All moon plants died

No sooner had mankind rejoiced at the first plants grown on the surface of the moon (in the biocontainer of the Chang'e-4 space probe), as on the same day the sad news came from Chinese scientists: all moon plants died . The experiment is complete.

The chief designer of the experiment, a professor at Chongqing University, Xie Gengxin (Xie Gengxin), explained that the battery was not included in the bio-container kit (probably due to weight limitations). Therefore, the shoots died on a moonlit night, when the temperature inside the liter compartment with plants dropped to −57 ° C.

Earlier, the professor claimed that the container was designed with a battery for heating based on the experiment duration of 100 days.



Now it turns out that the kit includes only the seeds of six types of living organisms (cotton, canola, potatoes, rezuhovidka, yeast, fruit flies), soil, water, fertilizers, two video cameras and a temperature control system. But not a battery.

The experiment lasted 212.75 hours, representatives of the National Space Administration of China said. They explained that after the surface temperature rises, biomass will decompose in a tightly closed space and will not contaminate the satellite surface.