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

Posted by msmash on from the marching-forward dept.

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.

11 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. And so? by XXongo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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?

    1. Re:And so? by jellomizer · · Score: 4, Informative

      There is the 672 hour lunar day and night which could be an issue for plant growth, the the technology to make a bubble that can support prolong life in a hostile environment like the moon.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:And so? by careysub · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    3. Re:And so? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:And so? by SomePoorSchmuck · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well it least it gave us a punderful headline.

      If you like that pun, just wait for the eventual follow-up when they harvest the cotton and announce "Chinese Make One Giant Reap For Mankind!"

      --

      Hollywood, Television, has become the dream machine. We need to take that back; each of us is a Dream Machine
  2. Earth soil by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Informative

    It appears it's Earth soil. I found nothing in the article to suggest it's using lunar soil here, which would be the real test. The article should have pointed that out; it's not a trivial admission.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Earth soil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Fake moon soil, totally rigged, believe me! I told you Jiiina cheats, knew they would! Loser probe snuck cheating soil past Earth barrier. Need better barriers to keep out bad hombre probes, Earth is not sending their best. Make moon farmers pay for Space Wall, and Space Force must fix this! #MakeSoilGreatAgain!"

        - Orangebot AI test

    2. Re:Earth soil by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Funny

      Could plants even grow in lunar soil? Not without something extra mixed in I would imagine.

      Adding astronaut feces would be a good test. It's what colonists would probably have to rely on.

      I'd hate to be the person at NASA in charge of creating the poop experiment, though.

      "Dad, what do you do at work?"

      "Why, I prepare important poop for important rockets, Mikey."

      "Dad, is my poop important?..."

      (I avoided a Uranus joke; that alone should get me mod points.)

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    3. Re:Earth soil by ElizabethGreene · · Score: 4, Informative

      This experiment has been performed with Lunar Soil Simulant (JSC-1) here on earth. Plants were able to grew, poorly, in it directly. Adding organic matter and fertilizer improved growth significantly as expected.

      https://journals.plos.org/plos...

  3. Re:Surprising by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's all in a sealed environment. The idea is to create a viable, self-contained environment with some plants and fruit flies.

    In any case, that boat has probably already sailed as it seems that at least one of the Surveyor probes was contaminated. And you also have to ask if it's worth worrying about, given that we are fairly certain that the Moon is dead and not having to deal with it will make life a lot easier to establish a presence there.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  4. Re:Thanks for Contaminating the Moon by AlwinBarni · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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