New Space and Tech

Trial Runs on Earth — Getting Ready for the Moon

By Leonard David
SpaceRef
August 28, 2023
Filed under ,
Trial Runs on Earth — Getting Ready for the Moon
Technician at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) engages in a remote construction experiment for utilizing water resources on the Moon.
Image credit: JAXA/Sagamihara Campus.

Eventually, space agencies will need to hurl to the Moon the mandatory hardware for astronauts to survive, thrive, and work in the ruthless lunar environment. But before they do so, how do they certify that critical technology will work once it arrives?

Moon crews will be on their own, far from any repair shops or prompt 911 emergency response actions from Earth. What does it take to have, in a sense, “UL-approved” equipment – that is, Unified Luna machinery?

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Leonard David

Leonard is author of Moon Rush: The New Space Race, Mars – Our Future on the Red Planet, and co-authored with Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin of Mission to Mars – My Vision for Space Exploration - all published by the National Geographic Society.