China to Build Its First Mars Simulation Base in Mars-Like Qinghai Landscape
Chen Juan
DATE:  Jul 31 2017
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
China to Build Its First Mars Simulation Base in Mars-Like Qinghai Landscape China to Build Its First Mars Simulation Base in Mars-Like Qinghai Landscape

(Yicai Global) July 31 -- China will set up its first Mars simulation base in the red cliff region of Dachadan in the western province of Qinghai, an area whose landform, natural landscape and climate conditions are very like those of Mars.

"We hope to find a place that shares similar landforms, geology, material composition and chemical processes as Mars to become our Mars simulation base," the China Science Daily quoted Zheng Yongchun, a planetary scientist at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as saying.

Mars' surface features deserts with no vegetation, with sediments fom rivers and lakes that have dried up, and remnants of sulfate and perchlorate flows that have dried up. The red cliff region of Dachadan shares similar features in these three respects, which is a key reason why the Mars simulation base will be built there.

A major role of the Mars base is to provide a testing ground for China's Mars lander program for 2020. It can also be used as a simulation site for life on Mars to help train astronauts and future emigrants to the planet.

There are also Mars simulation bases in the desert of Wadi Rum in Jordan, the US State of Utah and Antarctica's glacial center that share similar features with Mars. Such bases have become excellent science, science fiction and tourism resources. A US science fiction film set on Mars was shot at the Mars simulation base in the desert of Wadi Rum in Jordan.

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Keywords:   Qinghai,Mars