(China Plus) China is planning to build a deep-sea "space station" capable of
accommodating dozens of people and able to reach depths of 1000 meters,
according to Yan Kai, director of the State Key Laboratory for Manned
Deep-sea Equipment, reported by Science and Technology Daily.
"While
Jiaolong, China's manned deep-sea research submersible, can only carry
several people, undertaking a 12-hour underwater trip, a future 'space
station' might weigh thousands of tons and be capable of staying beneath
the sea for over two weeks and carry dozens of people", says Yan Kai,
who's also a member of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top
legislator.
This kind of long-term inhabited underwater station
would be packed with a variety of equipment, such as small manned
submersibles to facilitate deep sea research work. The station could
accommodate scientists to cultivate deep sea creatures, discover oil and
gas resources, as well as analyze the genes of organisms for potential
medical use.
But an oceanic manned station poses many mobility and
technical challenges, says Yan Kai.
Considering the length of time it
would stay submerged he suggests it would need to use fuel cells,
nuclear power or even a yet-to-be-discovered new undersea energy.
In
addition, there would need to be breakthroughs in deep-sea
communication and navigation, accuracy and precision controls, and
special lightweight materials designed to take account of it large
scale, and the intense pressure at a depth of 1000 meters.
A
deep-sea station is part of China's major science, technology and
innovation plan for 2030, highlighted in the 13th Five-year Plan
(2016-2020) on Scientific and Technological Innovation, unveiled by Wan
Gang, China's Science and Technology Minister, back in January.
Source: Caixin by Hu Yijing
No comments:
Post a Comment