Seeds Are Sprouting on the Moon in Chinese Experiment
Here’s something crazy for you, cotton is growing on the moon. First, it is important to note that this does not mean that astronauts dug up part of the moon and planted some seeds that are now growing.
The seeds for cotton plants, Arabidopsis, potatoes, and rapeseed were sent by China to the far side of the moon along with fruit fly eggs and yeast. They were in a canister that created a mini biosphere and they made the journey to the moon in 20 days. Then, scientists were able to tell the canister to start delivering water to the planted seeds in the biodome after it touched base on the moon. Now, the seeds are germinating!
You may be thinking, big deal. They used Earth soil to do everything. However, this was a big experiment as we have not known the effects of a low-gravity environment. Now we know that it may be possible.
This could have major impacts on future space missions as it could reduce the need for astronauts to come all the way back to Earth to restock for their missions. If this pans out, we may find a way to use lunar soil to grow plants next. This is an amazing discovery.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization shared the following excitement on Twitter:
Via: NPR