{"id":1375,"date":"2019-01-27T20:47:53","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T03:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience2019w211\/?p=1375"},"modified":"2019-02-25T22:59:06","modified_gmt":"2019-02-26T05:59:06","slug":"first-plant-to-grow-on-the-moon-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience2019w211\/2019\/01\/27\/first-plant-to-grow-on-the-moon-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"First plant to grow on the Moon ever!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you think we can one day sustain life outside of Earth? Perhaps one day in the future, but when will that be? That day may be sooner than you think!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The first time<\/a> biological matter to\u00a0 sprout and grow on the moon has been achieved! On January 2nd 2019, China’s Chang’e-4 lunar probe<\/a> landed on the far side of the moon where no human or robot has ever ventured before.<\/a>\u00a0 It\u00a0carried a “lunar biosphere” experiment containing plant seeds and silkworm eggs.\u00a0 The plan is that the plants provide oxygen for the silkworms, and in turn, the silkworms will nurture the plants with its waste and released carbon dioxide. There are potato, rock-cress and cotton seeds among the seeds carried on board.\u00a0 The “biosphere<\/a>” experiment is all contained inside a 0.8 liter aluminum alloy cylinder weighing in around three kilograms and includes nutrients, water and dirt.\u00a0 Sunlight is filtered into the container through a tube with small cameras set up inside. The cameras watch the environment and relay the footage back to Earth through a complicated relay system. The accomplishments so far show great progress towards sustaining life on the moon.<\/p>\n

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A picture of Yutu-2 taken by the Chang\u2019e-4 lunar probe. Source: China National Space Administration (CNSA)<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The Far Side of the Moon<\/h5>\n

The moon’s rotation speed is in sync with Earth’s orbit.\u00a0 This results in the moon rotating on its axis and also orbiting the Earth every 28 days.\u00a0 The same face of the moon always faces Earth, and the side we can’t see from the planet’s surface is considered the far side.<\/p>\n