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Plants grown in lunar soil for the first time

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

-FIN-