It won’t be the first time this type of idea has propped up; it was resolved by NASA about six years ago. Presently there is no shiftiness, no challenge just the balanced quest of something unusual beyond the living planet. Does not it? Sure does, according to CGTN, the global arm of Chinese broadcaster CCTV with ease.
There is a vibrant crack in the curtains that tells us of this new experiment on the moon. Not that we ever thought about—we were miles away from that earth’s satellite. No din, no ruckus; nothing but pitch darkness and scariness continues as the earthly man has yet not succeeded in ably treading on the unfamiliar lunar surface.
A challenging environment of low gravity, high radiation and huge temperature differences existed on the moon’s sphere. However, there is one more attempt to test the point of sustainability of plant life on the lunar surface. Man has never been able to grow plants on the moon and China has initiated in that direction with all its advanced technological know-hows.
The cotton seeds that it carried onto the lunar base with its spacecraft Chang ‘e-4 have sprouted on the moon’s far side. It is for the first time humans have achieved a hit in growing living things on the moon. A 7-inch-tall bucket-like tin with air, water and soil that contains cotton, potato and Arabidopsis seeds (plant in mustard family) as well as fruit fly eggs and yeast was sent for the mini lunar biosphere experiment.
A tube inside the tin will direct natural light from the moon for photosynthesis, while any plants that grow will emit oxygen hopefully creating a little ecosystem. In the year 2013, NASA announced a plan to conduct a similar experiment to study how seeds including basil, turnip and Arabidopsis could grow on the moon.
But the plan was not carried out. Even NASA would now be appreciating what Chongqing University was doing from the technique it ventured to take on in the past. It shows potential and sounds promising in the comfort of the investigational success so far seen.