Prepare, board, and take off !
What if, this time, the astronaut was you? With LuneXplorer, embark on a mission to the Moon and feel 2Gs of pressure just like the astronauts of ESA – the European Space Agency.
Preparation and briefing
Step 1 : preparation
In the preparation hall, discover and compare the Apollo Moon missions and the new Artemis missions, which are preparing our return to the Moon, in which ESA is involved alongside NASA, the American agency.
Step 2 : the briefing
Get your capsule crew together: four people maximum. Nine other capsules take off at the same time as you. In the briefing room, ESA astronauts:
- Samantha Cristoforetti (Italy)
- Matthias Maurer (Germany)
- And Thomas Pesquet (France)
prepare you for the mission. Then follow the instructions from Claudie Haigneré.
The mission to the moon
It’s time to take off for the Moon!
STEP 3: TAKE YOUR SEAT ON BOARD YOUR CAPSULE
You will feel phases of acceleration and deceleration up to 2Gs, or twice your weight. These phases are comparable to the sensations of an astronaut on a mission.
COMPLETE CONTROL CENTRE MISSIONS
Like an astronaut, you will have to carry out operations during the journey. Be as fast as you can to be as qualified as an astronaut!
Take part in the debriefing
Like any mission, this will be followed by a debriefing based on the parameters of your flight. Also discover the news about the return to the Moon and future projects.
LEAVE WITH YOUR MISSION CERTIFICATE
Complete your Moon mission by downloading your mission data certificate. There you will find your personal flight data and your reaction times. You can also share it on your social networks.
Scan the QR code on the landing screen to get it.
WHO CANNOT PARTICIPATE IN THE EXPERIENCE?
- Children between 1m30 and 1m40 must be accompanied by an adult.
- Anyone measuring less than 1m30
- Anyone who cannot fasten their seat belt
- Guide/assistance dogs
Caution
You may feel a crushing sensation during the experience due to acceleration of 2Gs. You may also feel dizzy if you are not looking straight ahead
FOR WHOM IS THE EXPERIENCE NOT RECOMMENDED?
- People prone to claustrophobia, disorientation, dizziness, sensitive inner-ear and balance-related disturbances in general
- People who are very susceptible to motion sickness
- Pregnant women
- People who have recently had surgery
- People suffering from heart problems, neck and back problems.
Partners
The Moon: an essential destination
The Moon probably formed after a cataclysmic impact 4.5 billion years ago. Our celestial neighbour is therefore a piece of Earth and studying it means understanding our own planet better. Half a century after Apollo, new manned flights to our celestial neighbour are in preparation, particularly those of NASA’s Artemis programme on which the European Space Agency (ESA) is a partner. The Moon is also an essential step for developing new technologies that will have applications on Earth while allowing more ambitious future explorations, including crewed flights to Mars.
Did you know? A centrifuge for training
During a mission, astronauts experience accelerations and decelerations which are measured in Gs. Thus, during take-off on board a rocket, we generally feel 3 to 4 Gs, or three to four times our weight. To train crews on the ground, a centrifuge is used where a pod is placed at the end of a rotating arm in order to simulate G force
