A new Moon tillage technique could stimulate plant growth on the Moon in hopes of supporting longer-term Moon missions. The European Space Agency (ESA) and Norwegian agricultural company Solsys Mining are exploring ways to process lunar soil or regolith to create fertilizer for growing plants. Previous experiments using lunar samples returned to Earth have shown that plants can grow in moon soil. However, lunar regolith does not have a certain amount of nitrogen compounds and when wet it becomes tightly packed, making it difficult for plants to take root and thrive.

according to the statementUsing hydroponic farming techniques, researchers have found a way to grow plants in nutrient-rich water instead of soil and extract essential minerals from regolith.(opens in new tab)By ESA.

“This work is important for future long-term Moon exploration,” said Malgozhata Golinska, ESA Materials and Process Engineer. “Achieving a sustainable presence on the moon will involve using local resources and accessing the nutrients found in the lunar regolith that could potentially aid in plant growth. The current work is a proof of principle using current lunar regolith mimics and paves the way for more detailed research in the future” .

hydroponic agriculture It involves directly feeding plant roots with soilless, nutrient-rich water. Researchers, with the help of the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute and the Center for Interdisciplinary Space Studies, have developed a method to separate beneficial mineral nutrients from harmful ones in regolith.

Theoretically, the regolith would be passed through a separator to extract and process valuable mineral nutrients, which would then be dissolved in water and fed into a hydroponic greenhouse where plants grow vertically on the moon’s surface. According to the statement, the Solsys Mining team has already succeeded in growing beans using the simulated Moon high-altitude regolith as a food source, giving hope for long-term sustainability. human existence on the moon