Unprecedented Human Acheivement… Cotton Seeds Grow on Moon

By: Yassmine ElSayed

CAIRO, Jan 16 (SEE) – Unprecedented acheivment by humans was

disclosed yesterday when a photo released by the China National Space administration

showed cotton shoots were growing well along with other germinated plants on

the moon.

When 'Chang’e 4' landed on the far side of the moon on January 3,

its cargo included an airtight container that carried bioscience test loads,

including one called a “moon surface micro-ecological circle”.

Professor Liu Hanlong, head of the experiment said that the cotton

seeds were the first to sprout, but the team did not give an exact time for

that event.

Liu said that in addition to cotton, rapeseed and potato seeds had

sprouted and were growing well as of Saturday.

Professor Xie Gengxin, the experiment’s chief designer, revealed

that cotton, rapeseed, potato, arabidopsis – commonly know as rock cress –

yeast and fruit flies were the six organisms chosen to go to the moon.

“Learning about these plants’ growth in a low-gravity environment

would allow us to lay the foundation for our future establishment of space

base,” Liu said.

He said the container was equipped with a small but powerful

control system to keep the interior at around 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees

Fahrenheit).

Liu said the six components behaved as “producers, consumers and

decomposers” in the micro-ecosystem that arrived on the moon. The plants

produced oxygen and food by photosynthesis and sustained the fruit flies.

The canister was fully concealed from the extremes of temperature

and strong radiation on the moon. Chinese scientists designed tubes for the

canister to take natural Earth light to the moon for the plants to aid

photosynthesis.

The yeast, acting as a decomposition agent, processed waste from

the flies and the dead plants to create an additional food source for the

insects.

Liu said potatoes could be a main source food for space explorers,

cotton could be used for clothing, and rapeseed could be a source of oil.

Xie said the six species were chosen because they were small and

could grow in a confined environment. They were also hardy enough to withstand

some of the extreme conditions on the lunar surface.