Scientists have grown plants in the soil collected from Moon, which is a historic and a major milestone in space exploration. The experiment was jointly undertaken by NASA and researchers from the University of Florida. A gram of lunar soil was used to grow each plant.[1]

Figure 1: Lunar soil samples

Figure 1 shows that the University of Florida researchers showed that plants can successfully sprout and grow in lunar soil. Their study also investigated how plants respond biologically to the moon’s soil, also known as lunar regolith, which is radically different from soil found on Earth.

This work is a first step toward one day growing plants for food and oxygen on the moon or during space missions. More immediately, this research comes as the Artemis Program plans to return humans to the moon.

“Artemis will require a better understanding of how to grow plants in space,” said Rob Ferl, one of the study’s authors and a distinguished professor of horticultural sciences in the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).

Even in the early days of lunar exploration, plants played an important role, said Anna-Lisa Paul, also one of the study’s authors and a research professor of horticultural sciences in UF/IFAS. [2]

Experiment results:

• The researchers used lunar soil samples collected by Apollo 11, 12, and 17 missions to grow Arabidopsis, a relative of mustard greens. A gram of lunar soil was used to grow each plant.
• The scientists added water and seeds to the soil samples and stored them in terrarium boxes in a clean room, said NASA in a statement on May 12.
• As the soil is poor in nutrients, a solution had to be added to it daily. Two days later, the seeds sprouted much to the surprise of the researchers. [1]

The results showed that nearly all the seeds planted in the lunar soils sprouted. “We were amazed. We did not predict that. That told us that the lunar soils didn’t interrupt the hormones and signals involved in plant germination," said Anna-Lisa Paul, research professor of horticultural sciences at the varsity.

The sprouted “plants helped establish that the soil samples brought back from the moon did not harbour pathogens or other unknown components that would harm terrestrial life, but those plants were only dusted with the lunar regolith and were never actually grown in it," Paul added.

These were all physical signs that the plants were working to cope with the chemical and structural make-up of the Moon’s soil, Paul explained. This was further confirmed when the researchers analysed the plants’ gene expression patterns. [3]

References:

1. https://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/can-moon-support-plant-life-scientists-grow-plants-in-lunar-soil-for-first-time-in-history-1652431962-1
2. https://indiaeducationdiary.in/university-of-florida-scientists-grow-plants-in-soil-from-the-moon/
3. https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/scientists-have-grown-plants-in-moon-soil-for-the-first-time-ever-5172283.html

Cite this article:

Sri Vasagi K (2022), First Time Researcher Grow Plants in Lunar Soil, Anatechmaz, pp. 311