Chinese already did a similar experiment few years ago and the result was that "plants can grow on the moon despite the intense radiation, low gravity, and prolonged intense light"
> Over the next eight days, this payload conducted a vital experiment where it attempted to grow the first plants on the moon.
The plants survived eight days before freezing, but important questions also include things like "How does the radiation impact their seed viability in future generations?"
I'll grant that they didn't immediately die, but neither would I have expected that from an ionizing environment. Just a lot of weird quirks in lifecycle.
You can keep something alive for a week in a terrarium basically anywhere, I'm not even sure their result is interesting if it weren't for the fact that it was on the moon.
That same lander (Chang'e 4) also measured the radiation dose rate on the moon. It's about 2.6x that of the ISS. Doesn't account for solar particle events, which they didn't encounter any.
Syonyk|1 year ago
The plants survived eight days before freezing, but important questions also include things like "How does the radiation impact their seed viability in future generations?"
I'll grant that they didn't immediately die, but neither would I have expected that from an ionizing environment. Just a lot of weird quirks in lifecycle.
throw88888|1 year ago
Plants on the contrary tolerate much more damage. To the point that we develop new species by bombarding seeds with ionized radiation.
Suppafly|1 year ago
perihelions|1 year ago
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aaz1334 ("First measurements of the radiation dose on the lunar surface")
- "LND measured an average dose equivalent of 1369 μSv/day on the surface of the Moon."