china has launched its 200-day test to determine the sustainability of human life in a space station. Four students from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics agreed to form part of the experiment, the longest so far. The 60-day testing has just concluded. They entered the Lunar Palace-1 expecting to come out alive and well after 200 days.
The goal of the experiment is to create a self-sustaining ecosystem that provides everything humans need for survival according to the Huffington Post. The students said that they are happy to act as human guinea-pigs if it means the realization of their dreams of becoming astronauts.
China experiment aims to discover if life can be sustained in space
The end-goal of this experiment is to send humans to Mars and to study the final frontier. Highly-technological countries like the U.S. and Japan are eyeing the Red planet to become the next Earth. Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking has been telling that Mars will be the next home when Earth is destroyed.
Chinese President Xi Jinping envisions China to become a global power in space exploration following the footsteps of Russia and the U.S. The country plans to send a lunar probe to the moon by 2018 and eventually put astronauts on the moon by 2036 via the Lunar Palace 365 experiment.
The brains behind the experiment and a professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics Liu Hong informed that they have calculated everything needed for human survival inside the Lunar Palace-1.
Plants-produced oxygen inside the station is exactly sufficient to satisfy the humans and the animals that break down the waste materials.
They have already considered the physical needs of the students and have designed the sets of daily tasks to make them happy. It has been noticed before that those who entered into the bunker became sad and depressed because of the isolation.
The experiment has already been used in animals. Hong said that they will be able to know how humans will react to long days without exposure to sunlight.
China wants to be globally known in terms of space exploration
China continues to strive to reach its lofty goal of space survival and exploration. Days ago, it has launched its biggest rocket that will carry China’s heaviest satellite, the Long March-5 Y2 as reported by Fortune.
However, an anomaly happened 40 minutes after take-off, the rocket malfunctioned.
China sets its vision on becoming a giant on space exploration. It is hoping to follow if not overtake the achievements made by Russia and America. In 2013, the country was the third country to have sent a spacecraft to the moon and the following it has sent a probe there. By 2018, it aims to land on the far side of the moon and by 2020, it hopes to land on Mars.
