andrea Emanuele Maria
Deposited On:30 May 2023 15:31
Last Modified:24 Apr 2024 20:55

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