Planting the seed of an idea

These experiments could obviously translate into better crop yields and hardier plants that could thrive in inhospitable parts of the world

Mankind’s grandiose ambitions for colonising space and settling on other planets, and to live long-term in closed ecosystems within spaceships, rest on several large assumptions. One is that human beings will be able to grow food, both in space, and on other planets.

The first-ever attempt to grow plants on another celestial body, can be considered promising, if inconclusive. China’s Chang’e-4, which landed on the far side of the moon on January 3, 2019, managed to successfully germinate cotton seeds. But the seeds withered and died with the onset of lunar night.

Researchers at Chongqing University created an enclosed environment