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Yuegong 1 ("Moon Palace") by Phillip Clark on 04 Jan, 2014 15:57
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The attached photograph has been posted on the Facebook page for "China Space" with the following comment:
"Yuegong-1 (Moon Palace 1) is being built in China to test sustainable supplies of air, water and food for astronauts living on the Moon with plants. Pictured here is the green house for growing vegetables, absorbing CO2 and generating oxygen. Red lights make plants grow faster."
The original source of the photo is not given.
It strongly suggests that the Chinese are seriously considering "long term" for piloted lunar missions.
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#1 by Danderman on 04 Jan, 2014 17:39
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China reportedly to produce Yuegong-1 lab growing food in space
http://en.ce.cn/subject/exclusive/201312/20/t20131220_1963305.shtml
China has achieved another breakthrough in its space program with the development of the Yuegong-1, a lab that simulates the cultivation of plants and micro-organisms on the moon, reports the Hong Kong-based newspaper Wen Wei Po.
The Yuegong - which means "Moon Palace" in Chinese - is one of the world's most advanced Bioregenerative Life Support Systems, also known as Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems. Fittings were completed in late October at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
The moon's high radiation and low gravity environment is extremely difficult to simulate on Earth, says professor Liu Hong, who heads the Yuegong lab, which has already commenced experiments to grow food, fruits and vegetables to sustain astronauts in space.
The aim is for humans to be self-sufficient in space for months or years at a time allowing them to manage and regenerate limited resources such as food, water and oxygen. If successful, it would save governments billions of dollars as it is said to cost the United States government anywhere between US$10,000 to US$100,000 to send each kilogram of food supplies into space.
The task is more difficult than it appears as temperatures on the moon range from minus-175 degrees Celsius to 120 degrees Celsius, not to mention its low gravity and that parts of it can be covered in darkness for more than 10 days at a time. Any plants or micro-organisms produced to provide food and oxygen and the degradation of waste also need to be stable, fast-growing and provide high-volume produce.
While NASA is reportedly attempting to launch a mission to grow plants on the moon by 2015, China is said to have already completed a regenerative sustainable growth system that has successfully grown of more than a dozen types of foods such as wheat, rice, soybean, peanuts, peppers, carrots, tomatoes and coriander in a simulated space environment.
Last year, scientists from the China Astronaut Research and Training Center completed a 30-day experiment where two test subjects survived on the oxygen and food provided by a 36-square meter greenhouse filled with four types of edible plants. The Yuegong-1 is aiming to further this research in the hope of one day sending people to live on the moon.
Liu said more details of the Yuegong-1 will be unveiled around Chinese New Year, which falls on January 31, 2014. -
#2 by luhai167 on 14 Jan, 2014 04:22
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Here is the original article, however the the article ends in sour note. I cut the bits related to Yuegong - 1. (though the proper term is Guanghan Gong in the Chang'e Mythology.)
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-01/06/content_17216937.htmQuoteFor Li Yinxin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Botany, exo-cultivation is theoretically feasible.
Li, who in 2002 was a team leader in a project to construct life-support systems in the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, said that, in theory, all life-support systems are the same, irrespective of whether they are situated on an island or in outer space.
"The model (at Yuegong-1) is called a Bio-regenerative Life Support System, otherwise known as a Controlled Ecological Life Support System. Chinese scientists have been working on this project for more than 30 years with the aim of finding plants capable of sustaining their growth cycles through adaptation to a previously unfriendly environment," she said.QuoteIn 2012, two test subjects from the China Astronaut Research and Training Center spent 30 days living in Yuegong-1. In the 36-square-meter self-contained lab, Tang Yongkang and Mi Tao breathed oxygen produced by the Chinese cabbages and lettuce being grown under the powerful lights. They also picked 30 to 50 grams of fresh vegetables for their daily meals.
