moon: Scientists successfully grow plants in soil from the Moon
WASHINGTON: That's one small pot of soil, one giant leap for man's knowledge of space agriculture: scientists have for the first time grown plants in lunar soil brought back by astronauts in the Apollo program. The ground-breaking experiment, detailed in the journal Communications Biology on Thursday, has given researchers hope that it may be possible to one day grow plants directly on the Moon. That would save future space missions much hassle and expense, facilitating longer and farther trips. However, according to the study's University of Florida authors, much remains to be studied on the topic, and they intend to leave no stone unturned. For their experiment, the researchers used just 12 grams (a few teaspoons) of lunar soil collected from various spots on the Moon during the Apollo 11, 12, and 17 missions. In tiny thimble-sized pots, they placed about a gram of soil (called "regolith") and added water, then the seeds. They also fed the plants a nutrient ...