Author: Stephen Johnson / Source: Big Think
- China’s Chang’e 4 lunar lander touched down on the far side of the moon on January 3.
- In addition to a lunar rover, the lander carried a biosphere experiment that contains five sets of plants and some insects.
- The experiment is designed to test how astronauts might someday grow plants in space to sustain long-term settlements.
A plant has sprouted on the moon in a Chinese probe, marking the first time a plant has grown on the lunar surface, according to an image and statements released the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Tuesday.
The image appears to show cotton shoots successfully growing within an airtight canister aboard China’s Chang’e 4 lunar lander, which touched down on the far side of the moon on January 3. The plant is part of the mission’s “moon surface micro-ecological circle” experiment, which also includes rapeseed, potato, arabidopsis, yeast and fruit flies.
Chinese professor Liu Hanlong, head of the experiment, announced on Tuesday that the cotton seeds were the first to sprout, and also that rapeseed and potato seeds had sprouted and were growing well as of Saturday.
It’s an experiment designed to test how humans might someday grow food on lunar bases, a necessity for any long-term settlement. “We have given consideration to future survival in space. Learning about these plants’ growth in a low-gravity environment would allow us to lay the foundation for our future establishment of space base,” Hanlong told the South China Morning Post.
The micro-ecological circle in the experiment was carefully designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the moon, with the six organisms behaving synergistically as “producers, consumers and decomposers”: The plants produce the oxygen and food, sustaining the fruit flies.
Meanwhile, the yeast decomposes waste from the flies and dead plants, creating more food for the insects.The experiment shows that astronauts on future missions would likely be able to grow potatoes for food, cotton for clothing and rapeseed…
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