Lunar I-Hab mock-up all set

The mock-up of Lunar I-Hab, supplied by Liquifer Space Systems to the module’s main contractor Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, has completed its acceptance review and is ready to be used. The mock-up is a full-scale replica of the ESA habitation module and it will help engineers fine-tune the design of the interior of Lunar I-Hab to ensure future astronauts can make their way around the module effectively and safely.

Alongside the construction of the mock-up over the past year, engineers analysed how to improve the module interior using simulated humans. With the mock-up, this analysis is ready to be taken to the next step, using ESA and NASA astronauts with real-life experience on the International Space Station to ensure that the cabin interior is well-designed, from mitigating possible safety hazards to simply ensuring they can reach everything. This phase of testing is called the “human in the loop” campaign, where users give feedback on the interior of the module to adjust its design as required.

Lunar I-Hab’s mock-up currently has a low-fidelity level, meaning that the inside of the cabin is outfitted with mock-ups of equipment which match their shape but do not function like them. As the test campaign progresses, the mock-up will be outfitted with higher fidelity configurations, for example, more detailed representations of objects and even functional crew interfaces. In particular, high-fidelity interfaces will be built to test the connection between the parts of Lunar I-Hab provided by ESA and those provided by JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. This testing campaign will refine the design of the module’s interior ahead of Lunar I-Hab’s critical design review, where the module’s design will be finalised with international partners contributing to the Gateway.

The final tests of Lunar I-Hab will be performed on the flight model that will go to space, which has begun construction at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, together with NASA’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) module; the construction of ESA’s Lunar View module will occur on the same premises. Once manufacturing and testing campaigns of the flight model are completed, Lunar I-Hab will be handed over to NASA ahead of the Artemis IV launch that will bring the module and astronauts in orbit around the Moon, docking the modules together to continue building the Gateway.