ENGLISH 2 MIN PLANT

Source: Nasa.gov

• Poor nutrient content
• Rich in heavy metals and salt
• Not well adapted to plant growth

Lunar soil

Plant

• Arabidopsis thaliana
• Common weed found worldwide
• Short life cycle (6 weeks)

• Lunar simulant plants' growth rate surpassed that of the lunar soil plants'
• Lunar soil plants' growth rate depended on where lunar soil was sampled
• RNA sequencing shows lunar soil plants under stress due to harsh conditions

Experiment: Two groups

Results

• Control group planted in lunar simulant (akin to volcanic ash)
• Experimental group in lunar soil

Difficulties

• Lunar soil's hydrophobic nature

• Research leading up to NASA's Artemis space program
• Research to be used on earth to develop agriculture in arid areas

Future

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