Europe just landed its first lunar lander on a fake Moon in Germany to prep for the real thing

Europe has officially just landed its first lunar lander on a fake moon in Germany.

It is part of a wider push by the Europeans to perform their own space exploration.

To that end, Europe has begun investing heavily in its infrastructure.

And the continent’s space program has just placed a lunar lander on a fake moon ahead of the real thing.

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Europe is pushing for solo space exploration

For decades, the European Space Agency (ESA) has been something of a supporting act.

It has often served as a bit of a sidekick to the people at NASA.

That minor, but valued, support role is one that continues to this day.

The ESA, for example, is backing NASA’s push for travel to the Moon under the Artemis program.

It is supporting the mission by providing support components for the Orion spacecraft.

However, Europe is finally dreaming of pursuing its own space exploration mission.

And it is taking big steps – no pun intended – to achieve it.

A big component of the investment is the first-ever European lunar lander.

Argonaut is the chariot in question for ESA

The craft in question is called the Argonaut, in tribute to the mythical Greek sailors.

It has been in the works for more than three years, and looks like it’s close to being complete.

When fully operational, it will be six meters tall and 4.5 meters in diameter.

The overall structure will include the lunar descent module, the payload, and the cargo platform.

Back in February, the ESA made a huge announcement.

It confirmed that the lunar descent module of the Argonaut will be built by a consortium of companies.

These companies will be headed by Italian firm Thales Alenia Space.

The ESA didn’t say how long the testing will take, but it will likely still be some time, as the lander’s first mission, ArgoNET, isn’t scheduled to depart until 2031.

This week, though, the ESA confirmed that some fascinating practice runs had been completed.

The Argonaut lander is already being put through its paces at the 7,534 square-foot (700-square-meter) dedicated Luna facility.

This facility is based near Cologne, Germany, and it replicates the conditions found on the surface of the Moon.

The ESA didn’t offer any specifics on the conditions or what exactly had been tested.

But it would be easy to guess that experiments with light, soil, and conditions were at the heart of the tests.

Could Europe finally put its own mission together to explore space?