World’s largest space environment simulator launched in northeast China
- Specific conditions can be reproduced at the Harbin facility to test equipment and the effects on human health as an alternative to testing in orbit
- Four laboratories host simulation chambers that can recreate environments from microgravity to solar radiation
The multi-component facility covers an area equivalent to 50 football fields and can simulate a wide range of conditions to help scientists understand their impacts on spacecraft performance and human health.
“All systems have been running steadily since testing began in June,” said the project’s deputy commander-in-chief Li Liyi from the Harbin Institute of Technology, in the CCTV report.
The facility’s main mission was to support the safe operation of Chinese spacecraft and long-term human presence in space, Li said. “It’s also open to the global scientific community to conduct related basic research.”
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More than 110 universities and institutes from over 30 countries had signed agreements to use the platform, Li told state news agency Xinhua in June.