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ESA astronauts take to helicopters for Moon landing training [theregister.com]:

European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts have completed a helicopter training course to prepare them for upcoming lunar landings.

The astronauts in question include Alexander Gerst, Matthias Maurer, Samantha Cristoforetti, and Thomas Pesquet.

The course consisted of one week of simulator instruction followed by two weeks of practical flying in Airbus EC135 helicopters. ESA said: "Helicopter training offers a realistic analogue for the dynamics of planetary landings, requiring capabilities such as vertical take-off and landing, terrain-based decision-making, and high levels of coordination and situational awareness."

The Apollo astronauts also honed their Moon landing skills using helicopters, although with occasional catastrophic consequences. On January 23, 1971, the Bell 47G helicopter flown by Apollo 14 backup commander Gene Cernan crashed into the Indian River lagoon near Malabar, Florida. An accident investigation board, headed by Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, pinned much of the blame on Cernan. He'd found the altitude difficult to judge when skimming the surface of the water and accidentally ditched the helicopter. The incident didn't stop Cernan from being the last person on the Moon on the Apollo 17 mission.

A better real-world simulator was the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle (LLTV), which featured a vertically mounted turbofan engine capable of lifting the machine – nicknamed "the flying bedstead" – to simulate the reduced lunar gravity. Astronauts spoke highly of it. Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong called it a "most valuable training experience." He was almost killed by its predecessor, the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV), in 1968.

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Cernan said: "Although there is nothing quite like the real thing, flying the LLTV had been a step toward realism from 'flying' the stationary simulators.

"In the LLTV you had your butt strapped to a machine that you had to land safely or you didn't make it."

ESA has yet to strap its astronauts into something as potentially hazardous as the LLTV. However, the helicopter raises some interesting questions – what does ESA expect its astronauts to use for a lunar landing?

Landing the towering Starship manually would be a challenge, while the other Human Landing System (HLS) contender from Blue Origin won't be ready until Artemis V [nasa.gov].

Andreas Mogensen, ESA’s Human Exploration Group Leader, told The Register:

The helicopter training is an introductory course that will give ESA astronauts the skills and knowledge to participate in advanced helicopter courses, like NASA’s HAATS, which is a requirement for participating in Artemis lunar landing missions.

The purpose of HAATS and similar courses is to train astronauts in vertical landing profiles and to recognize the visual and optical illusions that can arise from a visual environment characterized by mono-colours and stark shadows. Helicopter pilots are well-aware of these illusions, especially when flying in snow and mountain environments. The goal is thus to equip astronauts with the skills to visually monitor the descent and judge obstacles and risks, regardless of the actual vehicle used to land on the moon. ®

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