Volcanic terrain on the Big Island, where Apollo astronauts once trained for moon missions, will again be the testing ground for lunar explorations.

Next month, researchers and engineers from NASA and at least two other countries will gather on the lower slopes of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea to test robotic instruments that may be sent to the moon.

No other sites in the world are better than Hawaii “;to provide terrain and soil as close to that on the moon as we can get,”; said Robert Fox, the physics and astronomy department chairman at the University of Hawaii Hilo.

Fox is also co-director of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems, a UH-Hilo center, which is hosting the field tests Nov. 1-13.

PISCES is dedicated to development of technologies needed “;to sustain life on the moon and beyond,”; Fox said. It was conceived by the Japan-U.S. Science, Technology and Space Applications Program and funded last year by the Legislature through the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

“;PISCES is a hybrid research, education, public outreach and public service center,”; Fox said in an interview. All those goals are involved in the upcoming lunar robot tests, he said. A simulated lunar outpost is planned eventually on the Saddle Road between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.

A robot called Scarab (Selectively Compliant Articulated Robot Arm Rover) designed by Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute for lunar prospecting will be one of about three tested, Fox said.

Scarab, a four-wheeled robot, was built to simulate a lunar mission to extract water, hydrogen, hydrogen and other compounds that could possibly be mined by lunar explorers, according to a news release from Carnegie Mellon.

A Michelin-developed rover wheel, called a Tweel, that uses polyurethane spokes to prevent flats, eliminates the need for shock absorbers and improves traction, will be tested, as well as a Sample Capture Device and auger unit developed by the Northern Center for Advanced Technology with the Canadian Space Agency.

The underlying concept for PISCES is that “;man is going to return to the moon, but this time to stay,”; Fox said. “;That's where the robots come in.”; Astronauts must find resources on the moon to create a sustainable human habitat, he said.

“;Even basic needs like water and oxygen, which we take for granted, will have to be created from rocks and other material,”; PISCES field operations assistant Christian Andersen said in a news release.

Fox said 15 UH-Hilo undergraduates will be working on the project. “;This kind of stuff is wonderful hands-on experience. An opportunity to work with practicing scientists is not something we can give them every day in the Pacific.”;

NASA researchers also will speak at a local Rotary Club and go to schools to talk to students, Fox said.

The robots will be demonstrated on the UH-Hilo campus for selected groups of K-12 students after the field tests. John Hamilton, PISCES research operations manager, observed similar tests with Andersen this summer in Washington state and said they were “;awesome.”; It's hoped the experience will inspire Big Island students to study robotics and science, he said.