One of the cotton seeds carried to the moon by China's Chang'e-4 probe is the first ever to sprout¹ on the moon.

 

由嫦娥四号带上月球的棉花种子，其中一粒率先在月球上发芽。
 

 

After making the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, China's Chang'e-4 mission pioneered the first mini biosphere² experiment on the moon.

 

Professor Xie Gengxin, of Chongqing University and chief designer of the experiment, said a canister installed on the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe contained the seeds of cotton, rapeseed, potato, and arabidopsis, as well as eggs of the fruit fly and some yeast³, to form a simple mini biosphere.

 

Images sent by the probe showed that a cotton sprout had started to grow, though no other plants were found growing.

 

The cylinder⁴ canister, made from special aluminum⁵ alloy⁶ materials, is 198 mm tall, with a diameter of 173 mm and a weight of 2.6 kg. It also holds water, soil, air, two small cameras, and a heat control system, said Xie.

 

More than 170 pictures have been taken by the cameras and sent back to Earth, according to the team.

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