Planting the Seeds of Farming in Space

As humans colonize the Solar System, we will need to grow food in order to sustain a growing population in space. Now, a team of researchers have successfully grown crops in simulated lunar and Martian soil, potentially bringing the day we become an interplanetary species a little closer.

If the future of the human race includes living on the Moon and Mars, then we will soon need to learn how to grow food in space. One option would be to produce crops in artificial hydroponic systems, but such a plan would involve transporting large quantities of equipment to the…