Study suggests you may be able to grow plants on the Moon
Take note future colonizers: you may be able to grow stuff in certain places on the Moon
The importance of young soil
The study concludes that the more mature regolith was a less effective substrate for growing seedlings than the less mature soil. This is an important conclusion because it demonstrates that plants could be grown in lunar habitats using the regolith as a resource. But that the location of the habitat should be guided by the maturity of the soil.
And a last thought: it struck me that the findings could also apply to some of the impoverished regions of our world. I don’t want to rehearse the old argument of “Why spend all this money on space research when it could be better spent on schools and hospitals?”. That would be the subject of a different article.
But are there technology developments that arise from this research that could be applicable on Earth? Could what has been learned about stress-related genetic changes be used to develop more drought-resistant crops? Or plants that could tolerate higher levels of metals?
It would be a great achievement if making plants grow on the Moon was instrumental in helping gardens to grow greener on Earth.
Article byMonica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences,The Open University
This article is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.
Story byThe Conversation
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