For European astronauts, this place in Germany is the next best thing to the moon

Associated Press

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — It will be years before the European Space Agency can send one of its astronauts to the moon, but the agency says it’s time to start practicing as it opened a facility in Germany that will let astronauts train in conditions like those on the lunar surface. The LUNA facility at the European Astronaut Center near Cologne, Germany is covered with 900 tons of ground-up volcanic rock like that on the moon layered over a surface a bit bigger than a basketball court. Before the opening Wednesday, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst said the facility will offer “most aspects that we will encounter on the moon.”