China’s moon cotton experiment ends in freezing lunar night

Beijing: A cotton seedling that sprouted on the moon has been left to die as China’s historic lunar lander continues a freezing night-time nap that will last as long as two earth weeks, scientists said.

The Chinese space agency announced earlier this week that the seed had germinated inside a special canister aboard the Chang’e-4 probe, after the spacecraft on January 3 made the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon. The mini biosphere -- which operated for over 212 hours -- was shut down as planned on Saturday, said Chongqing University, which designed the experiment. The lander also carried potato and arabidopsis seeds -- a plant of the mustard family -- as well as fruit fly eggs and yeast. Temperatures inside the ecosystem were expected to plunge below minus 52 degrees Celsius (minus 61.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and the organisms will be "in a frozen state", the university said in a statement on Tuesday.

The experiment ended hours before Chang’e-4 entered "sleep mode" on Sunday as the first lunar night fell since the probe’s landing. Temperatures plummet to about minus 170 degrees Celsius (minus 274 degrees Fahrenheit). A lunar night lasts for about two earth weeks, after which the probe is expected to wake up, the statement said.