IEEE Spectrum September 30, 2019
The experiment began shortly after China’s Chang’e-4 spacecraft made the first ever landing on the far side of the moon, on 3 January this year. Cotton, arabidopsis and potato seeds, fruit-fly eggs and yeast were all aboard the 2.6-kilogram mini biosphere, but only the cotton produced positive results. Image processing has now shown that two cotton leaves had grown. All the species died with the onset of the first lunar night, with no power to protect the canister from temperatures that reached as low as minus 190 degrees Celsius. The cotton leaves were dead within one lunar daytime, or around 14 and a half Earth days. They propose to send biology payloads on future missions, and a larger payload allocation might allow more complex animals to ride along. Chang’e-6 mission scheduled for the early 2020s…read more.
Two cotton leaves grown in the Chang’e-4 lander on the far side of the moon. Credit: Chongqing University