Lunar soil is not as attractive as expected for growing edible plants: this is the conclusion of the scientists who tested the experiment on a plant from the same family as watercress.
Regolith, the rock that forms the Moon’s crust, is a form of basalt very similar to that produced by volcanoes on Earth. But we should not expect too quickly to see the vines thriving on the slopes of Etna growing there, if we are to believe the study published in the journal Biology of Communication.
Its authors note that the planned return of humans to the Moon, the goal of the Artemis mission in 2025, increased scientific interest in the lunar atmosphere and its impact on terrestrial biology.
Anna-Lisa Paul and Robert Ferl of the University of Florida’s Department of Horticulture Research conducted the first experiment: comparing plant growth in powdered regolith and in ground basalt.
The Ladies’ Arabette (Arabidopsis thaliana), although not edible, is of interest to scientists because of the simplicity of its genome, which makes it possible to study its behavior in extreme environments. That gave him the honor of a long stay on the International Space Station and shorter on lunar soil on a Chinese mission.
Scientists in Florida have grown plant seeds in small tubes filled with regolith, in the form of grains less than a millimeter, carried by several Apollo missions. They did the same on a basalt-based substrate obtained from a crater in Arizona, whose chemical composition was as close as possible to regolith.
The result is mixed. All seeds initially germinated properly, in less than three days, before continuing after six days to a first sampling of young shoots. The roots of shoots planted in regolith are less vigorous than others.
The effect was more pronounced then, compared with the growth of plant leaves: they thrived on terrestrial basalt while their growth was less successful on lunar soil, with smaller leaves and pigmentation indicating d stress.
And this, to varying degrees depending on the nature of the regolith, considered more or less mature according to the degree of its exposure to cosmic radiation and solar winds.
The samples brought back by Apollo 11, the most mature, proved to be less conducive to plant growth.
However, the Florida team remains optimistic. The data show that terrestrial plants can grow in lunar regolithhe says, but mentions that this material is not a harmless growth substrate.
It remains to identify on the site the regolith that will allow food crops. And why not vines one day?
Source: Radio-Canada