China's first Mars simulation base to be established in Qinghai

The country's first Mars simulation base has been tapped for northwest China's Qinghai Province, with a signing ceremony for the "Mars Village" project held on Tuesday, July 25, 2017.

A Mars simulation base in the United States [File Photo: VCG]

To be located in the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, "Mars Village" will simulate a Mars environment. It's to be used as a practical education base for possible Mars missions, but will also be open to the public as a tourist destination.

"The unique topography, natural scenery and climatic conditions of Haixi Prefecture are very similar to the surface of Mars. Coupled with abundant local tourism resources and tourism development trends, all of this creates the basic conditions for a new Mars simulation base," said Wang Jingzhai, Deputy Party Secretary of Haixi Prefecture.

The terrain of Haixi Prefecture [File Photo: ifeng.com]

Liu Xiaoqun, Director of the Lunar and Deep Space Exploration Department with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that choosing the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as the location for the "Mars Village" project works well for both scientists and the local community.