Long-Duration Lunar and Mars Gravity Test Facility at Our Fingertips

*† ‡ Development of reliable and robust breakthrough space exploration technologies and the advancement of existing or new technologies is dependent on proper testing to validate the most promising concepts. The space program has proven countless times in the past halfcentury that testing in the same environment as the people and hardware are going to experience is critical to the success of the program. The International Space Station with the Centrifuge Rotor (CR) provides a unique environment where long-duration testing in lunar and Martian gravity is possible. A long-duration, reduced gravity test facility is crucial to supporting investigation related to fluids, life sciences mechanisms, advanced life support, in situ resource utilization (ISRU), or chemical and biological testing. A host system (Plant Research Unit) has already been through a NASA preliminary design review that is easily modifiable to accommodate this long-duration, variable gravity testing and validation. The large internal volume (2,000 – 3,000 cu in) allows a subpayload to be easily inserted while the experiment enclosure meets the vast majority of the ISS interface requirements. This test facility can significantly reduce the costs and risks inherent to such testing and enable appropriate gravity-relevant verification and validation testing to greatly reduce and mitigate Exploration Mission risk.