Scientists grow plants in moon soil for the first time
- Published
- comments
This cress plant is growing in soil collected by astronauts from the moon!
Scientists have grown plants in soil collected from the moon - for the first time EVER!
Researchers planted a type of cress in samples of lunar dust gathered during Nasa's Apollo landings.
They were surprised to find that the seeds started sprouting after just two days!
Scientists think that this could be an important step towards making long-term stays on the moon possible in the future.
What do you think? Would you eat food that was grown on the moon? Let us know in the comments below!
What did scientists do?
It took just two days for the cress seeds to start growing in the moon soil
Researchers used small samples of dust collected during the 1969-1972 Apollo missions to grow a type of cress called thale cress.
The plant belongs to the same family as cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.
A liquid nutrient was then added daily to the seeds to feed the plants.
Scientists couldn't believe the results when the cress started growing.
Dr Anna-Lisa Paul from the University of Florida, who was involved with the study, said: "I can't tell you how astonished we were."
"Every plant - whether in a lunar sample or in a control - looked the same up until about day six," she added.
The Moon is 4.5 billion years old - almost as old as the Earth!
While scientists found that plants do grow in moon soil, they don't grow as well as plants grown in soil from Earth.
After nearly a week, the cress in the moon soil started growing more slowly and the roots stopped developing properly.
But the scientists say the fact they grew at all is good news and could make the possibility of astronauts growing food on the moon in the future a reality!
- Published7 March 2018
- Published18 September 2021
- Published6 January 2022
