NASA Plans to Grow Plants on Moon in 2015

NASA is launching a new program that would test if plants can grow on the lunar surface. The experiment, if successful, could pave way for human settlement on the moon. The agency is teaming up with private companies and students to start the project in 2015.

"We are constructing a small technology demonstration unit to study germination of plants in lunar gravity and radiation on the Moon. The self-contained habitat will have a mass of about 1 kg and would be a payload on a commercial lunar lander - the Moon Express lander, part of the Google Lunar X-prize competition," the agency said in a statement.

The Google Lunar XPRIZE will be awarded to any private company that lands on Moon and travels about "500 meters above, below, or on the Lunar surface" and sends back two Moon-casts to the Earth. To win additional prizes, the company could explore moon surface. The competition is on till December 31, 2015.

Arabidopsis, basil, and turnips seeds will be included in the group of plants sent to moon. The seeds will be placed in coffee-can sized containers. These cans are fitted with sensors and cameras will watch the seedlings grow.

Their growth will be monitored for about 5-10 days. The space-plants' development will be compared with seeds growing in cans on earth. NASA plans to send these control plant habitats to schools where students will be asked to report plant growth, Forbes reports.

"This will be the first life sciences experiment on another world and an important first step in the utilization of plants for human life support. Follow up experiments will improve the technology in the growth module and allow for more extensive plant experiments," NASA said.

It is a sort of win-win situation for NASA as even if the mission to grow plants fails, scientists can learn a great deal about how plants react to stressful conditions. Also, the launch is quite feasible. According to Chris McKay, a planetary scientist, the project would have cost about $300 million 20 years back, but now the same experiment will take about $2 million, Forbes reported.