Yuling Chen, iChongqing News

Chongqing-I bet you have heard about the news that China's moon plants are dead these days. Just google the keywords of "China's moon plants dead", you will find so many pieces of news about it. It is sad to the fans, but it is part of the plan, the source of the research team of the Chongqing University said. 

The birth and death of China's moon plants

On January 3, 2019, Chang’e-4 lunar probe touched down at the preselected landing area at 177.6 degrees east longitude and 45.5 degrees south latitude. The payload carries potato, mouse-ear cress, rapeseeds, cotton, fruit fly, and yeast, with a total weight of 2.6 kg, to form a simple mini biosphere,

Later, one of the cotton seeds sprouted on the moon on January 15, 2019. It is the first time for the human to cultivate and grow a green leaf on the far side of the moon. 

However, these days, the death of the plants has attracted worldwide attention. How could it happen? Here are the words of Liu Hanlong, director of the experiment and deputy head of the Chongqing University.

“The biological science payload is cut off electricity. All the six living things in the payload will end their mission and be frozen at minus 52℃ of the lunar nights. When temperature increases in the next daytime, these species in the closed payload will be decomposed into harmless organic compounds and preserved in it permanently."

Yes, the first buds ever grown on the moon have died, and it is a piece of bad news for the fans excited by the news of the plants grown on the moon. 

a proof of  planting on the moon

"The main purpose was to explore the sprouting of plants on the moon, and we made it. We didn't bring the heat reservation equipment with the mission, so we couldn't keeping them growing. But we prove that it is possible for the human to plant on the moon, and the experiment provides us the experiences and precious data to research on the Lunar base on the moon." said Liu Hanlong.

A complete success 

Moreover, China announced that the Chang'e-4 mission, which realized the first-ever soft-landing on the far side of the moon, was a complete success. And China National Space Administration posted the information on its official website.

It is fair to say the death of China's moon plants does not mean the end of its science popularization. China's lunar exploration is always on the journey. Just as a Chinese saying goes, " A thousand-li journey starts with the first step."

 

 

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