China created first ground-based space station simulator
Harbin Institute of Technology and China’s Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation have developed the nation’s first ground-based space station simulator in north-eastern China, TASS reports
According to the China Daily newspaper, the facility in the city of Harbin – Space Environment Simulation and Research Infrastructure (SESRI) – has successfully passed the test and will be put into operation soon.
With the help of this facility, Chinese scientists are going to study fundamental scientific issues related to space materials and instruments, as well as magnetospheric physics. The developed equipment enables specialists to simulate a number of factors in extraterrestrial space, such as plasma (one of the main types of matter in space), particle irradiation and solar electromagnetic radiation.
As noted by representatives of the Research Institute of Space Environment and Materials Science at Harbin Institute of Technology, in the future, many experiments that would have to be carried out in space will be possible to conduct on Earth.
Local authorities are confident that this infrastructure will play an important role in Chinese space exploration.
According to President of the Harbin Institute of Technology and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Han Jiecai, such a platform will be of great importance for the PRC, contributing to major breakthroughs in the field of sci-tech innovation. The scientist underlined that the space station simulator will facilitate the modernisation of some industrial sectors and help educate a new generation of highly qualified specialists.
