China's cotton seeds sprout on far side of the moon for the first time

A small green shoot is growing on the moon in an out-of-this-world first after a cotton seed germinated on board a Chinese lunar lander, scientists said on Tuesday.
The sprout has emerged from a lattice-like structure inside a canister since the Chang'e-4 lander set down earlier this month, according to a series of photos released by the Advanced Technology Research Institute at Chongqing University.
"This is the first time humans have done biological growth experiments on the lunar surface," said Xie Gengxin, who led the design of the experiment.
The Chang'e-4 probe - named after a Chinese moon deity - made the world's first soft landing on the moon's "dark side" on January 3, a major step in China's ambitions to become a space superpower.
Scientists from Chongqing University - who designed the "mini lunar biosphere" experiment - sent an 18-centimetre (seven-inch) bucket-like container holding air, water and soil.
Inside are cotton, potato, and arabidopsis seeds - a plant of the mustard family - as well as fruit fly eggs and yeast.
Images sent back by the probe show a cotton sprout has grown well, but so far none of the other plants has taken, the university said.
Chang'e-4 is also equipped with instruments developed by scientists from Sweden, Germany and China to study the lunar environment, cosmic radiation and the interaction between solar wind and the moon's surface.
The lander released a rover, dubbed Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit), that will perform experiments in the Von Karman Crater. The agency said four more lunar missions are planned, confirming the launch of a probe by the end of the year to bring back samples from the moon.
International lunar base
China will seek to establish an international lunar base one day, possibly using 3D printing technology to build facilities, the Chinese space agency said on Monday, weeks after landing a rover on the moon's far side. The agency said four more lunar missions are planned, confirming the launch of a probe by the end of the year to bring back samples from the moon.
The future launches will culminate with a mission to test equipment for an international moon research base, Wu Yanhua, deputy chief commander of China's Lunar Exploration Programme, said at a press briefing.
"China, the United States, Russia and Europe are all discussing whether to build a research base or a research station on the moon," Wu said. Scientists are looking into "whether we can use 3D printing technology" to build lunar facilities, he added.
China took a major step in its ambition to achieve space superpower status when it became the first nation to land a probe on the far side of the moon on January 3.
The Chang'e-4 lander - named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology - released a rover that will perform experiments in the Von Karman Crater, which is located in the South Pole-Aitken Basin. The rover, dubbed Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit), was preparing to go back to work after waking from five days of hibernation on Thursday.
"It will be the first time that we are able to study the origin and formation... (of) the darker side the moon, including the age of... the moon," said Wu Weiren, general designer of the Lunar Exploration Programme. Basking the mission's success, the China National Space Administration discussed plans for the future missions.
The Chang'e-5 probe, originally scheduled to collect moon samples in the second half of 2017, will launch by the end of the year, Wu said. The mission was delayed after its planned carrier, the powerful Long March 5 Y2 rocket, failed in a separate launch in July 2017.
Following that mission, China will launch Chang'e-6 to gather samples on the moon's south pole and bring them back to Earth, Wu said.
"We will decide whether it will do it on the dark side of the moon or the near side depending on the sampling situation of the Chang'e-5," Wu told reporters.
It will be followed by Chang'e-7, which will conduct a "comprehensive exploration of the moon's south pole", including its topography, material composition and space environment, he said.