On the Tuesday, a few small little cotton plant were planted on the moon. The seeds were successfully germinated along with other type of plants such as potatoes, cress rapeseed, yeast as well as fruit fly eggs. The Chinese Lunar Probe, Chang'e 4 carried with it a sealed container of soil with the seed, yeast and eggs in. Though it was only the cotton plants which germinated. For those struggling with the term, Germinate is the process of an organisation, in this case a plant, growing from a seed.
This lunar experiment wasn't just to see if the plants could be planted. But, to see if these plants would flower which they expected to happened in 100 days time. This experiment would have said whether or not this could provide a source of food to astronauts and therefore, allowing them to spend more time up in space. It marked the first time in which biological matter has been grown in space - It's just a sad event that the plants didn't stand the test of time.
The Chinese National Space Administration said that the plants and seed will eventually decompose in the container and therefore, won't affect the lunar environment.
The aluminium container that was used was priced around 10million Yuan which is £1.15million in our currency. It was designed to maintain a temperature between 1 and 30c, allow natural light into the container along with feeding the plants with water and nutrients. But, Nighttime had come to the far side of the moon. For the moon, the night lasts for around two weeks. When the conditions of the nighttime arriving and the temperature falling to -170c - the plants' short lives ended.
Professor Xie Gengxin of Chongquin University, the person who led the design of the experiment, had been anticipating the small life span (Source).
It wasn't just the plants that had been affected by the lunar night. The Chang'e 4 probe has also gone into sleep mode on Sunday. Don't worry, the probe will wake up once it becomes day light. The Rover - Yutu-2 also takes naps at midday. If it didn't, the rover would overheat due to the sun being directly overhead and the temperatures reaching 120c.
Even though this experiment did fail, it did provide some insight and interest into the science topics around space. I know that I was reading up more about the project. Professor Xie said that it was aimed at inspiring young people's enthusiasm for science exploration, and popularising science such as photosynthesis (Source).
Side fact - These extreme changes of temperature only occur because the moon has no atmosphere.
This lunar experiment wasn't just to see if the plants could be planted. But, to see if these plants would flower which they expected to happened in 100 days time. This experiment would have said whether or not this could provide a source of food to astronauts and therefore, allowing them to spend more time up in space. It marked the first time in which biological matter has been grown in space - It's just a sad event that the plants didn't stand the test of time.
The Chinese National Space Administration said that the plants and seed will eventually decompose in the container and therefore, won't affect the lunar environment.
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| The Aluminium container (Photo Credit: Astronaurika.it) |
Cotton Seed Sprouts on the Moon's Far Side in Historic First by China's Chang'e 4 https://t.co/IsWWNmY3Wg pic.twitter.com/ThKlSZ6vt5— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) January 15, 2019
Professor Xie Gengxin of Chongquin University, the person who led the design of the experiment, had been anticipating the small life span (Source).
It wasn't just the plants that had been affected by the lunar night. The Chang'e 4 probe has also gone into sleep mode on Sunday. Don't worry, the probe will wake up once it becomes day light. The Rover - Yutu-2 also takes naps at midday. If it didn't, the rover would overheat due to the sun being directly overhead and the temperatures reaching 120c.
Even though this experiment did fail, it did provide some insight and interest into the science topics around space. I know that I was reading up more about the project. Professor Xie said that it was aimed at inspiring young people's enthusiasm for science exploration, and popularising science such as photosynthesis (Source).
RIP little plants. You went further then most plants. 💚🌼
First in human history: A cotton seed brought to the moon by China's Chang'e 4 probe has sprouted, the latest test photo has shown, marking the completion of humankind's first biological experiment on the moon pic.twitter.com/CSSbgEoZmC— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) January 15, 2019
Side fact - These extreme changes of temperature only occur because the moon has no atmosphere.
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