4 Chinese Students Sealed Inside a Simulated Space Cabin to Test a Self-Sustaining Ecosystem

Recently in China, 4 students volunteered to be sealed inside a 160 m² laboratory where they are supposed to spend the next 6 and-a-half months. This experiment is one of the last steps in China’s plan to land its astronauts on the moon by 2036.

The lab is known as Yuegong-1 or Lunar Palace. It contains two plant cultivation areas, a living space consisting of 4 bed pods, a bathroom, a waste-treatment facility, and a room for raising animals. This self-sustaining ecosystem has been designed to mimic the living conditions of a lunar space station.

Have a look at the interiors of the cabin and other details:

Video Source: Science & Technology (YouTube)

These volunteer students belong to China’s leading Aeronautics and Astronautics University of Beihang. These 4 students are reportedly replacing an earlier batch of students who have already completed 60 days in the lab.

The latest research is going to provide a better sense of the emotional toll of living in a small space with no sunlight, for almost half a year. It will also determine how well their bio generative life support system works in a small vacuum. The experiment has been conducted on animals but this time they want to determine the effects on humans.

4 Chinese Students Sealed Inside a Simulated Space Cabin to Test a Self-Sustaining Ecosystem

Volunteers Inside the Simulated Cabin (Image Courtesy: Reuters)

Back in 2013, China became the third country after U.S. and Russia to put a spacecraft on the moon and now the government is aiming to land a probe on the dark side of the moon by 2018. The country is also planning to launch a large space station that will be competing with the International Space Station in the coming years.

As of now, the four volunteers will continue to stay inside the cabin for 200 days after which another group will replace them and reside in the lab for 105 days.