International Lunar Exploration Working Group

Last updated

The International Lunar Exploration Working Group(ILEWG) is a public forum sponsored by the world's space agencies to support "international cooperation towards a world strategy for the exploration and utilization of the Moon - our natural satellite" (International Lunar Workshop, Beatenberg (CH), June 1994). [1] [2]

Contents

ILEWG was founded by several space agencies: Australian Space Agency (ASA), Italian Space Agency (ASI), British BNSC, French CNES, German Aerospace Center, ESA, ISAS, NASA, Japanese NASDA, Roskosmos. [3]

Operations and conferences

ILEWG has been organising since 1994 the ICEUM International Conferences on Exploration & Utilisation of the Moon [4] with published proceedings, [5] and where community declarations have been prepared and endorsed by community participants. ILEWG has co-organised and co-sponsored lunar sessions at EGU, COSPAR, EPSC.

The 8th gathering was held on July 23–27, 2006, in Beijing, China, and agreed on the new Lunar Beijing Declaration. [1]

Members

ILEWG Executive Director:  Prof. Bernard Foing (ILEWG Past-President, 1998 - 2000)

ILEWG Vice-presidents: Prof. Tai Sik Lee (2016 - current), Prof. Jacques Blamont (2010 - 2016), Dr. Simonetta di Pippo (2006 – 2008), Dr Robert Richards (2005 - 2007)

ILEWG Past-Presidents : Dr. Michael Wargo (2008 - 2010), Prof. Wu Ji (2006 - 2008), Prof. Narendra Bhandari (2004 - 2006), Prof Carle Pieters (2002 – 2004), Prof Mike Duke (2000-2002), Prof Bernard Foing (1998 – 2000), Acad. Erik Galimov (1996 – 1998), Dr Hitoshi Mizutani

Roadmap

The roadmap or timeline envisaged includes a 15-year period of robotic operations before crewed missions. [3] :9 Robots would pilot in-situ resource utilisation and construct habitation for later crew.

EuroMoonMars

As part of research efforts towards the colonization of Moon and eventually, the colonization of Mars, ILEWG founded the EuroMoonMars initiative, which comprises field campaigns in Moon-Mars analogue environments. [6]

The EuroMoonMars field campaigns have been organised in specific locations of technical, scientific and exploration interest. The campaigns started with EuroGeoMars2009 (Utah MDRS, 24 Jan-1 Mar 2009) with ILEWG, ESA ESTEC, NASA Ames, VU Amsterdam and GWU. [7]

EMMIHS Campaigns

Currently, ILEWG is collaborating with the International Moonbase Alliance (IMA) [8] and the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) on a series of EuroMoonMars, IMA and HI-SEAS (EMMIHS) campaigns, at the HI-SEAS analogue facilities in Hawaii. [9]

The Hawaii - Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) habitat is located at 8,200’ (2,500 meters) in elevation and IMA's founder, Henk Rogers, is its owner. [10] As of 2018, IMA, an organization dedicated to building sustainable settlements on the Moon, has been organising regular simulated missions to the Moon, Mars or other planetary bodies at HI-SEAS. Dr. Michaela Musilova is the Director of HI-SEAS [11] and she also takes part in missions as a Crew Commander, Flights Director or CAPCOM.

The EuroMoonMars campaigns consist of research activities for data analysis, instruments tests and development, field tests in Moon-Mars analogues, pilot projects, training and hands-on workshops and outreach activities. [12] [13]

EMM IgLuna 2019 Campaign

IgLuna is the first ESA Lab inter-University demonstrator project, [14] and is hosted by the Swiss Space Centre (SSC) [15] with the vision to create an analogue habitat inside lunar ice caps. The campaigns were held from 17 to 30 June 2019 and involved 18 student teams from 9 countries across Europe. The students developed modular demonstrators and tested them during a field test conducted inside the moon-like extreme environment of the Glacier Palace inside the Matterhorn glacier.

