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China Plans To Build A Deep-Sea 'Space Station' In South China Sea (huffingtonpost.co.uk)

Posted by msmash on from the deep-sea dept.

China is ramping up its space efforts, it appears. A Chinese company named KuangChi Science plans to launch balloons from Hangzhou, in eastern China. HuffingtonPost reports: China is stepping up efforts to build a deep-sea underwater 'space station' in the South China Sea. If the plans go ahead, the station would be located 3000 metres below the surface, inhabited by humans, and would be used to hunt for minerals. There are also concerns that it would be used for military purposes in territories that are hotly contested between China and other nations, including the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan. The news comes from a Science Ministry presentation that revealed China's current five-year economic plan (till 2020). Despite no further details or blueprints being made public, the presentation ranked this project as second in a list of 100 science and technology priorities according to Bloomberg.

12 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Diffe rent engineering reqs by wierd_w · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A permanent sea habitat, and a space station, have vastly different engineering requirements.

    For starters, a sea habitat has to withstand positive pressures, and ocean current flows. (At the depth specified, a strong storm swell will shake the habitat pretty good.)

    Meanwhile a space habitat needs to be lightweight for launch cost reasons, needs to protect against radiation, and withstand negative pressures well. The sanitation and sleeping arrangements need to consider microgravity.

    About the only things the two will have in common are airlocks, power generation, and air reprocessing.

    Sealab 2020, China Edition looks like it is just another lame excuse for actions in the contested south china sea.

    1. Re:Diffe rent engineering reqs by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Insightful

      At the depth specified, a strong storm swell will shake the habitat pretty good.

      You need to read more carefully. It will be at a depth of 3000 meters, not 3000 millimeters.

      3000 meters is about 2 miles beneath the surface. No storm will be felt that deep.

    2. Re:Diffe rent engineering reqs by Yvan256 · · Score: 2

      That's not the storm, that's Jim's stomach. He skipped breakfast so he's pretty hungry right now.

  2. Lots of skepticism over this one by jandrese · · Score: 3, Informative

    On other parts of the internet there is a lot of skepticism about China's stated goals for this facility. It smells strongly of manganese nodule harvesting and many analysts think it has a military or intelligence purpose instead. The details that have been released are so sketchy it's hard to believe that it's a legitimate scientific facility, but I guess it's not impossible.

    --

    I read the internet for the articles.
    1. Re:Lots of skepticism over this one by NotInHere · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This thing is not a legitimate scientific facility, but a legitimacy facility. Its signal is simple: we build it there, because its part of our country. We claim the natural resources of this area.

    2. Re:Lots of skepticism over this one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Even if it's not a legitimate scientific facility, China is planning to do something in its own backyard.
      It is no concern to the US what China does or does not in its own waters. We would go literally apeshit if some nation told us what we could and couldn't do off the coast of California, Hawaii or Florida.
      The US is always imparting moral lessons but doing the complete opposite. I think it's fair to say China has learned the game very well indeed.

    3. Re:Lots of skepticism over this one by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Informative

      What do you do when fishing boats start operating in the area?

      China can just use their gunboats to shoo them away. No other country in the area can stand up to China without American backing. Only the Philippines has a defense treaty with America, and two days ago the Philippine president called Obama a "son of a whore" so they shouldn't be expecting any help for awhile.

    4. Re:Lots of skepticism over this one by Thud457 · · Score: 3, Funny

      What do you do when fishing boats start operating in the area.

      In America, we usually send a submarine full of senators out to do an emergency breach under an encroaching fishing trawler to send a very clear message to "STAY OUT OF MY TERRITORY".

      I trust the Chinese will go about things in a more efficient manner.

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    5. Re:Lots of skepticism over this one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It is no concern to the US what China does or does not in its own waters. We would go literally apeshit if some nation told us what we could and couldn't do off the coast of California, Hawaii or Florida.

      The catch is that the definition of "its own waters" is very controversial - most of the South China Sea is far closer to the coasts of Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines than mainland China. What's been happening the last few years is more analogous to the US claiming the entire Gulf of Mexico right up to a few miles off the coast of Mexico.

  3. Re:A 3000m deep habitat - a bold experiment... by ffkom · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There is no gas humans can breath and survive on at 30 MPa pressure. Hydrox was barely survived (in COMEX experiments) at 7 MPa pressure. No, a deep-ocean habitat at 3000m would certainly contain ordinary "1 bar air", and need to have very very strong casing and very very dependable sealing.

  4. Re:My guess.... by guruevi · · Score: 2

    Not sure if mining minerals that deep is in any way economic, China has way easier access to minerals with full disregard about the ecological consequences. Just like mining asteroids, the deep sea is too expensive to access for the foreseeable future.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  5. It's just as important as colonizing Mars... by Inyu · · Score: 2

    The thin layer of atmosphere may prove defense-less against threats like Gamma Ray Burts, and colonizing Mars won't save us from them. Learning to live under sea, and building cities deep underwater for reducing the likelihood of our extinction from some types of very low probability catastrophic events is just as important colonizing Mars.