China Just Activated the Most Powerful Advanced Hypergravity Machine Ever Built
A new facility containing what has been described as “the world’s most advanced hypergravity machine” has just begun operation, according to Chinese state media.
The machine, reportedly capable of attaining forces that exceed Earth’s natural surface gravity by thousands of times, aims to advance scientist’s understanding of a diverse range of processes, from mountain formation to catastrophic collapses of infrastructure.
Formally known as the Centrifugal Hypergravity and Interdisciplinary Experiment Facility (CHIEF), the facility, based in Hangzhou, China, will provide a unique research platform that caters to scientists working on some of the world’s greatest modern engineering challenges, significantly advancing the field of hypergravity research.
Hypergravity conditions are produced on Earth primarily to facilitate a testing environment for conditions humans may encounter during spaceflight, aerial combat, and in other unique situations.
An official statement released by Hangzhou’s government said the new CHIEF facility will help researchers “fill a void in super-large hyper-gravity experiment facilities in China,” and characterized it as “a revolutionary engineering device” that leverages the compression of time and space “as well as accelerated phase separation to bring scientific research to a new level.”
Comprising a trio of hypergravity centrifuges accompanied by 18 onboard units, the facility was approved for construction six years ago by the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Construction on the facility officially began in 2020.
The project’s preliminary completion was hailed as “a milestone in the field” of hypergravity studies, according to an article that appeared in the South China Morning Post, a state media outlet, citing an official press statement released by the government of Hangzhou, which also said two additional centrifuges and 10 onboard units are currently being constructed at the facility.
Centrifuges are specially designed machines which induce hypergravity conditions using very rapid spin. In the past, astronauts have trained within centrifuges to help them prepare for extreme gravitational forces encountered during spaceflight, which can lead to loss of consciousness and spatial disorientation especially during extreme acceleration.
The hypergravity centrifuges at China’s CHIEF facility are expected to exceed those currently in use at the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) hypergravity facility, home of the GSL Centrifuge 1.
In short, this means that the completed CHIEF centrifuge, which is expected to operate at a capacity of 1,900 g-t, will significantly outperform the 1,200 g-t capacity of the USACE’s centrifuge, which up until now has been recognized as the most powerful centrifuge in the world.
One of China’s ten key scientific infrastructural projects according to the country’s 13th Five-Year Plan, the facility is estimated to have cost nearly $276.5 million dollars, equaling more than 2 billion yuan.
“As an indispensable experimentation device, it will provide an advanced experiment platform and offer immense support for the development and verification of major engineering technologies,” the Chinese government’s recent statement read, “as well as research into cutting-edge matter-related sciences.”