EuroMoonMars Field Campaigns [16]
YearCampaignNotes
2009EuroMoonMars-EifelCollaboration between ILEWG, ESA ESTEC, VU Amsterdam, Austrian Space Forum OEWF, GWU, Ecole de l’Air
2010EuroMoonMars-DOMMEXCollaboration between ILEWG, ESA ESTEC, NASA Ames, VU Amsterdam, GWU, Ecole de l’Air, FloridaTec, UCL Louvain
2010EuroMoonMars SALMLa Réunion Island
2011EuroMoonMars2011 (MDRS)First EMM-MDRS mission
2012EuroMoonMars2012 (MDRS)Crew: Stoker, Battler, v’t Houd, Bruneau, Cross, Maivald, Svendsen, Oltheten, Nebergall, Orgel

Support: Foing, Ehrenfreund, Elsaesser, Rammos, Rodrigues, Direito, Roling

2017LunAres (Poland)Crew: PMAS SGAC

Support @ESTEC/Mission control: Foing, Lillo, Authier, Blanc et al.

2018EMM-Iceland scouting campaignCrew: Foing, Heemskerk, Sitnikova et al.

Support: 4th Planet Logistics

2018EMMIHS-0 (scouting campaign)Crew: Rogers H&A, Foing, Wilhite, Machida

Support: BluePlanet: Ponthieux, Cox et al.

2019EMMIHS-ICrew: Musilova, Sirikan, Mulder, Weert, Burstein, Pothier

Support: BluePlanet: Foing, Ponthieux, Cox, Rogers

2019EMM-IgLuna campaignIgLuna SSC support: Benavides, EuroMoonMars VUA/ILEWG

Crew: de Winter, Heemskerk, Albers, Clement, Bois, Daeter, Vaessen, Glukhova, Sitnikova, Dimova, Wanske, van der Sanden, Foing

Support: Kruijver, Dingemans, Beentjes, Korthouwer, Moritz, Grosjean et al.

2019EMMIHS-IICrew: Musilova, Kerber, Castro, Wanske, Pouwels, d’Angelo

Support: BluePlanet: Cox et al., support@ESTEC/VUA: Ageli, Foing, Heemskerk, Beniest, Sitnikova, Preusterink

2020EMMIHS-IIICrew: Musilova M., Brasileiro L., Edison K., Heemskerk M&R, Rajkakati P.

Support: BluePlanet & ESTEC/VUA

2020EMMIHS-IVCrew: to be confirmed

Support: BluePlanet & ESTEC/VUA

2021CHILL-ICECrew I: Kerber, Elwertowska, Poli

Crew II: Cardinaux, Smith, Christianen

Mission Control: Pouwels, Heemskerk, Kerber, Weert, Downes

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space colonization</span> Concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth

Space colonization is the use of outer space or celestial bodies other than Earth for permanent habitation or as extraterrestrial territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vision for Space Exploration</span> 2004 US human space exploration plan

The Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) was a plan for space exploration announced on January 14, 2004 by President George W. Bush. It was conceived as a response to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the state of human spaceflight at NASA, and as a way to regain public enthusiasm for space exploration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station</span> Simulated Mars habitat on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada

The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) is the first of two simulated Mars habitats located on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada, which is owned and operated by the Mars Society. The station is a member of the European Union-INTERACT circumarctic network of currently 89 terrestrial field bases located in northern Europe, Russia, US, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Scotland as well as stations in northern alpine areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moonbase</span> Long-term human settlement on the Moon

A moonbase is a facility on or below the surface of the Moon, enabling human activity on the Moon. As such, it is different from a lunar space station in orbit around the Moon, like the planned Lunar Gateway of the Artemis program. Moonbases can be for robotic or human use, in both cases not necessarily including lunar habitation facilities. A base might be a step towards colonization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Foing</span>

Bernard Foing is a French scientist at the European Space Agency (ESA), Executive Director of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG) and was Principal Project Scientist for SMART-1, the first European mission to the Moon. He is also a research professor at the VU Amsterdam and at Florida Tech.

