Cottoning on: Chinese seed sprouts on moon
- by Brittany Mendoza
- in Research
- — Jan 19, 2019
"And with time moving on, it'll be the first plant with green leaves on the moon", Xie Gengxin, dean of Institute of Advanced Technology at Chongqing University, and the chief designer of the experiment, said in a university blog.
Cotton plants have been seen budding and growing, as shown by this close-up of the plants sprouting under a protective cover on the Chang'e 4 lunar lander.
China's second lunar rover Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2), which is the first-ever rover to drive on the Moon's far side, will face considerable challenges brought by complicated terrain in its future exploration, Chinese space experts have said. This will take place in the enclosed canister and will not affect the lunar environment, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) stated.
Cotton seeds, potato seeds, rapeseed, yeast, and fruit fly eggs were all sealed inside a canister and loaded on the lander to protect them from extreme temperature and radiation. With the ability to grow edible plants, astronauts could grow and harvest their own food, enabling long-term habitation.
It was one of a number of outreach initiatives related to the Chang'e-4 mission, which also included a competition to choose a name for the mission rover. Three successive missions will further explore the barren surface of the moon and test equipment for an worldwide lunar research base.
"Learning about these plants' growth in a low-gravity environment would allow us to lay the foundation for our future establishment of a space base", he said.Whether it will be conducted on the near side or the far side of the Moon, depends on the results from the sampling mission of Chang'e-5.
China National Space Administration (CNSA) led Chang 'e-4 landed moon's far side on 3rd January, it also has a lunar biosphere developed by Chongqing University.
"Overnight from Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019, into Monday, Jan. 21, millions of people in North and South America will have a prime view of a total lunar eclipse", Space.com said. While on Earth, we've become accustomed to the benefits provided by our planet's natural biosphere - things like humidity, sunlight levels, water levels, etc. work in ways that are hard to reproduce in a completely controlled environment like a spacecraft.
The cotton seeds were the first to sprout but the rapeseed and potato seeds have now also sprouted, the mission team spokesperson told a press conference Tuesday.
As the experiment is officially ended now, it is pretty clear that the sprouted cotton plant is dead and it failed to grow as the first known extraterrestrial plant.
