Highlights:
• Scientists successfully grown plants in lunar soil
• Plants planted in earth and lunar soil shown same result until 6th day
• Lunar plants had reacted similarly to those grown in salty soil
For the first time, Scientists have grown plants in the soil brought back from the moon by astronauts in the Apollo program.
The experiment of growing plant in lunar soil has given the hope to researchers that it is possible to grow plants directly on moon that would save much money. The researchers used just 12 grams of lunar soil, for the experiments which is collected from various spots on the moon during the Apollo 11, 12 and 17 missions.
Researches planted the arabidopsis thaliana
In tiny pots, they placed about grams of soil, called regolith, and added water, then seeds. They fed the plants with nutrient solution every day. The researches planted the arabidopsis thaliana, a relative of mustard greens, because it grows easily and has been studied extensively. Its genetic code and responses are well known to hostile environments even in space.
Lunar plants shown similar result as plant grows in salty soil
Plants are planted on both earth soil and lunar soil and after 2 days plants sprouted on both the soils . until day six both the pot’s plants looked same. But after that differences started appearing , the plants in the lunar samples grew more slowly and had stunted roots. After 20 days, the scientists harvested all the plants and made studies on their DNA. Their analysis showed that the lunar plants had reacted similarly to those grown in hostile environment such as soil which contains too much salt or heavy metal. In future , scientists will try to make this environment more favorable .
NASA is preparing to return to the moon as part of the artemis program, with a long term goal of establishing a lasting human presence on its surface.