Interplanetary contamination refers to biological contamination of a planetary body by a space probe or spacecraft, either deliberate or unintentional.

Human analog missions are activities undertaken on Earth in various environments to simulate aspects of human missions to other worlds, including the Moon, asteroids, and Mars. These remote field tests are performed in locations that are identified based on their physical similarities to the extreme space environments of a target mission. Such activities are undertaken to test hardware and operational concepts in relevant environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Pletser</span>

Vladimir Pletser is Visiting Professor – Scientific Adviser at the Technology and Engineering Centre for Space Utilization (CSU) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, since April 2016. He supports the preparation of scientific experiments in microgravity for the future Chinese Space Station and for aircraft parabolic flights. He worked previously from 1985 till early 2016 as senior Physicist-Engineer at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) of ESA.

Terrestrial analogue sites are places on Earth with assumed past or present geological, environmental or biological conditions of a celestial body such as the Moon or Mars. Analogue sites are used in the frame of space exploration to either study geological or biological processes observed on other planets, or to prepare astronauts for surface extra-vehicular activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Southwood</span>

David John Southwood is a British space scientist who holds the post of Senior Research Investigator at Imperial College London. He was the President of the Royal Astronomical Society from 2012–2014, and earlier served as the Director of Science and Robotic Exploration at the European Space Agency (2001–2011). Southwood's research interests have been in solar–terrestrial physics and planetary science, particularly magnetospheres. He built the magnetic field instrument for the Cassini Saturn orbiter.

Yajaira Sierra-Sastre is a Puerto Rican materials scientist, educator, and aspiring astronaut. She was part of a six-person crew, and the only Hispanic, selected to participate in a four-month-long, Mars analog mission funded by NASA. Sierra-Sastre aspires to become the first Puerto Rican woman to travel to outer space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HI-SEAS</span> Analog habitat for human spaceflight to Mars

A Mars analog habitat is one of several historical, existing or proposed research stations designed to simulate the physical and psychological environment of a Martian exploration mission. These habitats are used to study the equipment and techniques that will be used to analyze the surface of Mars during a future crewed mission, and the simulated isolation of the volunteer inhabitants allows scientists to study the medical and psychosocial effects of long-term space missions. They are often constructed in support of extensive Mars analogs. However, sometimes existing natural places are also valued as Mars analogs. Crewed Mars habitats are featured in most human Mars missions; an alternative may be terraforming or telepresence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flyby (spaceflight)</span> Flight event at some distance from the object

A flyby is a spaceflight operation in which a spacecraft passes in proximity to another body, usually a target of its space exploration mission and/or a source of a gravity assist to impel it towards another target. Spacecraft which are specifically designed for this purpose are known as flyby spacecraft, although the term has also been used in regard to asteroid flybys of Earth for example. Important parameters are the time and distance of closest approach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation</span>

The Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO) is a non-governmental, nonprofit, science organisation, based in Cyprus, with a global scope of service and activities. Its main functions are research and development, space advocacy, and international cooperation in the field of space exploration, astronautics and astronomy. Education and outreach are also an important part of its mission as International Astronomy Education Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swamp Works</span> Cutting-edge research laboratory at Kennedy Space Center, FL, US (founded 2012)

