A cotton seed sprouted – and died – on China’s Lunar Lander

A cotton seed sprouted – and died – on China’s Lunar Lander

5 years ago
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https://thenextweb.com/science/2019/01/16/a-cotton-seed-sprouted-and-died-on-chinas-lunar-lander/

On Tuesday, Chinese media reported that one of the cotton seeds aboard the Chang’e 4 lunar lander sprouted, marking the first time that any biological matter has ever grown on the moon.

Unfortunately, the sprout died after nine days upon the beginning of the lander’s first lunar night on Sunday. That’s because temperatures drop to -150 degress Celsius during lunar nights on the moon, and according to Xie Gengxin, chief designer of the experiment, life inside the canister would simply not survive those conditions.