Source: China Youth Daily
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Qiu Chenhui Source: China Youth Daily ( 2021-03-02 12 edition)
After more than two months, the lunar soil brought back by Chang'e 5 from the moon has finally met with the public. On February 27, the Chang'e-5 lunar sample 001 was officially entered the National Museum of China, which made the public eager to see the true appearance of the moon up close.
The lunar sample on display weighs 100 grams and is installed in a crystal container, and the internal shape is composed of the earth, the map of China, the moon, and the lunar soil. However, what kind of substances the lunar soil is composed of is not visible to the naked eye.
According to experts from the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the so-called lunar soil is a loose "soil" that covers the rock layers on the surface of the moon a few meters to more than ten meters thick, mainly composed of rock debris, mineral detritus, vitreous particles and bonded aggregate rocks, etc., the particle texture is extremely fine, but it is as sharp as the tip of a knife.
This is also why when the Chang'e-5 lunar sample was first unveiled in public at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing not long ago, it was magnified 6 times to see a large amount of "glass slag" in it. In fact, as early as the study of Chang'e-4, it was found that the moon has a glass-like substance, which is mainly a glass state in which the rock is affected by high temperature and high pressure in the impact event.
In this case, if there are still netizens who hold the idea of "planting vegetables with moon soil", they may be disappointed. The composition of lunar soil is mainly composed of oxygen, silicon, iron and other elements, and the difference from the earth's soil is that it lacks organic matter, water and air, and has more helium-3, so it cannot be directly used to grow vegetables.
Of course, the idea of growing vegetables directly on the moon is also unrealistic. According to agricultural experts, light, water, temperature, air, soil and nutrients are the six elements needed for plant growth. The environment on the lunar surface is extremely harsh, with high cosmic radiation, high vacuum and extreme temperatures, which are not conducive to the survival of plants.
In the science fiction movie "The Martian Rescue", the male protagonist transformed the Martian soil through homemade fertilizer during his stay on Mars, and successfully planted potatoes to obtain food supply. Can lunar soil also be modified and planted? It's possible.
According to agricultural experts, crops such as potatoes can theoretically be grown as long as the organic matter, water, oxygen and sunlight needed for plant growth are provided. At present, if the lunar soil wants to achieve vegetable planting, it is necessary to improve it, add organic matter such as human and animal manure or organic matter after animal and plant decay, and an appropriate amount of water, so that vegetables can basically be grown.
In other words, the use of lunar soil to grow vegetables, it is necessary to adjust and improve its components to increase its soil organic matter, moisture and necessary mineral salts, but also need to increase the necessary nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other fertilizers and some necessary microorganisms, which are both lacking in the lunar soil and necessary substances for plant growth.
Leaving aside the inability to grow vegetables directly, the moon soil is still promising. For example, the aforementioned helium-3, a clean energy source that has the potential for thermonuclear fusion in the future. Studies have shown that 100 tons of helium-3 can create energy equivalent to the total energy consumed by the world in a year.
So far, scientists have found that long-term solar winds have injected a large amount of helium-3 into the lunar soil. The lunar soil contains 1 million to 5 million tons of helium-3, which is about a million to ten million times the earth's content.
At present, we do not have access to so many lunar soils and related resources. In the next step, China will launch Chang'e 6 and Chang'e 7, of which the former plans to return to the lunar south pole for sampling, and the latter plans to land on the lunar south pole to carry out a comprehensive exploration mission of the lunar terrain, landform, material composition and space environment. At that time, whether it is the transformation of the lunar soil to grow vegetables, or the development and utilization of helium-3 resources, we are expected to harvest further answers.
12th March 02, 2021 Edition