Parabolic Flight – How does ESA prepare for future lunar and martian missions?

At the shortest, it takes 4 days to reach the Moon from Earth (more in the context of the Artemis missions), and for Mars, we are talking about 6 or 7 months of travel. Before being able to embark on these new exploration missions, it is crucial to be able to gather new knowledge and test equipment in more accessible conditions. For this, a campaign of scientific parabolic flights in lunar and Martian gravity is an ideal training ground. Neil Melville, ESA’s parabolic flight coordinator, presents the experiments that flew on board this campaign in April 2023.