First Ever Plant Grown On Moon By Chinese Researchers : Dead
The world rejoiced on the breakout of groundbreaking news that Cotton seeds taken to the moon surface by a Chinese probe have sprouted, making it the first plant to ever grow there. Chinese Government released images of sprouted cottonseed in a small pot taken from a Chinese probe sent to the moon under a mission titled Chang’e 4.
On January 3rd, 2019 China successfully landed a probe named Yutu 2 on the moon’s largest and oldest impact crater, the South Pole-Aitken Basin. The Probe was sent with a mission to conduct the first-ever experiment on lunar low-frequency radio astronomy and to explore the possibility of the existence of water at moon’s pole.
Another important mission was to conduct experiments and gather proofs on whether plants could grow in a low-gravity lunar environment. In less than a week after the probe landed lush green shoots were visible from the cotton seeds. The news of first ever plant grown on the moon by humans was greeted with joy all over the world.
Seedlings in space! First-ever cotton plant on the Moon growing in #ChangE4 mini biosphere https://t.co/L8YpXqoVIG pic.twitter.com/3NVoCBUn5M
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 15, 2019
First time for humankind: A seed taken up to #Moon by China’s Chang’e-4 probe has sprouted #ChangE4 pic.twitter.com/N6fA3A4ycv
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 15, 2019
But Alas! The Moon is lifeless yet again.
The sprouts observed from the cotton seeds under the Chang’e-4 biosphere experiment is dead, according to scientists involved in the pioneering test as reported by GBTimes.
The seedlings were unable to survive the Moon’s extreme climatic conditions including low gravity, high radiation levels, and extreme temperature swings. As a part of the experiment along with the cotton seeds, the Chinese researchers also carried seeds of potato, rapeseed and Arabidopsis plants, as well as fruit-fly eggs and yeast which were grown in a sealed 5.7-lb. (2.6 kilograms) canister – in order to create a mini biosphere. Out of all the cotton seedlings died and reports on how the other seeds performed have not been released yet by the concerned officials.
The Chinese officials stated that the dead seedling is being contained in a closed canister and hence the decaying materials will not leak out into the lunar surface. More updates on conclusions obtained via this experiment to test the effect on lunar conditions on life are yet to be released by the China National Space Agency.
Amidst this, China’s ambitions for space and lunar exploration does not halt here. China’s space agency announced recently the launch of Chang’e 5 lunar mission by the end of the year with a goal to bring moon samples back to Earth. The lunar expeditions & experimentations by the Chinese researchers could provide a blueprint for survival strategies related to human colonization of the moon.
