Scientists want to take agriculture beyond Earth. Their first target is the Moon, the satellite of our blue planet. NASA will soon organize crewed Artemis missions to the Moon. Then, astronauts will roll up their sleeves to grow plants on the Moon. For this, they plan to put Earth microbes in the lunar soil. Here are the details…
Astronauts will use microbes to grow plants in lunar soil!
Astronauts plan to grow the first plants on the lunar surface in future Moon missions. However, obtaining lunar soil to grow plants was a difficult process. Scientists aim to eventually make a breakthrough in this process. They will bring Earth microbes together with lunar soil. In this way, the lunar soil will become more productive for plants.
Previous research into growing plants in lunar soil is ongoing. Research so far has shown that the soil on our satellite contains various elements that are vital for plant growth. But experiments using lunar soil have shown that the Moon is poor at hosting crops.
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The trick to getting lunar soil to grow plants more reliably may be to add Earth microbes to the mix. Over the years, microbes on our planet have helped make it more livable. Adding these microbes to the Moon’s soil will help us unlock the vital nutrients we have discovered traces of.
Improving this situation will allow creating lunar greenhouses. So on future Moon missions like Artemis III, astronauts will grow crops. NASA and other space agencies aim to establish Moon bases. This agricultural project will greatly help towards sustainable Moon bases. This will be a big step for astronauts who want to establish colonies in space.
Researchers conducted various tests on lunar soil. The tests revealed some striking results. It turns out that plants grown with three types of bacteria (or microbes) had longer stems and roots after just six days of growth than those grown in regular lunar soil without additional microbes.