According to scientists involved in the project, the facility could
provide valuable research for China’s lunar exploration activities. Located in
the eastern city of Xuzhou, in Jiangsu province, the simulator is expected to
be officially launched in the coming months.
The facility, which will be formally inaugurated in the coming months,
can make gravity “disappear” in an effect that can “last as long as you like,”
according to Li Ruilin of the China University of Mining and Technology.
According to the South China Morning Post, Ruilin added that the chamber is the
first of its type in the world and would be filled with rocks and dust to
replicate the lunar surface.
Scientists want to use the facility to test equipment in low-gravity
situations for lengthy periods before transporting it to the moon, where
gravity is one-sixth of Earth. This will allow them to iron out any costly
technological snags, as well as test whether certain buildings would survive on
the moon’s surface and assess the feasibility of creating a human community
there. “Some tests, like as an impact test, may be done in the simulator in a
matter of seconds, whilst others, such as creep testing, might take several
days. According to a Chinese media site, Li stated, a creep test reveals how
much material would deform under continuous temperature and stress,” according
to a Chinese media site, Li stated.
Andre Geim, a physicist at the University of Manchester in the United
Kingdom, was the inspiration for the chamber. In 2000, he was awarded the
satirical Ig Nobel Prize for devising an experiment that used a magnet to make
a frog float. A phenomenon known as diamagnetic levitation was used by Geim,
which is now being applied to the artificial-moon chamber.