The test proved that in a planted area of just 13.5 sq m, the "human to plant" exchanges of oxygen and carbon dioxide, in tandem with technology to control the internal equilibrium of the plants, can provide enough oxygen to sustain human life. The plants, which must share a symbiotic relationship, replenish the supply of oxygen while disposing of the harmful carbon dioxide produced during respiration.QuoteDespite the success of the Yuegong-1 project, Professor Liu Huajie of Peking University who participated in the Biosphere 2 project - a 1.27-hectare, enclosed artificial ecosystem in Oracle, Arizona - was not optimistic about the prospects for exo-cultivation.
"Judging from my experiences with Biosphere 2 and also from an evolutionary perspective, the likelihood of real success on the moon is small. The motivation behind the experiment is understandable, but it underestimates the unique nature of Earth as Gaia - the mother of life - which is irreplaceable. Humans should abandon their fantasies about space migration and take better care of Earth." -
#3 by aquanaut99 on 14 Jan, 2014 04:33
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So, is this the first real indication that China is indeed considering manned lunar missions? And with greater ambition than the USA during Apollo?
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#4 by KelvinZero on 14 Jan, 2014 06:20
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I would strongly favor a project like this on the basis that it is so cheap and so generally useful to research..
On the other hand both of these points also mean it is not a great commitment specifically to the moon. It is still incredibly sensible, I couldn't really take anyone seriously who talked of permanent bases and was not even doing this. -
#5 by rockinghorse on 14 Jan, 2014 08:45
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I would strongly favor a project like this on the basis that it is so cheap and so generally useful to research.
And perhaps even more importantly, it gives solid framework how space crops are feasible and this is very useful when discussing on potential of long term human presence on space. It is always helpful to refer on well studied projects than to try to convince that space cultivation does not differ in relevant way from widely used hydroponic greenhouse cultivation on Earth.
It is very useful to have good background knowledge on the topic of vertical farming. Most of the vertical farming methods are directly applicable to space crops, because vertical farms are isolated systems and often they rely heavily on artificial LED growth lights like it was presented in the picture. -
#6 by Dalhousie on 14 Jan, 2014 21:44
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Here is the original article, however the the article ends in sour note. I cut the bits related to Yuegong - 1. (though the proper term is Guanghan Gong in the Chang'e Mythology.)
QuoteDespite the success of the Yuegong-1 project, Professor Liu Huajie of Peking University who participated in the Biosphere 2 project - a 1.27-hectare, enclosed artificial ecosystem in Oracle, Arizona - was not optimistic about the prospects for exo-cultivation.
"Judging from my experiences with Biosphere 2 and also from an evolutionary perspective, the likelihood of real success on the moon is small. The motivation behind the experiment is understandable, but it underestimates the unique nature of Earth as Gaia - the mother of life - which is irreplaceable. Humans should abandon their fantasies about space migration and take better care of Earth."
Reads more like an ideological statement than a evidence-based one. -
#7 by NovaSilisko on 15 Jan, 2014 02:16
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This is an excellent project... the human-in-the-loop tests are especially interesting. What sort of difference in mass might result from relying primarily on greenhouses for life support as opposed to purely mechanical means?
Reads more like an ideological statement than a evidence-based one.
Yeah, what the hell? That just sort of came out of nowhere... -
#8 by QuantumG on 15 Jan, 2014 02:28
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Reads more like an ideological statement than a evidence-based one.
Yeah, what the hell? That just sort of came out of nowhere...
He's talking about the last sentence or two of the quote. People referring to "Mother Earth" are rarely making a scientific argument. -
#9 by baldusi on 15 Jan, 2014 11:54
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He's talking about the last sentence or two of the quote. People referring to "Mother Earth" are rarely making a scientific argument.
What? Next you'll tell me that astrology is not a science! :p -
#10 by NovaSilisko on 16 Jan, 2014 21:10
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Reads more like an ideological statement than a evidence-based one.
Yeah, what the hell? That just sort of came out of nowhere...
He's talking about the last sentence or two of the quote. People referring to "Mother Earth" are rarely making a scientific argument.
