Come, garden on the moon Tiangong-2 space lab.

 by Mr DIGVIJAY SINGH



China's Chang'e 4 lander stunned the world when it landed on the moon. This lander carried cotton seeds with him, which created a history. It became the first seed to sprout on the moon. For almost a year no one knew how China did this charisma. Whose mind was working behind it. What was the planning of this experiment?


Garden on the moonThe Chinese engineer who saw the dream of making, has now opened its secrets for the first time. Chang'e 4 When it landed in a remote area of ​​the moon in January 2019, it had a 2.6 kg biosphere, an artificially made structure with everything to germinate seeds. It contained cotton, flowers named Arbidopsis, mustard seed and yeast.


Radiation is deadly for plants on the moon

, behind this experiment was the brain of Xi Jengsin of Chongqing University of China. He said that the plan to garden on the moon was made in several months. But the idea was chosen in 2016 from a suggestion from Chinese students. Earlier China had grown paddy and Arbidopsis in the Tiangong-2 space lab.


The first such experiments were also successful in international space stations. But these successes were found in the lower orbit of the earth. Their distance was close to 400 km from the earth, while the moon is 3.48 lakh km away. Radiation also increases with distance from the earth. Therefore it is more difficult to grow plants there.


Xi reported that there was less space on the lander. Therefore it was necessary to limit the experiment. His team produced a capsule 19.8 cm high, egg-shaped. In this, small pots were kept for the seeds to germinate. There was a pipe above the capsule so that the sunlight could reach the plants. The temperature inside it was kept equal to that of the earth.

The roots of the plant were not in the ground

It was activated by electricity within 13 hours of landing on the moon. The seeds were first sprayed with water on the capsules. This was to be done with the help of machines. There could be many wrongs in this mission. Xi's team had to anticipate all these and be ready for it.


There should be no disturbance in the camera. Do not stop receiving data from the capsule. Do not sprinkle water too soon. What will happen if the seeds do not get water on time? The pipe which was planted to reach the sunlight to the seeds, if it is closed with dust flying on the moon, then? There were many questions, the answer of which was to keep this team ready in advance.


The capsule had two cameras. They were sent home on the ground after taking his picture for hours. These photos showed that the seeds had not been watered before the Earth's Chang'e 4 was launched. Nor did any seeds germinate before time. After reaching the moon, two leaves emerged from the cotton plant. Its roots were not in the soil. They were spread horizontally. Perhaps it was due to the decrease of the force of gravity on the moon.


Expect a big garden

on the moon The temperature on the moon reaches 127 degrees Celsius during the day. Therefore it was necessary to keep the capsule cool. For this, Xi's team made such arrangements that the temperature during the day was below 36.5 degrees Celsius. Plants in the capsule survived for an equivalent time of 9 days on Earth. Actually the lander was in the remote area of ​​the moon, after which the sunlight stopped getting there.


The temperature falls to minus 173 degree Celsius during the night on the moon. The night there is about 15 days. Xi's team knew that it would be difficult to escape the plants after the night had set. They will not be able to tolerate that much winter. Its Bajavud capsule did not have power off until 9 May. After months of use, the air was slightly reduced.


Xi believes that their use will form the foundation of such a large experiment in the future. Later, better biospheres will be made. He told, "Wouldn't it be amazing if astronauts or tourists going to space could breathe with oxygen released from plants and see greenery there."