FEATURE RECREATING SPACE ON EARTHMARTIAN GETAWAY
C-SPACE PROJECT, GOBI DESERT, CHINA
If China’s long-term plans to send a crewed
mission to Mars go ahead, some of its taikonauts’
training is likely to take place here, at the
C-Space Project’s simulated Martian base. For
now, though, it’s tourists and schoolkids who
have the run of the place.
The facility opened in April 2019, and is
located in the Gobi Desert about 40 kilometres
(25 miles) outside the city of Jinchang in the
Gansu province. Made up of nine linked modules
- including living quarters, a control room and
a mock airlock – it’s designed to give visitors an
idea of what it’s like to work in an environment
where resources are limited and every aspect of
life must be monitored and controlled.
The project was dreamt up by Gansu officials
and the Jinchang Star Universe Culture and
Tourism Investment Company, in a bid to boost
tourism in one of China’s poorer regions. But
it’s been developed in collaboration with the
Astronaut Center of China, and with further
investment and expansion, is intended to become
an official taikonaut training site. GETTY IMAGES, ESA/A ROMEO