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First Green Leaf on Moon Dies as Temperatures Plummet

posted by mrpg on Friday January 18 2019, @01:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the don't-lose-hope-humans! dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

First green leaf on moon dies as temperatures plummet

The appearance of a single green leaf hinted at a future in which astronauts would grow their own food in space, potentially setting up residence at outposts on the moon or other planets. Now, barely after it had sprouted, the cotton plant onboard China’s lunar rover has died.

The plant relied on sunlight at the moon’s surface, but as night arrived at the lunar far side and temperatures plunged as low as -170C, its short life came to an end.

Prof Xie Gengxin of Chongqing University, who led the design of the experiment, said its short lifespan had been anticipated. “Life in the canister would not survive the lunar night,” Xie said.

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Friday January 18 2019, @04:30PM (4 children)

    by Bot (3902) on Friday January 18 2019, @04:30PM (#788286) Journal

    First satellite: urss
    First dog in space: urss
    First loss of material from a moon mission: USA
    First reusable spaceship: USA
    First reusable but not reliable spaceship: USA
    First proof the dark side of the moon ain't dark: China
    First germination in space: China
      -->First frozen veggies in space: China

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Alfred on Friday January 18 2019, @05:34PM (1 child)

    by Alfred (4006) on Friday January 18 2019, @05:34PM (#788310) Journal
    Actually first proof the dark side ain't dark doesn't go to China. It was seen (with visible light) and mapped decades ago. Depending on where you stand with conspiracies, Americans were the first to see it with the bare eye.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by qzm on Friday January 18 2019, @10:28PM

      by qzm (3260) on Friday January 18 2019, @10:28PM (#788450)

      Or perhaps to anyone with even a small amount of intelligence that thinks about the fact that the 'dark' side of the moon is facing the sun half of the time?

  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday January 18 2019, @06:15PM

    by Freeman (732) on Friday January 18 2019, @06:15PM (#788329) Journal

    "Seeds germinated on the International Space Station sprouted roots that behaved like they would on Earth—growing away from the seed to seek nutrients and water in exactly the same pattern observed with gravity." https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/121207-plants-grow-space-station-science/ [nationalgeographic.com]

    The only thing new here, is that China successfully conducted an experiment involving germinating a plant on the Moon. Then that plant died due to extreme cold, but apparently as expected. Since, apparently it wasn't insulated/heated well enough to survive the cold.

    --
    Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"

  • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Saturday January 19 2019, @09:33PM

    by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Saturday January 19 2019, @09:33PM (#788776) Journal

    In the future they will visit the site and thereby make the first soup from natively grown frozen vegetables.

    --
    This sig for rent.