LUNA infographics.

LUNA recreates the Moon's surface on Earth next to ESA’s Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany.

Luna combines a 1000 m2 area of simulated lunar soil with a Moon habitat, powered by an innovative energy system, representative of what could be used for a lunar base.

Theiscollaborative project between ESA and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) will provide a training ground for astronauts and a test centre for technology, equipping partners and users with the knowledge to go forward to the Moon.

LUNA’s main hall contains a 700 m² regolith testbed, made from a lunar dust simulant called EAC-1, and outfitted with controllable illumination to allow surface conditions and experiments to be replicated reliably.

LUNA will allow for the simulation of lighting conditions across a lunar day-night cycle as well as for different lunar surface locations, initially focusing on polar areas’ characteristics. Further preparatory rooms, lab space and supporting infrastructure will bring the full facility area to about 1000 m²

An adjacent habitation module, known as Future Lunar Exploration Habitat (FLEXHab), will represent what could be a lunar base module where astronauts will live and work. Both FLEXHab and the main hall will be powered by solar energy systems, that will be combined with innovative fuel cell technologies for the operation of FLEXHab.