200-day stay in simulated space lab sets record
Print Edition
Two men and two women have spent 200 days in a simulated space lab in Beijing, setting a record for the longest stay in a self-contained “cabin.”
The biomedicine students from Beihang University, the second group of volunteers to stay in Yuegong-1 (Lunar Palace 1), completed the second phase of a 365-day on-ground experiment on Friday.
The first group of volunteers stayed in the cabin for 60 days and re-entered the cabin on Friday, replacing the second group, and starting the third and final phase of the experiment, which will last 105 days.
The experiment is designed to test a bioregenerative life support system, in which animals, plants and microorganisms co-exist in a sealed environment, simulating a lunar base. The experiment also examines the physical and mental conditions of humans in such environment. Oxygen, water and food are recycled within the BLSS, creating an Earth-like environment.
A successful 105-day trial was conducted in 2014.
Liu Hong, chief designer of Yuegong-1, said the purpose of the new program was to test the stability of BLSS when “astronauts” take turns living in the cabin.
“The second stage, during which three unexpected blackouts occurred, has challenged the system as well as the psychological status of the volunteers, but they withstood the test,” she said.
The 200-day stint broke the record set in the former Soviet Union, where three people stayed for 180 days in a similar closed ecosystem in the early 1970s.
The longest blackout, due to a malfunction of an electric switch in the lab, lasted a whole night in the “comprehensive cabin,” the living quarters of the volunteers.
“Luckily, it was in the evening, and the volunteers simply went to bed, without being affected much,” Liu recalled, adding psychological data will be analyzed as part of the research.
The Yuegong-1 measures only 150 square meters, consisting of two plant cabins and the comprehensive cabin. The volunteers grow fruit — principally strawberries — and vegetables.
Yellow meal worms, which are edible and contain high levels of protein and other nutrients, are raised in the cabin. They are ground and mixed with flour to make a bread-like substance or fried on an electric stove in an oil-water mixture.
“Except salt, seasonings and a small amount of pre-stored pork and chicken, everything in the cabin is regenerative,” said Liu.
The volunteers have access to the Internet, play chess and darts, do yoga and ride exercise bikes.
Volunteer Wang Wei said that over the past 200 days, she had learned to make steamed bread, dumplings, buns and even mooncake, a traditional snack for Mid-Autumn festival but one which is rarely made at home.
“I’m planning to cook the Spring Festival family banquet all by myself,” Wang, 26, said.
Wang and the other three had physical examinations on Friday and will stay in hospital for a week under observation.
China has made great progress in space exploration in recent years.
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