If space is an ocean, then the Moon is our nearest island. An island that last saw human visitors in December 1972, when the final Apollo mission returned home.
Posted on Monday October 21st, 2024 by Laura
In the first episode of the new ESA Explores series, "Road to the stars," we chat with ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer about the LUNA facility, Europe's Moon on Earth.
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Posted on Friday October 11th, 2024 by Michaela Krupova
Meet IMPACT, the game that combines science with resource management and city-building elements. Your main goal is to create a lunar base, one building at a time, while contributing to real science research that will help us go back to the Moon. During this decade and the next, humankind will return to the Moon for […]
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Posted on Friday July 19th, 2024 by Laura
Exciting developments are unfolding in Cologne, Germany, where ESA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are establishing a worldwide unique lunar analogue facility – LUNA. This week, the first lunar sandbag tapping —opening the bags to distribute the sand— marked an important step in preparing the hall for future Moon mission testing.
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Posted on Friday June 28th, 2024 by Laura
The team of ESA’s Spaceship EAC initiative revived their LEGO-building skills and 3D-printed the famous bricks from lunar regolith and meteor dust, providing a glimpse into how future construction on the Moon might look.
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Posted on Friday June 14th, 2024 by Laura
Anyone who has tried virtual reality (VR) applications knows about its many possibilities: from immersive video games and 360-degree movies, to virtual museum tours, meetings, or journeys to space – all from the comfort of your home. ESA’s extended reality (XR) lab at the European Astronaut Centre goes one step further and uses virtual, augmented […]
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Posted on Thursday November 30th, 2023 by Marie Deschamps
The structural model of the communications system that ESA is supplying for NASA’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) on the Gateway recently completed a vibrations test to check it will withstand the intense shaking during the launch. The HALO Lunar Communication System (HLCS) is an advanced piece of technology that will enable communication between the […]
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Posted on Thursday August 3rd, 2023 by julien
ESA’s international habitat I-Hab will be connected to NASA’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost HALO. The second ESA Gateway module, the Esprit European Refuelling Module ERM, will be connected to HALO… But how do we ensure that an international lunar outpost such as Gateway connects as it should?
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Posted on Thursday June 15th, 2023 by Laura
Have you ever wondered how researchers test space equipment or conduct experiments in low gravity conditions before going to space? One way to achieve this is through parabolic flights, which offer short periods of reduced gravity. These flights started as a way to train astronauts, but now are mainly used for scientific experiments and testing new technologies.
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