Chinese scientists have created an ‘artificial moon’

On the Moon, we feel six times lighter than on Earth. A low gravity which can pose technical problems, particularly for missions planning to settle there in the long term. This is why Chinese researchers have decided to build on Earth, in a vacuum chamber… a ” artificial moon »!

The idea came to them from an experiment carried out a few years ago — and which earned a IgnNobel Prize to its author — on a frog. An experiment that had made it possible to levitate it using magnets. Thanks to a phenomenon known tophysicists under the name of diamagnetic levitation. Who wants the application strong enough magnetic field to force all the tiny magnetic fields created by the atoms which constitute an object in the same direction. And thus overcome gravity.

To support space exploration

The Chinese researchers thus hope to simulate the weak lunar gravity thanks to powerful magnetic fieldsapplied inside a vacuum chamber 60 centimeters in diameter. As long as the tests on candidate materials for a trip to the Moon require it. Knowing that creep tests — which determine how much a material deforms under constant temperature and stress –, for example, can take days.

The chamber will be filled with rocks and dust, to mimic the lunar surface. And researchers expect her to help them test all kinds of technologies. A way to solve technical problems that could otherwise cost futuremissions to the moon. But also to get a more precise idea of ​​the viability of a human base on our natural satellite.