Lunar Palace - a project of the Chinese lunar base

China is an active stance on the issue of lunar exploration and colonization (see. Note "On the Moon rover landed Chinese Yutu"). By the end of this year planned testing of the space program, "Chang'e-5": UAV will have to collect samples from the surface of the Moon and return them to Earth. This task will be implemented as part of the launch vehicles "Chang'e-5" and "Chang'e-6". With the completion of the mission of unmanned lunar exploration, since 2017, specialists will determine the date of a manned landing on the lunar surface, after which will begin construction of the base on the moon.

 

Preparation for this stage is actively conducted by employees of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. From March to June 2014 passed the tests of life support systems for future lunar station "Lunar Palace-1". During the 105 days in a sealed module one man and two women lived in a closed ecosystem.

Subjects ate plants and insects that are grown inside the capsule (five kinds of crops, 15 varieties of vegetables and fruits 1st grade). Oxygen generated by plants, carbon dioxide produced by human beings or any living organism, was processed by photosynthesis. Wastes used as fertilizers. 100% of oxygen and water within the capsule. In addition, trial participants had a number of scientific and technical experiments.

Complex "Moon Palace-1" is a module divided into two rooms, one of them (58 sq. M) - for growing food, and the other (42 sq. M) - "Apartment" astronauts. It equipped with three beds, a dining room, a shower room and a room for waste disposal. Communication with family supported over the Internet.

To date, the Chinese scholars did not give estimates of how this ecosystem model will operate on the moon in low gravity and high radiation, so the construction period of the lunar station remain unknown.