Will China’s Space Agency Send Turtles To Moon’s Dark Side?

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) originally wanted to send turtles to the dark side of the Moon as part of its lunar exploration program. The animals would have been part of the experiments carried by the agency’s Chang’e 4 mission.

Earlier this month, the CNSA accomplished a historical achievement after successfully growing cotton on the Moon. It was part of Chang’e 4’s experiment of growing seeds inside a biosphere on the lunar surface. Aside from cotton, the spacecraft also carried fruit-fly eggs, yeast and Arabidopsis and potato seeds. However, only the experiment with cotton produced positive results.

Recently, Xie Gengxin, the lead designer for the experiment, revealed that the Chang’e 4 was supposed to carry live animals on the moon as part of the tests. Specifically, he noted that the spacecraft was supposed to bring turtles to the Moon.

However, the weight limitations of the spacecraft prevented the CNSA from proceeding with its plan of sending animals to the lunar surface.

“The weight of the Chang’e 4 probe demanded that the weight [of the experiment] can’t exceed three kilograms,” Xie said during an interview with IEEE Spectrum.

Aside from the weight issue, Xie noted the oxygen levels inside the spacecraft are not enough for the animals.

“Even though it is very meaningful to choose tortoise, the oxygen inside the payload can only be used for about 20 days for turtles,” he explained.

If the CNSA proceeded with its original plan, it wouldn’t be the first time that turtles were sent to space. Back in 1968, the Zond 5 mission from the Soviet Union became the first spacecraft to orbit around the Moon and return to Earth. For its voyage, the spacecraft carried two Steppe tortoises.

As noted by IEEE Spectrum, sending biological payloads such as turtled to the Moon would provide a deeper understanding of how the lunar environment would affect animals. These observations would be very useful in determining how long-term Moon missions will affect humans.

It is not yet clear if China’s space agency will proceed with sending animals to space or the Moon in its future missions.