China releases a cotton seed on the moon for the first time | The

China has managed to get a cotton seed on the moon for the first time, which means the success of one of the Chang's experiences e 4, the first to land on the hidden side satellite, reports the state news agency. According to a team of scientists from Chongqing University in southeastern China, this feat is the first successful mini-experiment on the lunar soil.

The probe Chang & # 39; e 4, last day, first landing of human history on the far side of the Moon, carrying cotton seeds, rapeseed (plant used for the manufacture of oil) , potato and arabidopsis (flower widely used in genetic experiments) (fruit flies) and some yeasts, with the intention of creating a "simple minibiosphère", according to Xinhua. In this sense, the images sent by Chang & # 39; e 4 showed on Tuesday a cotton swab having grown successfully, the only seed having sprouted up to now.

This culture is not easy: the lunar surface temperatures can exceed 100 degrees Celsius on the day of the moon and fall below 100 at night, in addition to receiving higher solar radiation and to have a gravity lower than that of the Earth. Xie Gengxin, a scientist responsible for the lunar plant experiment, told the Hong Kong newspaper of the South China Morning Post that his team had designed a ship that would maintain the temperature between 1 and 30 degrees to allow natural light entry and intake of water and nutrients for plants.

According to the newspaper, this device, an aluminum cylinder 18 centimeters high and 16 centimeters in diameter, weighs 3 kilos and costs more than 10 million euros. yuan (R $ 5.5 million). However, these plants were not the first to develop in space: a NASA team had already developed a zinnias system (a flower) on the International Space Station in 2016. [19659002] China announced Monday its intention to continue to develop its a space exploration program with the mission to collect samples on the Moon this year and another in 2020 whose goal will be March, according to the director Deputy of the National Space Agency of China (ANEC), Wu Yanhua