January 16, 2019
Chinese scientists say that they have grown the 1st plants on the moon as part of the country’s lunar mission.
Pictures sent back 12th Jan showed plant shoots growing well 9 days after the experiment was initiated, Chongqing University, which led this biological project, said in a briefing on Tuesday.
The biopsy test load carried cotton, canola, potato, Arabidopsis, yeast & fruit fly. Crops were exposed to high vacuum, temperature differences, & strong radiation.
After becoming the 1st country in the world to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon, China is planning 4 more missions to get samples back before studying the feasibility of a lunar research base.
China plans to launch the Chang’e-5 probe to the moon later this year, with 3 more in the offing, said Wu Yanhua, vice administrator of the China National Space Administration, at a briefing in Beijing on Monday. At least 2 of them will land on the moon’s south pole and conduct research, he said.
“We'll use the Chang’e-8 to test certain technologies & do some preliminary exploration for jointly building a research base on the moon,” Wu said.
The world’s 2nd biggest economy is doubling down on its space program as the race with the U.S. to explore Mars & beyond heats up at a time both the powers are vying for economic, technological & military dominance.
With an annual space budget of $8 billion, 2nd only to the U.S., China is also looking to send a probe to the red planet by the end of this decade & build its own space station by 2022.
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