When Alan Shepard struck the longest chip shot ever hit while walking on the Moon more than 50 years ago, little did he know at the time that with a little atmospheric oxygen and some water he could have been hitting off lush turf despite being more than 200,000 miles from the nearest golf course.
Scientists at the University of Florida have grown plant life in soil from the Moon. The results of their published research showed that plants can sprout and grow in lunar soil.
The researchers were able to establish several arabadopsis plants from seed in test tubes in just a few teaspoons full of soil,
The study, led by researchers Rob Ferl and Anna-Lisa Paul, is the first step toward one day growing plants for food and oxygen on the Moon, or during space missions. The study utilized soil brought back to earth from 1969 to '72 during the Apollo 11, 12 and 17 missions.
Arabidopsis is widely used in the plant sciences because its genetic code has been fully mapped. They said growing arabidopsis in the lunar soil allowed the researchers more insight into how the soil affected the plants, down to the level of gene expression.
"We wanted to do this experiment because, for years, we were asking this question: Would plants grow in lunar soil?" Ferl said. "The answer, it turns out, is yes."
The research helped establish that the soil from the Moon does not hold any lethal pathogens, and might eventually lead to more knowledge about soil properties on this planet and how to grow healthier plants.
The next phase of research will seek to examine whether plants can grow in space in soil from the Moon during the upcoming Artemis program. The inaugural Artemis space shot, an unmanned orbit of the moon, is due to launch June 19.
Researchers are anxious to learn whether the introduction of water will change the soil properties of moon dirt.
"The Moon is a very, very dry place," said Stephen Elardo, Ph.D., assistant professor of geology at Florida. "How will minerals in the lunar soil respond to having a plant grown in them, with the added water and nutrients? Will adding water make the mineralogy more hospitable to plants?"