You may struggle to keep a potted plant alive in your living room, but the next humans to set foot on the moon will have a much bigger gardening challenge.
NASA will grow plants like duckweed, watercress and brassica in a mini lunar greenhouse when the Artemis III mission returns humans to the moon.
Lunar Effects on Agricultural Flora, or LEAF, is one of three experiments that have been chosen to go to the moon in 2026.
This will be the first time the US space agency has attempted to grow plants on the Moon and could be the key to fueling future space missions.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy says, “These three deployed instruments were chosen to begin scientific investigations that will address key science objectives from the Moon to Mars.”
NASA has announced plans to grow plants on the moon as part of the Artemis III mission that will return humans to the lunar surface, as illustrated in this NASA concept artist.
The LEAF experiment has been designed by Colorado-based Space Lab Technologies to test how different plants withstand space conditions.
The astronauts will deploy a series of “growth chambers,” each containing a sample of red and green watercress, duckweed, or Brassica rapa, also known as rapeseed or Wisconsin snapplant.
These capsules will protect the plants from excess radiation, sunlight and the vacuum of space, while allowing astronauts to control their growth.
It is expected that the three selected plants can play an important role in establishing human colonies beyond the limits of the Earth.
Space Lab Technologies Vice President Christine Escobar says: “This research will be a critical step toward understanding how we could use agriculture in space to sustain human crew, paving the way for sustained lunar exploration and even missions to space. Mars”.
Thale cress has been chosen because its entire genetic code has been completely mapped.
This means scientists will be able to determine whether radiation exposure has caused any DNA mutations, a major concern beyond the protection of Earth’s magnetic field.
NASA selected thale cress for space experiments because it has been completely genetically mapped, meaning scientists can easily see if it has been mutated by space radiation.
Duckweed, on the other hand, has no roots or stems.
And combined with its spherical shape, the world’s smallest flowering plant is expected to prove particularly resistant to spatial conditions.
Extremely hardy and fast growing, duckweed often spreads to cover entire ponds and lakes on Earth.
In space, however, duckweed is not a nuisance but rather a protein-rich crop and a potential source of enormous amounts of oxygen.
Along with Brassica rapa, a fast-growing relative of cabbage and broccoli, these could provide nutrition and life support systems for a future space colony.
Ms Escobar adds that Space Lab Technologies plans to create the “resources people need to live and work in space sustainably, so they can explore more and stay longer.”
Duckweed (pictured) has no stems or roots, this is expected to make it exceptionally resistant to low-gravity space conditions.
This is not the first time plants have been grown in space, but it is NASA’s first attempt to grow plants on the lunar surface.
Over the years, numerous experiments aboard the International Space Station have grown everything from radishes to sunflowers in microgravity.
In 2022, a NASA-funded study managed to grow plants in samples of lunar surface material, also known as regolith.
While the plants were not as hardy as those growing in Earth’s soil, they were able to sprout and survive in the mix of rock, minerals and glass that makes up the lunar regolith.
And, in 2019, the Chinese space agency even managed to germinate a cotton bud on the far side of the moon aboard the Chang’e 4 mission.
However, the plant died before further observations could be made when the capsule suffered a thermal control failure.
NASA has successfully grown a relative of watercress in lunar surface material, or regolith, although the plants (pictured) were not as hardy as those grown in Earth’s soil.
The other two missions that will accompany LEAF are the Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS) and the Lunar Dielectric Analyzer (LDA).
The LEMS is a set of autonomous seismometers that will carefully monitor lunar earthquakes to better understand the structure of the moon.
The LDA will measure the regolith’s ability to propagate an electric field, which is a key property in the search for ice and other volatiles.
If all goes as planned, these three experiments will land on the lunar surface alongside four astronauts at an as yet unconfirmed location somewhere around the Moon’s south pole.
It is believed that this region could contain water in ice deposits, which would be vital to establishing a long-term presence on the lunar satellite.
Brassica rapa (pictured), also known as rapeseed, is an extremely fast-growing relative of cabbage and could demonstrate whether food crops can be grown on the moon.
Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, says, “These three scientific instruments will be our first opportunity since Apollo to harness the unique capabilities of human explorers to conduct transformative lunar science.”
However, NASA maintains that there is no guarantee that any of the experiments will be carried out aboard Artemis III, as “manifest decisions” will be made at a later date.
The human crew, which will be the first to return to the Moon since 1972, has also not yet been announced.
NASA has suggested that at least one of the crew members will be a woman and another a person of color.
Separately, NASA has made some suggestions that a British astronaut could set foot on the moon as part of an American mission before 2030.
Melroy adds: ‘Artemis marks a bold new era of exploration, where human presence amplifies scientific discoveries.
“With these innovative instruments stationed on the surface of the Moon, we are embarking on a transformative journey.”