Photos: China opens Mars base simulator in the Gobi desert

By HT Correspondent

Updated On Apr 19, 2019 11:54 am IST

With ambitions of sending humans to the moon someday and further on to the Red Planet, China has opened a Mars base simulator. In the middle of Gobi desert, surrounded by barren hills in northwestern Gansu province, it is exposing teens -- and soon tourists -- to what life could be like on the planet. The company behind the project, C-Space, plans to open the base -- currently an educational facility -- to tourists in the next year, complete with a themed hotel and restaurant to attract space geeks.

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In the middle of China’s Gobi desert sits a Mars base simulator, but instead of housing astronauts training to live on the Red Planet, the facility is full of teenagers on a school trip. Here seen is a staff member wearing a mock space suit stepping out of the Mars simulation base. (Thomas Peter / REUTERS)

Updated on Apr 19, 2019 11:54 am IST

In the middle of China’s Gobi desert sits a Mars base simulator, but instead of housing astronauts training to live on the Red Planet, the facility is full of teenagers on a school trip. Here seen is a staff member wearing a mock space suit stepping out of the Mars simulation base. (Thomas Peter / REUTERS)

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Surrounded by barren hills in northwestern Gansu province, ‘Mars Base 1’ opened on Wednesday with the aim of exposing teens -- and soon tourists -- to what life could be like on the planet. The facility’s unveiling comes as China is making progress in its efforts to catch up to the United States and become a space power, with ambitions of sending humans to the moon someday. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

Updated on Apr 19, 2019 11:54 am IST

Surrounded by barren hills in northwestern Gansu province, ‘Mars Base 1’ opened on Wednesday with the aim of exposing teens -- and soon tourists -- to what life could be like on the planet. The facility’s unveiling comes as China is making progress in its efforts to catch up to the United States and become a space power, with ambitions of sending humans to the moon someday. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

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The white-coloured base has a silver dome and nine modules, including living quarters, a control room, a greenhouse and an airlock. Built at a cost of $7.47 million, it was constructed with help from the Astronauts Centre of China and the China Intercontinental Communication Centre, a state television production organisation. (Thomas Peter / REUTERS)

Updated on Apr 19, 2019 11:54 am IST

The white-coloured base has a silver dome and nine modules, including living quarters, a control room, a greenhouse and an airlock. Built at a cost of $7.47 million, it was constructed with help from the Astronauts Centre of China and the China Intercontinental Communication Centre, a state television production organisation. (Thomas Peter / REUTERS)

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The teenagers go on treks in the desert, where they explore caves in the martian-like landscape. The closest town 40 kilometres away. On Wednesday, over 100 students from a nearby high school walked on the arid Gobi plains, dressed in spacesuit-esque tracksuits. “There are so many things here that I’ve not seen before, I’m very interested in it,” said 12-year old Tang Ruitian. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

Updated on Apr 19, 2019 11:54 am IST

The teenagers go on treks in the desert, where they explore caves in the martian-like landscape. The closest town 40 kilometres away. On Wednesday, over 100 students from a nearby high school walked on the arid Gobi plains, dressed in spacesuit-esque tracksuits. “There are so many things here that I’ve not seen before, I’m very interested in it,” said 12-year old Tang Ruitian. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

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Models of Mars rovers are seen at the base. The company behind the project, C-Space, plans to open the base -- currently an educational facility -- to tourists in the next year, complete with a themed hotel and restaurant to attract space geeks. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

Updated on Apr 19, 2019 11:54 am IST

Models of Mars rovers are seen at the base. The company behind the project, C-Space, plans to open the base -- currently an educational facility -- to tourists in the next year, complete with a themed hotel and restaurant to attract space geeks. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

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A view of crops at the base. “We are trying to come up with solutions ... the base is still on earth, it’s not on Mars, but we have chosen a landform that matches closest to Mars,” C-Space founder Bai Fan told AFP. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

Updated on Apr 19, 2019 11:54 am IST

A view of crops at the base. “We are trying to come up with solutions ... the base is still on earth, it’s not on Mars, but we have chosen a landform that matches closest to Mars,” C-Space founder Bai Fan told AFP. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

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Students during their visit to ‘Mars Base 1’. It follows a similar Mars “village” that opened last month in the Qaidam Basin of neighbouring Qinghai -- a brutally hot and dry region which is the highest desert in the world, considered the best replica of Mars’ surface conditions. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

Updated on Apr 19, 2019 11:54 am IST

Students during their visit to ‘Mars Base 1’. It follows a similar Mars “village” that opened last month in the Qaidam Basin of neighbouring Qinghai -- a brutally hot and dry region which is the highest desert in the world, considered the best replica of Mars’ surface conditions. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

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A guide puts on a spacesuit at the base. As budding astronauts explore “Mars” on Earth, China is planning to send a probe to the real Red Planet next year. Beijing is pouring billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022. Earlier this year, it made the first ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, deploying a rover. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

Updated on Apr 19, 2019 11:54 am IST

A guide puts on a spacesuit at the base. As budding astronauts explore “Mars” on Earth, China is planning to send a probe to the real Red Planet next year. Beijing is pouring billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022. Earlier this year, it made the first ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, deploying a rover. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

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A man visits C-Space Project which has faced criticism from some quarters of the scientific community. Jiao Weixin, a professor at the School of Earth and Space Sciences at Peking University, said the building and surrounding desert were hardly representative of the truly hostile conditions on Mars. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

Updated on Apr 19, 2019 11:54 am IST

A man visits C-Space Project which has faced criticism from some quarters of the scientific community. Jiao Weixin, a professor at the School of Earth and Space Sciences at Peking University, said the building and surrounding desert were hardly representative of the truly hostile conditions on Mars. (Wang Zhao / AFP)

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Sand whipped up by wind shrouds the C-Space Project Mars simulation base.To truly replicate the harsh, toxic conditions of Mars would be to create a truly hostile environment, which is expensive and “completely unnecessary”, Weixin said. “From the very beginning, I’ve been opposed to this,” Jiao told AFP. “Tourism doesn’t make much sense ... what is the meaning in it?” (Thomas Peter / REUTERS)

Updated on Apr 19, 2019 11:54 am IST

Sand whipped up by wind shrouds the C-Space Project Mars simulation base.To truly replicate the harsh, toxic conditions of Mars would be to create a truly hostile environment, which is expensive and “completely unnecessary”, Weixin said. “From the very beginning, I’ve been opposed to this,” Jiao told AFP. “Tourism doesn’t make much sense ... what is the meaning in it?” (Thomas Peter / REUTERS)

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