Project MOONWALK, a step further into the future of human space exploration,where humankind pairs with technology to transcend known boundaries

OCTOBER 27th, 2016

MOONWALK will be presented as part of the projects’ Final Review. Events will be held at the DFKI Robotics Innovation Centre in Bremen, Germany and are open to the press and public.

Please join the MOONWALK team for a demonstration of the key concepts and technologies developed during MOONWALK, a 3-year project under the EU 7^th framework programme for Research & Technological Development in the sector of space.

MOONWALK developed innovative technologies for co-operative human-robot space exploration. Operational scenarios were carried out in the third year of the project, at simulation sites in subsea Marseilles, France and in Rio Tinto, Spain in order to test new Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA) suits, research tools, an assistant rover and an innovative Human-Machine Interface (HMI) for human-robot communication.

“Moonwalk prepares humans to explore the surface of the Moon or Mars, together with robots that can assist humans in difficult tasks, dangerous tasks, or repetitive tasks … also (it serves) as an assistant to carry tools, to carry samples. That is why it is interesting through the Moonwalk project to look how astronauts can be helped by rovers.” (Jean-Francois Clervoy, former ESA astronaut, Novespace)

Accomplishments of project MOONWALK

For the first time in the European Union, MOONWALK has demonstrated in an earth analogue:

• Collaboration between astronaut and rover, where rover is operated by gesture control;

• Use of the Galdolfi-2, an EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) simulation spacesuit developed by MOONWALK, suitable for testing in two environments, both on ground and immersed in water;

• An advanced EVA information system suitable for use in underwater partial-gravity simulations;

• Integration of a self-deployable simulation habitat into an analogue test (SHEE- Self-deployable Habitat for Extreme Environments); SHEE was completed in 2015, through an EU-FP 7 grant independent from project MOONWALK, (co-funded by the European Commission under the Space theme of the 7th Framework Programme) and was concluded Dec. 2016. www.shee.eu

A full description of the project will be imparted as well as a demonstration of the technical components and EVA simulation.

Details: MOONWALK Final Review Meeting (full programme)

Date: October 27, 2016

Location: DFKI Robotics Innovation Centre

Robert-Hooke Straße 5

28359 Bremen, Germany

Registration is at 8am. Public events are concluded at 4pm.

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