The “Moon Village & Exploration Analogues” Project provides a forum for identifying and coordinating activities related to terrestrial analogues for the Moon Village. It also addresses the associated topic of the use of the Moon as an analogue/testbed for future exploration of Mars and other destinations; it works with all of the various MV working groups discussed.
Leader(s)
Koorosh Araghi, Robert Mueller
The United Nations established International Moon Day (IMD) as an annual educational, cultural, and scientific event to be observed every year on 20 July. IMD aims to raise public awareness and foster support for sustainable Moon exploration and utilization. The day promotes events worldwide, including panel discussions, lectures, webinars, concerts, exhibits, and educational video screenings.
Since 2021, the Moon Village Association (MVA) Analogue Working Group has been organizing an annual tele-robotics event as part of International Moon Day celebrations. Using planetary rover prototypes, the tele-robotics event facilitates international collaboration by enabling participants to tele-operate rovers from multiple sites around the globe. These events serve as a practical demonstration of the MVA’s commitment to fostering cooperation and advancing capacity building in space-developing countries while engaging the public through tangible and inspiring activities.
The MVA Analogue Working Group also provides a platform to coordinate activities related to terrestrial analogues for the Moon Village, addressing the use of the Moon as a testbed for future Mars exploration and beyond. Through these tele-robotics demonstrations, which feature cutting-edge rover prototypes, the Working Group inspires students worldwide and advances research in human-machine interaction. This initiative underscores the MVA’s leadership in promoting international collaboration and innovation in space exploration.
Operating on the surface of other extra-terrestrial bodies (Moon, Mars, Venus, asteroids, Icy Moons etc.) will require advanced technologies for both humans and robots who will interact with each other in space. These technologies do not currently exist, but are under development and must be tested to ensure a high level of performance and reliability.
While testing in-situ on these extra-terrestrial bodies via the use of pre-cursor space missions is ideal, it is also cost prohibitive, risky and slow. One way of mitigating these issues is to test at a terrestrial analogue site that has conditions that approximate the space destination in terms of terrain and extreme environments. While vacuum, reduced gravity and other unique high fidelity environmental conditions are not available on Earth, the operations and systems integration aspects of testing in these extreme environments are highly beneficial to the end goals of human and robotic space exploration and scientific endeavors.
A space surface analogue test site is a location on Earth that is used to simulate the conditions of extra-terrestrial surfaces in order to test and develop technologies, equipment, and procedures for use in space exploration. These sites are designed to mimic various aspects of the space environment, in order to study the effects of these conditions on humans, equipment, and materials. An analogue test site is not inside a laboratory facility.
Examples of space analogue test sites include the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, the Haughton Mars Project on Devon Island in Canada, which simulate the conditions on Mars, and the Aquarius Reef Base off the coast of Florida, which simulates the isolation and confinement of a deep space mission. Such sites are used by researchers, engineers, and astronauts to test equipment and procedures, as well as to conduct scientific studies and prepare for future space missions.
In addition, these technologies and operations must be demonstrated and proven through their intended life cycle . Ideally the demonstrations will take place in a disciplined way in an appropriate and secure environment called a “Proving Ground”. A Proving Ground is a facility or location that is designed for testing and evaluating new technologies, equipment, and systems under realistic conditions. It is typically used for military, aerospace, and automotive testing, as well as other industries that require rigorous testing and evaluation.
Proving grounds are used to simulate real-world conditions that cannot be easily replicated in a laboratory environment. They allow engineers and scientists to test and evaluate new technologies and equipment under controlled conditions, with the goal of improving performance, reliability, and safety. Typically proving grounds have more infrastructure and permanent facilities that analogue test sites.
Analogue Proving Grounds and Test Sites are available across the globe, and are growing each year as the space industry evolves. However, it is difficult to find information about these capabilities and the relevant points of contact.
In order to facilitate the interaction between providers and customers, the Moon Village Association (MVA) analogues Working Group is conducting a survey of all existing Analogue Proving Grounds and Test Sites across our planet with the goal of publishing a catalog of Analogue Proving Grounds and Test Sites. The survey depends on an army of international MVA volunteers who are collecting relevant information and formatting it into templates that will be published on the MVA web site for public access, as a service for improved Exploration Analogues accessibility.
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