Lunar dreams: China reveals 2018 plans to launch mini-ecosystems to the moon for the first time!

New Delhi: China's space program has been subject to immense appreciation as well as criticism. However, that is far from keeping them from tackling the competitive space race head-on.

Now, with its eyes firmly on the top, China has announced its first mission to send mini-ecosystems – containing potato seeds and silkworm eggs – to the lunar surface next year.

With an aim to study how the organisms develop on the surface of the moon, the 3-kilogramme mini-ecosystem, developed by research teams led by Chongqing University in China, will be sent to the Moon by the Chang'e 4 scheduled to launch in 2018, authorities announced at the Global Space Exploration Conference.

An 18-centimetre-tall cylinder will carry potato seeds and silkworm eggs to be incubated.

The silkworms will hatch and create carbon dioxide, while the potato plants will generate oxygen, Zhang Yuanxun, who designed the ecosystem, was quoted as saying by 'Global Times'.

Xie Gengxin, chief designer on the project, said their mission is to prepare for future moon landings and possible human inhabitants.

"We will livestream the development of plants and insects on lunar surface to the whole world," Gengxin added.

China is planning a manned mission to the Moon, and officials have announced that the preliminary preparations for the lunar landing have begun.

Yang Liwei, deputy director general of China Manned Space Agency and the country's first astronaut said that it will not take long for the project to get official approval and funding.

(With PTI inputs)