China's Deep Space Exploration Laboratory has contributed to the scientific and technological researches in China's lunar and deep space exploration in the past three years since it official went into operation in June 2022.
Jointly established by the China National Space Administration, the eastern province of Anhui and the University of Science and Technology of China, the lab is headquartered in Hefei, capital of Anhui.
"This is the Hefei headquarters of our Deep Space Exploration Laboratory. The lab is a key technological supporting institution for China's major deep space exploration programs. We support the proposal, justification, and implementation of major projects in the field of aerospace, especially deep space exploration. We pursue breakthroughs in key cutting-edge core technologies in deep space exploration and spearheads basic scientific studies," said Li Hang, board office director of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory.
Over the three years since it was set up, the lab has conducted extensive researches to support China's major lunar exploration and planetary exploration missions.
It's now working for the planned Chang'e-7, Chang'e-8, Tianwen-3, and Tianwen-4 missions.
A futuristic exhibition at the lab's headquarters depicts its groundbreaking concepts, including a full-scale model of a suborbital vehicle, a lunar maglev catapult launch system, and an international lunar research station featuring a solar power plant, mining robots, and base stations.
The lunar research station is projected to be built in two phases: a basic model to be built by 2035 in the lunar south pole region, and an extended model to be built by about 2050.
Wu Weiren, director of the lab and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has expressed his confidence in the humanity's future deep space exploration.
"There have been predictions that the next 100 years should be a golden era for deep space exploration. I think our deep space exploration in the next 100 years might have to deal with the following issues: first, whether humankind could venture beyond Earth into deeper space farther away; second, the distance to be probed could be farther; and third, the future astronauts might be sent to deeper space farther away. I think it's possible for us to achieve that, and the predictions in this regard can come true," Wu said.
3-year-old lab contributes to China’s deep space exploration
A video featuring a former member of Unit 731, a notorious Japanese germ-warfare unit during World War II (WWII), was released on Thursday in northeast China's Harbin, revealing details of how the unit used meteorological data to conduct horrific bacterial experiments on human beings.
The video was released by the Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crimes Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army, in which former Unit 731 member Tsuruo Nishijima detailed how the unit used meteorological data to carry out a bacterial dispersal experiment.
The video was recorded in 1997 by Japanese scholar Fuyuko Nishisato and donated to the exhibition hall in 2019, according to the hall, which was built on the former site of the headquarters of Unit 731 in Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province.
Jin Shicheng, director of the Department of Publicity, Education and Exhibition of the exhibition hall, said that Nishijima joined Unit 731 in October 1938 and served in the unit's meteorological squad. The squad was not a simple observation section but rather an auxiliary force supporting the unit's field human experiments by measuring wind direction, wind speed, and other conditions to ensure optimal experimental results, according to Jin.
Nishijima confirmed in the footage that "the meteorological squad had to be present at every field experiment." He testified to the "rainfall experiments" conducted by Unit 731, which involved aircraft releasing bacterial agents at extremely low altitudes.
At a field-testing site in Anda City, Heilongjiang, Unit 731 aircraft descended to about 50 meters above the ground. They sprayed bacterial culture liquids onto "maruta" -- human test subjects -- who were tied to wooden stakes. Each experiment involved about 30 people, spaced roughly 5 meters apart. After the experiments, the victims were loaded into sealed trucks and transported back to the unit, where their symptoms and disease progression were recorded over a period of several days.
"Unit 731's bacterial weapons were dropped by aircraft from a height of 50 meters in the open air. Therefore, the meteorological squad needed to observe wind direction and speed, which directly affected the precision and accuracy of the bacterial weapons deployment," said Jin.
Nishijima recounted the harrowing experience of the human test subjects.
"They were fully aware that inhaling the substances would certainly lead to death, so they closed their eyes and held their breath to avoid breathing them in. Their resistance prevented the experiment from proceeding. To compel them to comply, they were forced at gunpoint to open their mouths and lift their heads," said Nishijima.
These experiments, disguised as "scientific research," were in fact systematic tests of biological warfare weapons conducted by the Japanese military. The data generated from these inhumane activities became "research findings" shared among the Japanese army medical school, the medical community, and the military at large.
"At that time, the entire Japanese medical community tacitly approved, encouraged, and even participated in the criminal acts of Unit 731. The unit comprised members from Japan's medical and academic sectors who served the Japanese war of aggression against China. Thus, Unit 731 was not just a military unit but represented an organized and systematic criminal enterprise operating from the top down," said Jin.
Unit 731 was a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research base established in Harbin as the nerve center for Japanese biological warfare in China and Southeast Asia during WWII.
At least 3,000 people were used for human experiments by Unit 731, and Japan's biological weapons killed more than 300,000 people in China.
Video offers details of Japan's germ-warfare crimes in northeast China