The Swamp Works is a lean-development, rapid innovation environment at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It was founded in 2012, when four laboratories in the Surface Systems Office were merged into an enlarged facility with a modified philosophy for rapid technology development. Those laboratories are the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations Lab, the Electrostatics and Surface Physics Lab, the Applied Chemistry Lab, and the Life Support and Habitation Systems (LSHS) team. The first two of these are located inside the main Swamp Works building, while the other two use the facility although their primary work is located elsewhere. The team developed the Swamp Works operating philosophy from Kelly Johnson's Skunk Works, including the "14 Rules of Management", from the NASA development shops of Wernher von Braun, and from the innovation culture of Silicon Valley. The team prototypes space technologies rapidly to learn early in the process how to write better requirements, enabling them to build better products, rapidly, and at reduced cost. It was named the Swamp Works for similarity with the Skunk Works and the Phantom Works, but branded by the widespread marshes (swamps) on the Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island property of the Kennedy Space Center. The Swamp Works was co-founded by NASA engineers and scientists Jack Fox, Rob Mueller, and Philip Metzger. The logo, a robotic alligator, was designed by Rosie Mueller, a professional designer and the spouse of Rob Mueller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artemis program</span> NASA-led lunar exploration program

The Artemis program is a robotic and human Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) along with six major partner agencies— the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Israel Space Agency (ISA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The Artemis program is intended to reestablish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The main parts of the program are the Space Launch System (SLS), the Orion spacecraft, the Lunar Gateway space station, and the commercial Human Landing Systems. The program's long-term goal is to establish a permanent base on the Moon to facilitate the feasibility of human missions to Mars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunar resources</span> Potential natural resources on the Moon

The Moon bears substantial natural resources which could be exploited in the future. Potential lunar resources may encompass processable materials such as volatiles and minerals, along with geologic structures such as lava tubes that, together, might enable lunar habitation. The use of resources on the Moon may provide a means of reducing the cost and risk of lunar exploration and beyond.

HERACLES is a planned robotic transport system to and from the Moon by Europe (ESA), Japan (JAXA) and Canada (CSA) that will feature a lander called the European Large Logistic Lander, a Lunar Ascent Element, and a rover. The lander can be configured for different operations such as up to 1.5 tons of cargo delivery, sample-returns, or prospecting resources found on the Moon.

References

  1. 1 2 July 2006, Leonard David 31 (31 July 2006). "Multi-Nation Moon Collaboration Backed". Space.com. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  2. INTERNATIONAL LUNAR EXPLORATION WORKING GROUP (ILEWG)
  3. 1 2 Global Robotic Village & International Lunar Bases Nov 2009
  4. David 2004-12-01T11:55:00Z, Leonard (December 2004). "Lunar Robotic Village, Moon Base Gains International Support". Space.com. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  5. "NASA/ADS". ui.adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
  6. Foing, B. H.; EuroMoonMars 2018-2019 Team (2019). "EuroMoonmars Instruments, Research, Field Campaigns, and activities 2017-2019" (PDF). 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2019 (2132): 3090. Bibcode:2019LPI....50.3090F.
  7. Boche-Sauvan, L.; Pletser, V.; Foing, B. H.; Team, Eurogeomars (2009). "Human Aspects and Habitat Studies from EuroGeoMars Campaign". EGUGA: 13323. Bibcode:2009EGUGA..1113323B.
  8. "ILEWG". International MoonBase Alliance. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  9. "Emmihs-esa". emmihs-esa.webnode.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  10. "Henk Rogers". International MoonBase Alliance. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  11. "Mission Commander Talks Latest Research at HI-SEAS Habitat | PISCES Hawaii" . Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  12. "EMM IMA HI-SEAS campaign February 2019" (PDF).
  13. Foing, Bernard H. (2018). "Experimental Training and Capacity Building: EuroMoonMars Workshops and Field Simulations 2016-2018". Cosp. 42: PCB.1–6–18-6. Bibcode:2018cosp...42E1085F.
  14. Benavides, Tatiana; Heemskerk, Marc; Foing, Bernard; De Winter, Bram (2019). "IGLUNA - Habitat in Ice: An ESA_Lab project hosted by the SSC". EGUGA: 17807. Bibcode:2019EGUGA..2117807B.
  15. "IGLUNA - a space habitat". Swiss Space Center. Retrieved 2020-01-01.
  16. "EuroMoonMars Extreme Field Analogue Campaigns". cosmos.esa.int.