ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer walks across the dusty terrain of LUNA, Europe’s Moon on Earth. Nearby, ESA’s Argonaut lander mock-up stands ready as he carefully navigates the simulated regolith – the dust, soil and rock on the Moon’s surface. Alongside a fellow operator, he rehearses a moonwalk under the harsh glare of Sun simulators that mimic lunar lighting to test scientific tools designed to analyse lunar soil and rock.
ESA’s robotic explorers, Interact and Spot, join the scene. Spot, the agile robot dog, picks up a sample while Interact, a wheeled robotic arm, supports this rehearsal of autonomous operations. Developed at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre, these robots demonstrate the potential of human-robot collaboration for future lunar and planetary missions.
Outside the facility, the FLEXHab module stands as a future lunar habitat analogue. It enables studies on the ergonomics of living and working in confined environments, dust mitigation and tool maintenance – critical for long-duration surface missions.
LUNA is located near Cologne, Germany and is operated jointly by ESA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The facility is a cornerstone of Europe’s contribution to international lunar exploration, supporting astronauts, scientists and engineers in preparing for missions such as NASA’s Artemis programme.