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Plants grown in Moon Dust
The object of the experiment was to see if a greenhouse could be constructed on the Moon, using what was on the Moon.
The article calls it Moon soil but seems more like dust. There was only a few teaspoons of it to work with but they did have samples from the surface and below the surface. Most of the plants did germinate and grow, with the Moon soil from the surface not as good as what was under the surface. The surface soil is exposed to radiation and sits out there in a harsh environment. The plant growth was described as coping with a stressful condition, but they did grow. The initial tests done when the lunar soil was first collected was to dust plants with it to see what would happen. This was the first time seeds were grown in it. The plant, Arabidopsis was used because its genetic code has been fully mapped. They also grew the same plant in manmade soil that was supposed to replicate lunar soil, Martian soil, and soil from extreme conditions here on Earth. The next step would probably be to secure some Moon ice to water the plants. The land rush is on, as Japan, South Korea, Russia, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United States intend to do lunar missions next year.
Full Article
It can be seen that the planets germinated okay but that root growth was impacted by the lunar soil. It is not surprising that the seeds germinated as you can easily see on Earth that seeds will germinate under the absolute worst conditions.
The object of the experiment was to see if a greenhouse could be constructed on the Moon, using what was on the Moon.
The article calls it Moon soil but seems more like dust. There was only a few teaspoons of it to work with but they did have samples from the surface and below the surface. Most of the plants did germinate and grow, with the Moon soil from the surface not as good as what was under the surface. The surface soil is exposed to radiation and sits out there in a harsh environment. The plant growth was described as coping with a stressful condition, but they did grow. The initial tests done when the lunar soil was first collected was to dust plants with it to see what would happen. This was the first time seeds were grown in it. The plant, Arabidopsis was used because its genetic code has been fully mapped. They also grew the same plant in manmade soil that was supposed to replicate lunar soil, Martian soil, and soil from extreme conditions here on Earth. The next step would probably be to secure some Moon ice to water the plants. The land rush is on, as Japan, South Korea, Russia, India, the United Arab Emirates and the United States intend to do lunar missions next year.
Full Article
It can be seen that the planets germinated okay but that root growth was impacted by the lunar soil. It is not surprising that the seeds germinated as you can easily see on Earth that seeds will germinate under the absolute worst conditions.
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