BEIJING, 26 July (BelTA - People's Daily) - "Mars Village," China's first simulated Mars base, will be built in Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan autonomous Prefecture, NW China's Qinghai province, China News Service reported on July 25.
Located in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the prefecture has diverse geography and magnificent natural scenery, including mountains, grasslands, dessert, rivers, and lakes. The main part of the region is the Qaidam Basin, which enjoys the reputation of "Cornucopia."
Desertification covers an area of 95,000 square kilometers, accounting for 75.6 percent of the total desert area in Qinghai province. The Gobi Desert is home to China's largest Yadan landform. The geographical features, natural scenery, and climate are all similar to that of on Mars, making the region a good area for the construction of a simulated base.
Liu Xiaoqun, director of the General Office of the Lunar and Deep-Space Exploration at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that China's Mars Village will boost local tourism and cultural industries. The project is located in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region, which neighbors the historical Hexi Corridor. As the only Mars-themed tourism spot in China, it will serve as an important educational base for the fields of aerospace, astronomy, geography, geology, meteorology, and new energy.
China's Mars Village project aims to build a creative Mars experience based on "science, science fiction, nature, ecology, and culture." The main part of the attraction will consist of two functional zones. One being "Mars communities" and the other being "Mars camps."
