Chinese scientists have built a research facility that will allow them to simulate low-gravity environments, such as the moon, using magnetism. The official launch is scheduled for the end of 2022.
The installation, whose official launch is planned for this year, will use strong magnetic fields inside a vacuum chamber 60 centimeters in diameter. The goal is to simulate very low gravity, such as the one that can be found on our satellite. Scientists were inspired by an earlier experiment that used magnets in order to levitate… a frog.
Li Ruilin, a geotechnical engineer, made several statements to the South China Morning Post. The scientist thus announces: “This vacuum chamber will be the first of its kind in the world. It will be able to sustain such low-gravity conditions for as long as necessary.” It is to highlight that the structure will contain various rocks and dust mimicking lunar soil.
China has big lunar ambitions…
Thus, Chinese scientists plan to use the facility to testing technologies in low-gravity environments extended, before sending them to the moon. Indeed, our satellite generates six times less gravitational attraction than on Earth. These tests could avoid possible costly technical problems, by checking whether certain structures can survive on the lunar surface.
Thus, Li Ruilin adds: “Some experiments, such as an impact test, require only a few seconds in the simulator […] But others, such as the creep test – which measures the extent to which a material deforms under constant temperature and stress – can take several dayss”.
The tests carried out in the room will be in particular used to serve as the Chinese lunar exploration program Chang’e. This initiative includes Chang’e 4, who landed a rover on the far side of the Moon in 2019, and Chang’e 5, which recovered rock samples from the surface of the Moon in 2020. China also said it would establish a lunar research station on the south pole of the moon by 2029.
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Source : space.com