European Space Agency Launches 12-Month Lunar Farming Study
upstart writes:
European Space Agency Launches 12-Month Lunar Farming Study:
The European Space Agency (ESA) announced Wednesday that it's launched a new project that will help determine the feasibility of farming on the moon. The project, "Enabling Lunar In-Situ Agriculture by Producing Fertilizer from Beneficiated Regolith," will study various ways of extracting minerals from lunar soil for hydroponic farming.
[...] Lunar topsoil, otherwise known as regolith, is nutrient-dense-but that doesn't make it a suitable substrate for produce. Regolith lacks the nitrogen compounds necessary for steady plant growth; it's also hydrophobic and compacts in the presence of water, making it difficult for seedlings to establish healthy root systems. (This is likely why the University of Florida's regolith growth experiments were underwhelming last year.)
Hydroponics bypass the need for soil. Rather than hoping plants will establish roots in regolith or other substrates, hydroponics allows those roots to grow directly into nutrient-rich water. In order to ensure the water used for lunar hydroponics is nutritious, however, Solsys and the ESA will have to create a system that extracts nutrients from regolith.
[...] "This work is essential for future long-term lunar exploration," said ESA materials and processes engineer Malgorzata Holynska. "Achieving a sustainable presence on the Moon will involve using local resources and gaining access to nutrients present in lunar regolith with the potential to help cultivate plants."
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