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This Article is From Jan 16, 2019

Like Matt Damon's 'Martian', China Scientists Claim Growing Crops On Moon

Chongqing University, which led the biological project, said the experiment has cultivated the first plant sprout on the lifeless moon.

Like Matt Damon's 'Martian', China Scientists Claim Growing Crops On Moon
Pictures sent back showed plant shoots growing well nine days after the experiment was initiated.

Chinese scientists say they have grown the first plants on the moon as part of the country's lunar mission.

Pictures sent back Jan. 12 showed plant shoots growing well nine days after the experiment was initiated, Chongqing University, which led the biological project, said in a briefing Tuesday. The first green leaf comes from cotton seeds, according to the scientists.

"The experiment has cultivated the first plant sprout on the lifeless moon," Professor Xie Gengxin, dean of Chongqing University's Institute of Advanced Technology and chief designer of the experiment said.

The biopsy test load carried cotton, canola, potato, Arabidopsis, yeast and fruit fly. Crops were exposed to high vacuum, temperature differences, and strong radiation.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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