Radish Could Maybe Grow On The Moon

avatar

A scientist from NASA is trying to find out whether radishes could grow on the Moon. If yes, it would be great news for future colonists.

agriculture1870017.jpg

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Max Coleman from NASA decided to perform a little experiment in his home laboratory. He is trying to figure out whether radishes are capable of growing in lunar soil.

Coleman picked radishes for two reasons. First, they were already experimented on in space and they sprout very quickly. In the past, Coleman used to test sensors specially made for the Moon, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to stop working on that.

So, he ordered a few radish seeds online and started to grow them at home. But instead of using some quality soil, he used desert soil. The reasoning behind this lays in the fact that desert soil is roughly as nutritious as the regolith at the Moon. To measure the humidity he used tinfoil and a battery tester.

Low Water Radishes

One of the reasons why Coleman decided to do this home experiment is that he wanted to show that astronauts on the Moon could grow their own food. Making that first step that showcases that lunar soil includes things that can be used as nutrients for plants. This includes getting the correct chemicals that allow plants to make chlorophyll and grow their cells.

The results show that radishes need only a minimal amount of water – the fact actually is that they grew best when they had the minimal amount of water. And while we cannot use lunar soil itself here on Earth, we can still try our best. Later, scientists want to prove the same thing on the Moon itself.

Sources:


  • If you like the content I’m producing about science maybe you will like the content I produce about gaming as well! Be sure to check out my other posts!



0
0
0.000
0 comments