Scientists plant trees on the Moon soil collected during Apollo missions. This is the first time plants have sprouted and developed on Earth underground from another animal.
This study could lay the groundwork for the development of plants that provide oxygen and nutrients to the Moon as NASA's Artemis program seeks to bring the first woman and the first person of color to set foot on the farthest sun of the Moon by the end of the decade.
The detailed research on plant experiment was published on May 12 in the journal Communications Biology.
Plants help verify that soil samples brought back from the Moon do not contain pathogens or other unspecified ingredients that can harm life on the ground, but those plants are covered with a layer of moon- surface soil that has never been actually planted in them, said Lisa Paul, a research professor of gardening science at the Institute of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the University of Florida, USA.
Professor Paul and co-author Rob Ferl, a professor of gardening science at the Institute of Agricultural and Food Sciences UF, want to take a step further and see if seeds grow in the moon.
The experiment was proposed 15 years ago and the final demand for lunar samples was approved 18 months ago. The team has asked NASA to provide 4 grams of samples from the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission.
Ryan Zeigler, NASA's Apollo model manager, sees the scientific value of providing more samples from different Apollo missions. He sent the team a total of 12 grams (2.7 teaspoons) of lunar samples collected from the Apollo 11, 12 and 17 missions.
Researchers have planted 1 gram of moon soil in each soil, supplemented with nutrients and water, and then added a few Arabidopsis thaliana - a plant in the mustard family native to Asia and Africa.
Seeds are also planted on soil from Earth as a counter-group. As a result, after 2 days, all the seeds in the 2 groups sprouted and developed similarly. By the 6th day of the experiment, the difference began to appear, with the plants in the lunar soil sample growing more slowly and the stunt roots.
After 20 days, scientists harvested all the plants and conducted DNA research. Analysis shows that crops on the Moon have reacted similarly to crops in harsh environments such as soil with too much salt or heavy metal.
