China simulates an artificial moon environment on Earth
Chinese scientists have built a "artificial moon" research facility that will enable them to simulate lunar conditions and low-gravity environments, as well as test new technology and future missions, using magnetism.
The facility, which is due to be officially launched this year, will use strong magnetic fields inside a 60cm vacuum chamber to" hide "gravity, and the artificial surface will be made of rock and dust like those on the moon. This idea was inspired by an earlier experiment in which a magnet was used to fly a frog.
The first in the world
The facility is "the first of its kind in the world," as it will make gravity "disappear", so low-gravity environments can be simulated for as long as possible, making China less dependent on zero-gravity aircraft for astronaut training, Rover test environments and new technologies.
"While low gravity can be achieved in an airplane or landing tower for a moment, it goes on in the simulator as much as you want," Li Ruilin, a geotechnical engineer from China University of mining and Technology who is leading the development of the project, told the South China Morning Post.
Scientists plan to use the facility to test the technology in extended low-gravity environments before sending it to the moon, where gravity on the moon accounts for one-sixth of its force on Earth.
This will allow them to get rid of any reservoirs of costly technical glitches, as well as test whether some structures will remain on the moon, and assess the feasibility of human stability there.
"Some experiments-such as a crash test - only need a few seconds in the simulator, but others-such as a crawl test - can take several days,"Lee says.
The creep test measures the amount of deformation of the material under constant temperature and pressure.
Where did the inspiration come from
The idea of creating the installation has its roots in an experiment in which the Russian physicist Andrey S. of the University of Manchester, England, fired a frog with a magnet.
Jim later won the Nobel Prize for this pioneering experiment.
The flyby trick that Jim used, and is now being used in the satellite's compartment, comes from an effect called magnetic flyby.
Atoms are made up of atomic nuclei and tiny electrons that rotate around them in a stream of tiny rings, these moving currents in turn stimulate small magnetic fields, usually magnetic fields directed randomly to all atoms in an object are canceled, and no magnetism appears at the level of matter.
But if an external magnetic field is applied to those atoms, everything will change, the electrons will modify their motion, producing their own magnetic field to resist the field applied to them.
If the external magnet is strong enough, the magnetic force of repulsion between it and the field of atoms will grow strong enough to overcome gravity and the body rises.
Building a research station on the moon
The results tested at the lunar facility will be used in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program Cheng, whose name is derived from the Chinese moon goddess.
This program includes the Ching 4 that landed on the far side of the moon in 2019, and the Ching 5 that brought rock samples from the lunar surface in 2020. China also announced that it will establish a lunar research station on the moon's South Pole by 2029.
The lunar simulator can also be used to test whether structures can be built on the moon using new technologies such as holographic printing, he adds, adding that "some experiments performed in simulated environments could also provide important clues." A place to find water that has fallen below the surface of the water."
2021 was one of the most successful years for Beijing in the Twenty-First Century, having already developed an artificial sun to replicate the process of nuclear fusion that occurs naturally in the sun and stars, to provide almost unlimited clean energy.
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