• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Write for us
Today Headline
No Result
View All Result
  • breaking news today
    • Politics news
    • Sports
    • Science News
  • Entertainment News
  • Technology News
    • Automotive
  • Health News
    • Lifestyle
    • Insurance
  • Finance News
    • Money
  • Enterprise
  • Contact Us
  • breaking news today
    • Politics news
    • Sports
    • Science News
  • Entertainment News
  • Technology News
    • Automotive
  • Health News
    • Lifestyle
    • Insurance
  • Finance News
    • Money
  • Enterprise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
TodayHeadline
No Result
View All Result

Plants will grow in lunar regolith, but they don’t like it – Ars Technica

May 12, 2022
in Tech
0
Plants will grow in lunar regolith, but they don’t like it – Ars Technica
Image of plants grown in a plastic sample dish
Enlarge / The plants grown in lunar soil (right) aren’t nearly as happy as those grown in a soil meant to simulate it (left).

Tyler Jones, UF/IFAS

As anyone who has read or watched The Expanse or The Martian knows, growing plants in space has some big advantages. Plants can contribute to the maintenance of a healthy atmosphere, as they recycle water and provide some variety to diets. While they can be grown hydroponically, the process requires a significant amount of water, which might be in short supply. So for missions that will land on a body like the Moon or Mars, growing plants in the local soil might be a better solution.

But local soils on these bodies don’t look like the ones we find on Earth, which have a complicated mix of minerals, organic compounds, and microbial life. Can plants adjust to these differences? A group of researchers at the University of Florida—Anna-Lisa Paul, Stephen Elardo, and Robert Ferl—decided to find out, and they used some incredibly rare material: lunar soil returned by the Apollo missions.

In the mix

The lunar soil exists in a form called regolith, which is basically loose, dusty material created by the constant bombardment of lunar rocks by micrometeorites. When the first samples were returned during the Apollo era, studies of the interactions of this regolith with living things focused on the fear of pathogens that could pose a danger to life on Earth. As a result, plants and seeds were briefly exposed to lunar soil and then tested to see if this exposure altered their growth. There were no attempts to grow anything in the soil.

Advertisement

NASA has since developed an Earth-made material, called JSC-1A, that is meant to simulate lunar soil. But there are some significant differences between it and lunar soil. These include chemical differences, with lunar regolith containing higher amounts of titanium and some trace minerals than JSC-1A. Earth’s oxidizing environment also creates some differences in the chemical state of some of the metals present, including that of iron, a key component of many enzymes, such as those involved in photosynthesis.

Finally, there are some physical differences between the material and the soil. The rapid melting and cooling caused by micrometeorite impacts on the regolith creates small globs of glassy material. JSC-1A uses volcanic glasses to approximate this process, but there are still physical differences.

So the researchers decided to try working with the real thing, using JSC-1A as a control. And with the help of the Johnson Space Center staff, they obtained three different lunar samples returned by Apollo 11, Apollo 12, and Apollo 17. The samples all came from regions with a volcanic origin but differed in their age, with Apollo 11’s material having the longest exposure on the surface and Apollo 17’s having the shortest.

Previous Post

Ukraine updates: Finland backs NATO; Russia vows retaliatory steps – USA TODAY

Next Post

Boeing considers redesigning problematic valve that has kept Starliner from flying NASA astronauts – CNBC

Related Posts

Laser Engraving
Tech

What Should I Do If the Laser Engraving Is Incomplete?

Often, when you are working...

Read more
image consultant
Tech

Creating an Online Presence for an Up-and-Coming Image Consultant

Getting started as an image...

Read more
Backups
Tech

Why Backups Matter

Photo by Andrew Neel: Backing...

Read more
Fire suppression systems
Tech

What is the fire suppression system cost?

Fire suppression systems are important...

Read more
Pivoting
Tech

Pivoting to Access Networks in Penetration Testing

Penetration testing, more commonly known...

Read more
Load More
Next Post
Boeing considers redesigning problematic valve that has kept Starliner from flying NASA astronauts – CNBC

Boeing considers redesigning problematic valve that has kept Starliner from flying NASA astronauts - CNBC

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
A taste of famous Venezuelan cachapas

A taste of famous Venezuelan cachapas

Quick crossword No 16,452

Quick crossword No 16,452

The Power Of L&D For Innovation

The Power Of L&D For Innovation

The Puppy Bowl is Back for 2023 – Dogster

The Puppy Bowl is Back for 2023 – Dogster

What is French onion pasta? TikTok’s favorite new one-pot dish

What is French onion pasta? TikTok’s favorite new one-pot dish

What’s next for Pakistan as its economic crisis worsens?

What’s next for Pakistan as its economic crisis worsens?

‘You think you know someone until you work 100-hour weeks together.’ How to keep the peace in the family business.

‘You think you know someone until you work 100-hour weeks together.’ How to keep the peace in the family business.

How old is your brain? Artificial intelligence knows

How old is your brain? Artificial intelligence knows

About Us

Todayheadline the independent news and topics discovery
A home-grown and independent news and topic aggregation . displays breaking news linking to news websites all around the world.

Follow Us

Latest News

What is French onion pasta? TikTok’s favorite new one-pot dish

What is French onion pasta? TikTok’s favorite new one-pot dish

What’s next for Pakistan as its economic crisis worsens?

What’s next for Pakistan as its economic crisis worsens?

‘You think you know someone until you work 100-hour weeks together.’ How to keep the peace in the family business.

‘You think you know someone until you work 100-hour weeks together.’ How to keep the peace in the family business.

What is French onion pasta? TikTok’s favorite new one-pot dish

What is French onion pasta? TikTok’s favorite new one-pot dish

What’s next for Pakistan as its economic crisis worsens?

What’s next for Pakistan as its economic crisis worsens?

‘You think you know someone until you work 100-hour weeks together.’ How to keep the peace in the family business.

‘You think you know someone until you work 100-hour weeks together.’ How to keep the peace in the family business.

  • Real Estate
  • Parenting
  • Cooking
  • NFL Games On TV Today
  • Travel and Tourism
  • Home & Garden
  • Pets
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
  • About

© 2021 All rights are reserved Todayheadline

No Result
View All Result
  • Real Estate
  • Parenting
  • Cooking
  • NFL Games On TV Today
  • Travel and Tourism
  • Home & Garden
  • Pets
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
  • About

© 2021 All rights are reserved Todayheadline

Go to mobile version