Giant Leaf For Mankind? China Germinates First Seed on Moon (theguardian.com)

A small green shoot is growing on the moon after a cotton seed germinated onboard a Chinese lunar lander, scientists said. From a report: The sprout has emerged from a lattice-like structure inside a canister after the Chang'e 4 lander touched down earlier this month, according to a series of photos released by the Advanced Technology Research Institute at Chongqing University. "This is the first time humans have done biological growth experiments on the lunar surface," said Xie Gengxin, who led the design of the experiment, on Tuesday. Plants have been grown previously on the International Space Station, but this is the first time a seed has sprouted on the moon. The ability to grow plants in space is seen as crucial for long-term space missions and establishing human outposts elsewhere in the solar system, such as Mars.

Comments

And so?

[XXongo]

I'm really not sure what this is supposed to prove. Has anybody ever suggested, or is there any reason to believe, that seeds would not sprout on the moon?

Re:And so?

[careysub]

After the sprouting comes growth. No one has ever raised a plant in a gravity field of 1/6 G. Never. Schemes to simulate it on Earth do not really do that, and while a centrifuge in orbit can do a proper simulation, no one has ever operated such a centrifuge over a plants life cycle.

Re:And so?

[AmiMoJo]

They are trying to create a completely self contained environment in which plants and fruit flies can live, and observe the effects of low gravity on them.

Sure, we assumed it would be fine, but it's a good idea to prove that assumption before sending tonnes of soil and plants up there with a view to sustaining human life. It's also a useful test of the sealed environment idea and technology, in an environment subject to extreme temperature swings.

Much of that tech will be applicable to Mars too.

Surprising

[willaien]

I'm surprised that a scientific endeavor would allow for the potential of contaminating the surface with live biological samples.

Regardless if there ever were anything on the moon, this makes studying that harder by its very existence.

Also, we've already done zero-g growth experiments, what value did this add? It's not like the lander sourced soil and water for this.

Re:Thanks for Contaminating the Moon

[AlwinBarni]

Thanks, China, for destroying lunar science by ...

- Moon is lifeless, there is no need to worry about contamination (it's not Mars) - really
- the seeds are in a sealed container, even if breached it will be sterilized by the solar radiation
- germinating seeds is an important experiment for potential human settlements on the Moon - shoulv'e been done long time ago

Re:Earth soil

[spaceman375]

Also no erosion, which leads to very pointy, sharp edged regolith. Not too comfortable for roots.

Re:NOthing Since Gun powder

[sycodon]

Theft of I.P is not, "capitalism".

It's theft.

Re:So bloody what?

[ElizabethGreene]

Have you looked at the US Space Program? I don't mean looking at our historic achievements, I mean looking at where we are today. While we were celebrating our wins, we allowed our Aerospace Industry to drive the cost of space so high that it strangled our ability to explore. Here's a news flash; Apollo 11's landing was 49.5 years ago. Most people who saw the it are retired or getting ready to retire.

It's worse. Most NASA badges are currently drawing unemployment, and the few that are showing up to work aren't getting paid. We haven't had manned spaceflight capability in almost a decade, and the only reason we're on the ISS is because the Russians choose to let us ride along. With the current electile dysfunction there is a good chance we miss the window for the 2020 rover launch too.

There are times for swinging your "My country is better than yours!" stick around; this isn't one.