Space Colony On Mars; 180 Days Mock Test By China Successfully Completed

Four Chinese volunteers successfully completed the Space Colony Experiment, in which they stayed inside a closed capsule for 180 days, without any outside resupply of food, water and oxygen. The experiment was designed to explore the physical, emotional and psychological changes that may occur when humans live in closed and isolated environments. Successful completion of this experiment has created optimism among space explorers regarding the plans of setting up human colonies in space.

The capsule was set up in the southern city of Shenzhen. Additionally, the capsule was specifically designed in a manner that it can create and maintain its own internal ecosystem, which involved recycling and regeneration of oxygen without being supplied from the outside, same as in space missions.

The team members were all scientists, three men and one woman, namely, Tang Yongkang, leader of the team, along with Luo Jie, Wu Shiyun and Tong Feizhou. They came out of the capsule smiling and hugged their families. After being released, Tang said that they were relaxed now after completing the tough experiment, reported CCTV News.

The experiment was initiated and promoted by the Astronaut Centre of China, German Aerospace Centre and Harvard University. It involved the study and analysis of changes in the vital parameters of the volunteers, including sleep patterns, circadian rhythm of the body and other psychological and physiological changes, reported SBS.

The capsule used in the study was 370 square meters in area, with eight compartments that included a greenhouse where the team farmed and raised soybeans, groundnuts, lettuce, sweet potato and cabbage in artificial conditions. The greenhouse was also an important part of the internal ecosystem of the enclosure, which helped in the regeneration of oxygen.

The results of the experiment are highly crucial in planning for long-term space explorations of astronauts. Earlier this year, NASA disclosed that it is going to spend an additional $500,000 for developing and setting up human hibernation chambers in its spacecrafts, which will allow the onboard astronauts to sleep for 14 days at a stretch, reported the Mirror.

This experiment is highly timely as manned missions for the exploration of Mars and Moon are being planned.