In view of the future missions to the Moon and in the framework of the Moon Village vision, the E... more In view of the future missions to the Moon and in the framework of the Moon Village vision, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) are increasingly focused on activities leading from LEO human spaceflight to planetary exploration. A new era of coordinated human and robotic exploration is expected to begin with the construction of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G), which will lead to a return of humans to the lunar surface. In this context, the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) and DLR, co-situated in Cologne, Germany, are preparing themselves for future human exploration by conducting Earth-based analogue and preparatory activities. We focus herein on LUNA a novel lunar analogue facility that is currently under development at the Cologne campus which will complement existing campus analogue facilities such as Environmental Habitat (:envihab) and the Neutral Buoyancy Facility (NBF). LUNA includes an artificial lunar analogue facility that consists of a hall-type structure containing a regolith testbed. A large volume regolith simulant, EAC-1, will be used to recreate facsimile of a lunar terrain, while illumination conditions can be varied to recreate different Moon conditions. Adjacent to the LUNA hall is the habitation module and Future Lunar EXploration Habitat (FLEXHab), hosting up to 4 crewmembers for 1-day missions, and providing direct access to LUNA. It is planned that the FLEXHab will utilize the energy module, a stand-alone power system built around hydrogen technology (fuel cells, electrolyzer, batteries and photovoltaics) for its energy supply. Strong synergies can be built with current analogue facilities at DLR :envihab and the NBF. For example, the DLR :envihab provides an infrastructure in which astronauts can sleep, eat and work under environmentally controlled conditions, even possibly under isolation. Within the LUNA testbed, specific mission scenarios can be simulated for astronaut training, including testing of geological/seismic regolith characterization techniques, In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies, development of mining methods, rock formation mapping and storage, methods of biological and chemical analysis of soil samples, telerobotics, and Extravehicular Activity (EVA) preparation. The LUNA facility will be a flexible, evolvable, and unique exploration enabling asset to address the hurdles posed by future human and robotic exploration. Moreover, external partners such as research centres, universities, and private companies will be welcome to use the facilities and propose their own experiments on a low barrier for entry basis. The full operational capability of LUNA (hall, FLEXHab and energy module) is expected for 2021.
RUBIKS (Reconstruction of Undercrust Behaviour with Interconnected (K)cubesatellites) is a nanosa... more RUBIKS (Reconstruction of Undercrust Behaviour with Interconnected (K)cubesatellites) is a nanosatellite mission proposal dedicated to analysing the Earth’s mantle. With 8 CubeSats (6U) on two Cartwheel-helix orbits, we propose taking magnetic and gravity measurements of the Earth’s interior, in order to gain information on the electrical conductivity and density of the mantle, especially the lower mantle. This mission leads to a better understanding of the composition by allowing for a 3D coupled inversion process and of the dynamics of the mantle through resolving for changes with a high temporal resolution particularly in view of mantle plume origin and evolution with relation to plate tectonics. In order to achieve this, the payload is two magnetometers on a deployable boom (1 m length) and a GNSS receiver on each satellite. The lifetime mission is 3 years for a total cost estimation of 10 M€. 1 Mission Objectives In this mission, we aim to answer several outstanding questions i...
It is of interest for environmental and resource applications to better characterise dynamic proc... more It is of interest for environmental and resource applications to better characterise dynamic processes and properties of the near-surface critical zone of the solid Earth. Seismic wavefield gradiometry refers to a class of imaging techniques that estimate properties of the subsurface by calculating temporal and spatial gradients of incoming wavefields using dense array measurements, usually recorded at the Earth’s surface. One such method called wave equation inversion (WEI) has been shown to require only a few minutes of ambient seismic noise recordings to produce phase velocity maps, and shows promise for rapid field deployment.Previous applications of WEI are based on the assumption that the 2D scalar Helmholtz wave equation adequately describes the dynamics of recorded wavefields. This approximation is severe for seismic waves because the Helmholtz equation fails to describe elastic wave dynamics. Since ambient noise recordings contain all kinds of interfering elastic wave types...
