Somewhat slow, but steady progress is being made by PRC to establish herself as a space-faring nation. So far, things seem to be going on as planned. Here a report on a lunar habitat due to take place in two or three decades. Would be nice for if PRC had some sci-fi movies for ordinary blokes like us.
Cheers!
http://asia.nikkei.com/Tech-Science/Tech/China-takes-a-step-toward-moon-base
June 3, 2014 7:00 pm JST
China takes a step toward moon base
SHUHEI YAMADA, Nikkei staff writer
BEIJING -- A Chinese university announced in late May that an experiment using a lunar test capsule on campus was successful.
The Yuegong-1, or Moon Palace-1, is a 500 cu.-meter airtight bioregenerative capsule developed to simulate a life on a moon base. Three volunteers spent 105 days hauled up inside the mini-scale moon base mock-up, cut off from the outside world.
The facility at the Beihang University in Beijing was virtually self-sufficient, as it was able to provide 97% of what the three people needed for survival internally. Wheat and four other types of grains, carrots and 14 other kinds of vegetables and insects were grown inside the test capsule to be used as food sources. In addition to recycling water and oxygen as much as possible, excrement was reused as fertilizer.
This test made China the third country after the U.S. and Russia to successfully complete a mini-scale moon base experiment.
"China will have built a manned moon base by around 2040-50," the Beihang University professor in charge of the test said. "Our technologies may be used there."
The university has close ties with the Chinese government, as its research projects cover fighter jets, missiles and other sensitive aeronautical technologies. For this reason, the lunar capsule experiment likely proceeded with the central government's blessings.
After succeeding in soft-landing the Chang'e-3 moon probe last December, China is looking to carry out manned lunar missions in 2020 or later. No plans to launch any more lunar probes are on the calendar this year, but the country has been making steady progress toward its ambition as the lunar capsule experiment shows.
It is not too far fetched for a global race for resource development to take place on the moon in the future, because lunar sand is said to contain some useful materials, such as helium-3, which could potentially be used as a fuel for nuclear fusion.
For this reason, many countries around the world likely sat up and took notice of China's lunar test capsule experiment.
Cheers!
http://asia.nikkei.com/Tech-Science/Tech/China-takes-a-step-toward-moon-base
June 3, 2014 7:00 pm JST
China takes a step toward moon base
SHUHEI YAMADA, Nikkei staff writer
BEIJING -- A Chinese university announced in late May that an experiment using a lunar test capsule on campus was successful.
The Yuegong-1, or Moon Palace-1, is a 500 cu.-meter airtight bioregenerative capsule developed to simulate a life on a moon base. Three volunteers spent 105 days hauled up inside the mini-scale moon base mock-up, cut off from the outside world.
The facility at the Beihang University in Beijing was virtually self-sufficient, as it was able to provide 97% of what the three people needed for survival internally. Wheat and four other types of grains, carrots and 14 other kinds of vegetables and insects were grown inside the test capsule to be used as food sources. In addition to recycling water and oxygen as much as possible, excrement was reused as fertilizer.
This test made China the third country after the U.S. and Russia to successfully complete a mini-scale moon base experiment.
"China will have built a manned moon base by around 2040-50," the Beihang University professor in charge of the test said. "Our technologies may be used there."
The university has close ties with the Chinese government, as its research projects cover fighter jets, missiles and other sensitive aeronautical technologies. For this reason, the lunar capsule experiment likely proceeded with the central government's blessings.
After succeeding in soft-landing the Chang'e-3 moon probe last December, China is looking to carry out manned lunar missions in 2020 or later. No plans to launch any more lunar probes are on the calendar this year, but the country has been making steady progress toward its ambition as the lunar capsule experiment shows.
It is not too far fetched for a global race for resource development to take place on the moon in the future, because lunar sand is said to contain some useful materials, such as helium-3, which could potentially be used as a fuel for nuclear fusion.
For this reason, many countries around the world likely sat up and took notice of China's lunar test capsule experiment.
