China tests lunar base simulator ahead of missions to moon
Volunteers to live in ‘Lunar Palace’ for up to 200 days to prepare for long-term aim of putting people on the moon
Chinese students will live in a laboratory simulating a lunar-like environment for up to 200 days as Beijing prepares for its long-term goal of putting humans on the moon.
Four postgraduate students from the capital’s astronautics research university Beihang entered the 160-square-metre cabin - dubbed the Yuegong-1, or “Lunar Palace” - on Wednesday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The volunteers will live in the sealed lab to simulate a long-term, self-contained space mission with no input from the outside world, Xinhua said.
Human waste will be treated with a bio-fermentation process and experimental crops and vegetables grown with the help of food and waste by-products.
The cabin represents the “world’s most advanced closed-loop life-support technology so far”, state broadcaster CCTV said.
China does not expect to land its first astronauts on the moon for at least another decade, but the project seeks to help the country prepare lunar explorers for longer stays on the surface.