A cotton seedling that sprouted on the moon has been left to die as China's historic lunar lander continues a freezing night-time nap that will last as long as two earth weeks, scientists said. The Chinese space agency announced earlier this week that the seed had germinated inside a special canister aboard the Chang'e-4 probe, after the spacecraft on January 3 made the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon.

The mini biosphere - which operated for over 212 hours - was shut down as planned on Saturday, said Chongqing University, which designed the experiment. The lander also carried potato and arabidopsis seeds - a plant of the mustard family - as well as fruit fly eggs and yeast.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019