Astrobotanics obtained material from the Moon, which was imported by Apollo 11, 12 and 17. missions. He may not eat and will only please geneticists, but he has shown us what to expect from lunar agriculture. It’s not impossible, but it won’t be a walk in the rose garden.
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Goose (almost) from the moon. Credit: Tyler Jones, UF / IFAS.
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This year, it will be 50 years since the last Apollo astronauts returned from the moon. Since then, scientists have been studying and experimenting with samples that American astronauts have brought to Earth. Now they were handed over to botanists who for the first time grew terrestrial plants in lunar substrate.
The timid first steps of lunar botany. On the right Robert Ferl. Credit: Tyler Jones, UF / IFAS.
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Robert Ferl of the University of Florida and his colleagues used samples of regolith, a substrate from the surface of the Moon, that brought the crews of the Apollo 11, 12 and 17 missions to Earth in this experiment. among plants “, the most popular and most researched beetle (Arabidopsis thaliana).
Researchers have grown caterpillars in lunar regolith from all three missions. For comparison, it was also grown in the remarkable substrate JSC-1A, which NASA created from terrestrial volcanic ash, in order to simulate as closely as possible the substrate we know from the Moon.
How did it end up? The results are actually positive and problematic at the same time. The optimist would point out that the caterpillars grew in all tested substrates, both in the lunar regolith and in the terrestrial volcanic substrate JSC-1A. But the realist would have to admit that plants in all substrates grew poorly and slowly. Even worse, they generally grew significantly better in the Earth’s substrate than in the Moon’s substrate.
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It will not be easy. Flowers in the simulated left and in the real lunar substrate on the right. Credit: Tyler Jones, UF / IFAS.
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Subsequent genetic analyzes revealed that plants grown in lunar regolith altered the activity of dozens of genes compared to plants from the terrestrial volcanic “garden mix.” In many cases, these are genes that are closely related to the plant’s response to stress caused by external conditions, especially the presence of salts, metals and oxidizing agents. The plants in the Apollo 11 mission substrate were the worst affected and the scientists detected the most changes in gene activity. These plants looked the least viable. They were small in size and colored dark red.
According to experts, the results of this experiment should be a warning. NASA and other space agencies anticipate that astronauts and possibly colonists will grow plants during long missions to the moon and also to Mars. The importance of extraterrestrial agriculture should continue to grow. If it turns out that the plants in the extraterrestrial substrate do not grow very well, then it is a problem that will need to be solved, preferably as soon as possible.
Video: NASA scientists grow plants in Apollo lunar soil for the first time: ‘Everything sprouted!’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=456zOLUiAdc
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