Nasa hopes to hitch a ride to the Moon to grow plants
Including turnips, basil and arabidopsis
There’s going to be a lot of traffic heading for the moon in the next couple of years. Google’s Lunar X-Prize comes to an end on 31 December 2015, meaning that anyone who wants to claim the $20 million reward will need send a lander to the Moon, travel 500 metres and send back two messages before that date.
Nasa is hoping that some of the organisations that are planning to attempt this won’t mind a tiny hitchhiker tagging along. The space agency wants to send a 1kg canister along with one of these landers, which contains enough air and water to grow plants. Specifically, turnip, basil and arabidopsis — a model organism used in studying plant biology. Singularity Hub reports that sunflowers may also be included.
The idea is that when the craft lands on the surface of the Moon, a reservoir of water will be triggered (perhaps by the impact), which wets filter paper to initiate the germination of seeds. Enough air will be provided for five to ten days of growth, during which time the seedlings will be monitored and compared to similar plants growing on Earth. Sunlight will be provided by the Sun.
Unfortunately, it’s going to be a one-way trip for the plants in the capsule. It’s possible that future generations may scoop up their remains and return them to Earth, probably to exhibit in a museum, but their brief lives will end asphixiated in a capsule on the cold surface of the Moon. That brings them fame of another kind — they’re going to be the first living thing to die on the Moon.
There’s a point to all of this, of course. Nasa wants to know if future residents of the Moon will be able to grow plants — something that the agency explains has been very comforting for residents of Antarctic bases, and those in the International Space Station. Plants also perform an important job in providing food and turning the carbon dioxide we exhale back into oxygen.
Research is already being undertaken on the suitability of Moon and Martian dust to grow plants. If we’re ever going to construct a full-scale Moonbase that we can stay in for years, as opposed to days, then we’re going to want plants to be a part of it.
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