China grows first plant. On Moon!
- IndiaGlitz, [Thursday,January 17 2019]
China being China, it has just grown a plant on Moon. As per experts, this is the first time in the history of mankind that someone has grown biological matter in space. The powerful country did it as an element of its unmanned lunar mission.
If everything goes well, this plant will start flowering towards the end of a 100-day experiment. It's a cotton plant. The project, named Chinese Moon lander, went carrying in a sealed container soil, cotton seeds, potato seeds, rock cress rapeseed, yeast and fruit fly eggs. The artificial environment is self-sustaining for the germination of the seed and flowering.
Astronauts will start having ready sources of food in the space if this and similar projects in future become successful.
Looks like, if and when a sequel to 'Antariksham' is made, its hero and others will not run out of food, thanks to the plants in the space!