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By NASA
3 Min Read NASA Engineers Simulate Lunar Lighting for Artemis III Moon Landing
Better understanding the lunar lighting environment will help NASA prepare astronauts for the harsh environment Artemis III Moonwalkers will experience on their mission. NASA’s Artemis III mission will build on earlier test flights and add new capabilities with the human landing system and advanced spacesuits to send the first astronauts to explore the lunar South Pole and prepare humanity to go to Mars.
Using high-intensity lighting and low-fidelity mock-ups of a lunar lander, lunar surface, and lunar rocks, NASA engineers are simulating the Moon’s environment at the Flat Floor Facility to study and experience the extreme lighting condition. The facility is located at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
NASA engineers inside the Flat Floor Facility at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, mimic lander inspection and assessment tasks future Artemis astronauts may do during Artemis III. Lights are positioned at a low angle to replicate the strong shadows that are cast across the lunar South Pole. NASA/Charles Beason “The goal is really to understand how shadows will affect lander visual inspection and assessment efforts throughout a future crewed mission,” said Emma Jaynes, test engineer at the facility. “Because the Flat Floor Facility is similar to an inverted air hockey table, NASA and our industry partners can rearrange large, heavy structures with ease – and inspect the shadows’ effects from multiple angles, helping to ensure mission success and astronaut safety for Artemis III.”
Data and analysis from testing at NASA are improving models Artemis astronauts will use in preparation for lander and surface operations on the Moon during Artemis III. The testing also is helping cross-agency teams evaluate various tools astronauts may use.
The 86-foot-long by 44-foot-wide facility at NASA is one of the largest, flattest, and most stable air-bearing floors in the world, allowing objects to move across the floor without friction on a cushion of air.
Test teams use large, 12-kilowatt and 6-kilowatt lights to replicate the low-angle, high contrast conditions of the lunar South Pole. Large swaths of fabric are placed on top of the epoxy floor to imitate the reflective properties of lunar regolith. All the mock-ups are placed on air bearings, allowing engineers to easily move and situate structures on the floor.
The Flat Floor Facility is an air-bearing floor, providing full-scale simulation capabilities for lunar surface systems by simulating zero gravity in two dimensions. Wearing low-fidelity materials, test engineers can understand how the extreme lighting of the Moon’s South Pole could affect surface operations during Artemis III. NASA/Charles Beason “The Sun is at a permanent low angle at the South Pole of the Moon, meaning astronauts will experience high contrasts between the lit and shadowed regions,” Jaynes said. “The color white can become blinding in direct sunlight, while the shadows behind a rock could stretch for feet and ones behind a lander could extend for miles.”
The laboratory is large enough for people to walk around and experience this phenomenon with the naked eye, adding insight to what NASA calls ‘human in-the-loop testing.
NASA is working with SpaceX to develop the company’s Starship Human Landing System to safely send Artemis astronauts to the Moon’s surface and back to lunar orbit for Artemis III.
Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars – for the benefit of all.
For more information about Artemis missions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
News Media Contact
Corinne Beckinger
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256.544.0034
corinne.m.beckinger@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Jun 17, 2025 EditorLee MohonContactCorinne M. Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
Human Landing System Program Artemis Artemis 3 General Humans in Space Marshall Space Flight Center Explore More
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By European Space Agency
Today, the European Space Agency’s Proba-3 mission unveils its first images of the Sun’s outer atmosphere – the solar corona. The mission’s two satellites, able to fly as a single spacecraft thanks to a suite of onboard positioning technologies, have succeeded in creating their first ‘artificial total solar eclipse’ in orbit. The resulting coronal images demonstrate the potential of formation flying technologies, while delivering invaluable scientific data that will improve our understanding of the Sun and its enigmatic atmosphere.
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By European Space Agency
Video: 00:01:40 Proba-3 artificially created what is normally a rare natural phenomenon: a total solar eclipse.
In a world first, ESA’s Proba-3 satellites flew in perfect formation, blocking the Sun’s bright disc to reveal its fiery corona. This enigmatic outer layer burns millions of degrees hotter than the Sun’s surface and drives the solar storms that can disrupt life on Earth.
With its first artificial eclipse, Proba-3 has captured detailed images of this mysterious region, offering scientists new insights into our star’s behaviour.
Read the full story here.
Access the related broadcast qality footage.
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By NASA
NASA/Kevin O’Brien NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) solid rocket boosters are the largest, most powerful solid propellant boosters to ever fly. Standing 17 stories tall and burning approximately six tons of propellant every second, each booster generates 3.6 million pounds of a thrust for a total of 7.2 million pounds: more thrust than 14 four-engine jumbo commercial airliners. Together, the SLS twin boosters provide more than 75 percent of the total thrust at launch. Each booster houses eight booster separation motors which are responsible for separating the boosters from the core stage during flight.
At the top of each booster is the frustum—a truncated cone-shaped structure that, along with the nose cone, forms the aerodynamic fairing. This frustum houses four of the separation motors, while the remaining four are located at the bottom within the aft skirt.
Image Credit: NASA/Kevin O’Brien
For more information on the Artemis Campaign, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/artemis/
News Media Contact
Jonathan Deal
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
jonathan.e.deal@nasa.gov
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By European Space Agency
Thanks to its newly tilted orbit around the Sun, the European Space Agency-led Solar Orbiter spacecraft is the first to image the Sun’s poles from outside the ecliptic plane. Solar Orbiter’s unique viewing angle will change our understanding of the Sun’s magnetic field, the solar cycle and the workings of space weather.
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