In view of the future missions to the Moon and in the framework of the Moon Village vision, the E... more In view of the future missions to the Moon and in the framework of the Moon Village vision, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) are increasingly focused on activities leading from LEO human spaceflight to planetary exploration. A new era of coordinated human and robotic exploration is expected to begin with the construction of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway (LOP-G), which will lead to a return of humans to the lunar surface. In this context, the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) and DLR, co-situated in Cologne, Germany, are preparing themselves for future human exploration by conducting Earth-based analogue and preparatory activities. We focus herein on LUNA a novel lunar analogue facility that is currently under development at the Cologne campus which will complement existing campus analogue facilities such as Environmental Habitat (:envihab) and the Neutral Buoyancy Facility (NBF). LUNA includes an artificial lunar analogue facility that consists of a hall-type structure containing a regolith testbed. A large volume regolith simulant, EAC-1, will be used to recreate facsimile of a lunar terrain, while illumination conditions can be varied to recreate different Moon conditions. Adjacent to the LUNA hall is the habitation module and Future Lunar EXploration Habitat (FLEXHab), hosting up to 4 crewmembers for 1-day missions, and providing direct access to LUNA. It is planned that the FLEXHab will utilize the energy module, a stand-alone power system built around hydrogen technology (fuel cells, electrolyzer, batteries and photovoltaics) for its energy supply. Strong synergies can be built with current analogue facilities at DLR :envihab and the NBF. For example, the DLR :envihab provides an infrastructure in which astronauts can sleep, eat and work under environmentally controlled conditions, even possibly under isolation. Within the LUNA testbed, specific mission scenarios can be simulated for astronaut training, including testing of geological/seismic regolith characterization techniques, In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies, development of mining methods, rock formation mapping and storage, methods of biological and chemical analysis of soil samples, telerobotics, and Extravehicular Activity (EVA) preparation. The LUNA facility will be a flexible, evolvable, and unique exploration enabling asset to address the hurdles posed by future human and robotic exploration. Moreover, external partners such as research centres, universities, and private companies will be welcome to use the facilities and propose their own experiments on a low barrier for entry basis. The full operational capability of LUNA (hall, FLEXHab and energy module) is expected for 2021.
RUBIKS (Reconstruction of Undercrust Behaviour with Interconnected (K)cubesatellites) is a nanosa... more RUBIKS (Reconstruction of Undercrust Behaviour with Interconnected (K)cubesatellites) is a nanosatellite mission proposal dedicated to analysing the Earth’s mantle. With 8 CubeSats (6U) on two Cartwheel-helix orbits, we propose taking magnetic and gravity measurements of the Earth’s interior, in order to gain information on the electrical conductivity and density of the mantle, especially the lower mantle. This mission leads to a better understanding of the composition by allowing for a 3D coupled inversion process and of the dynamics of the mantle through resolving for changes with a high temporal resolution particularly in view of mantle plume origin and evolution with relation to plate tectonics. In order to achieve this, the payload is two magnetometers on a deployable boom (1 m length) and a GNSS receiver on each satellite. The lifetime mission is 3 years for a total cost estimation of 10 M€. 1 Mission Objectives In this mission, we aim to answer several outstanding questions i...
It is of interest for environmental and resource applications to better characterise dynamic proc... more It is of interest for environmental and resource applications to better characterise dynamic processes and properties of the near-surface critical zone of the solid Earth. Seismic wavefield gradiometry refers to a class of imaging techniques that estimate properties of the subsurface by calculating temporal and spatial gradients of incoming wavefields using dense array measurements, usually recorded at the Earth’s surface. One such method called wave equation inversion (WEI) has been shown to require only a few minutes of ambient seismic noise recordings to produce phase velocity maps, and shows promise for rapid field deployment.Previous applications of WEI are based on the assumption that the 2D scalar Helmholtz wave equation adequately describes the dynamics of recorded wavefields. This approximation is severe for seismic waves because the Helmholtz equation fails to describe elastic wave dynamics. Since ambient noise recordings contain all kinds of interfering elastic wave types...
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Papers by Marthe Faber