That's my point, the "what the hell" was directed at the person making the "mother earth" statement. That statement just sort of appeared out of the ether, totally non-sequitorial and weird for someone deeply(?) involved with the project to say. -
#11 by KelvinZero on 17 Jan, 2014 18:26
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Its also intensely irritating because it implies they think this massive question is answered, but they can't be bothered putting the reasoning down. If they can justify that position it deserves a thesis, not a throwaway remark, and then the whole human race could start thinking about the truely hard problems identified within.
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#12 by Dalhousie on 18 Jan, 2014 20:16
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Most media stories like to have "balance", so they will have someone in favour and someone against. Looks like looked until they found someone, never mind that his experience in such matters is several decades old
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#13 by R7 on 25 Jan, 2014 15:02
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Has any kind of crop yield per area, watt-hours per produced food calorie etc. production rate information published? O2 production appears to be quite good.
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#14 by Dalhousie on 17 Jun, 2014 10:05
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Some recent information here. http://www.space.com/26267-china-lunar-palace-space-research-mission.html?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=twitterfeed
The facility is a 500-cubic-meter capsule that covers an area of 160 square meters and consists of one integrated module and two plant cultivation modules. The integrated module includes a living room, a work room, a bathroom and a waste-disposal room.
Experimental crops, such as corn and peanuts, were grown during the test, as were lentils and cucumber vine plants.
Human waste was handled within the Lunar Palace 1 by a biofermentation process. Food residue and other byproducts were treated by biotechniques and were used for plant cultivation.
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#15 by Liss on 17 Jun, 2014 10:22
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Yuegong 1 seems to be an upgraded version of Soviet BIOS-3 facility in Krasnoyarsk.
BTW, Yuegong 1 project leader Liu Hong holds a PhD equivalent from the Moscow State University. -
#16 by Nordren on 10 May, 2017 21:14
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Woah, dusty in here. Anyway: Eight Chinese volunteers will live in "Yuegong-1," a simulated space "cabin" in Beijing for the next year
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-05/10/c_136272414.htm -
#17 by rpapo on 10 May, 2017 23:25
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Woah, dusty in here. Anyway: Eight Chinese volunteers will live in "Yuegong-1," a simulated space "cabin" in Beijing for the next year
They'll probably have better air than everyone else...
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-05/10/c_136272414.htm -
#18 by Liss on 26 Jan, 2018 18:55
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http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-01/27/c_136927865.htm
China Focus: 200 days on "moon": China life support lab breaks record
Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-27 00:14:17QuoteBEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- 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 Friday.
The first group of volunteers stayed in the cabin for 60 days and re-entered the cabin Friday, replacing the second group, and starting the third and final phase of the experiment, which will last 105 days...
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#19 by zhangmdev on 28 Jan, 2018 20:48
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So four people for 200 days subsisting on flour mixing with grounded worm, supplemented by strawberries and vegetables they grew and "a small amount of pre-stored pork and chicken"? Why not just bring 200 days worth of C-Ration? That would be much less energy-intensive and more pleasant than nothing but fried bread, steam bun and dumplings.
No one can survive by growing vegetable on 150 square meters of land and practicing yoga. Definitely they cannot produce the amount of flour which they consumed. So what is the point of this experiment, other than testing the limit of human endurance? -
#20 by Dalhousie on 29 Jan, 2018 00:49
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So four people for 200 days subsisting on flour mixing with grounded worm, supplemented by strawberries and vegetables they grew and "a small amount of pre-stored pork and chicken"? Why not just bring 200 days worth of C-Ration? That would be much less energy-intensive and more pleasant than nothing but fried bread, steam bun and dumplings.
No one can survive by growing vegetable on 150 square meters of land and practicing yoga. Definitely they cannot produce the amount of flour which they consumed. So what is the point of this experiment, other than testing the limit of human endurance?
The point is testing closed life support systems, not human endurance. This includes O2 and water.
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#21 by Phillip Clark on 15 May, 2018 12:00
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Xinhua report, posted via their Facebook site:
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-05/15/c_137180483.htm -
#22 by zandr on 15 May, 2018 18:45
