China’s historic lunar landing may lead humanity closer to science fiction’s long-held vision of terraforming other worlds. On Thursday morning, a Chinese probe called the Chang’e-4 touched down on the moon’s far side, making China the first to do so. The Chinese Space Agency also will attempt to grow flora and fauna on the moon’s surface, using live species of cotton, rapeseed, potato, fruit fly, yeast and the flowering plant arabidopsis. If China is able to create a miniature biosphere, it may successfully grow the first flower on the lunar surface. “This is a first for humanity and an impressive accomplishment!” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said on Twitter.

Source: Huffington Post January 03, 2019 17:37 UTC