{"id":12621,"date":"2023-02-24T14:44:50","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T14:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1394398"},"modified":"2023-02-24T14:44:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T14:44:50","slug":"european-space-agency-unveils-new-plan-for-growing-plants-on-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=12621","title":{"rendered":"European Space Agency unveils new plan for growing plants on the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With the goal of establishing a long-term presence on the Moon, the European Space Agency<\/a> (ESA) is working on a new project that will help determine the feasibility of growing plants on the lunar surface. Led by Norway\u2019s Solsys Mining<\/a>, the project will seek to develop a method for converting lunar soil into fertiliser for use in hydroponic farming<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The study<\/a> builds on previous research on lunar soil samples. While lunar soil, also known as regolith, is rich in most nutrients necessary for plant growth, it compacts in the presence of water, making it problematic for seeds to establish healthy root systems.<\/p>\n

Hydroponics bypasses this challenge as it allows roots to be directly cultivated in nutrient-rich water instead of soil. But to ensure that the water used in the hydroponic system is nutritious, the ESA and Solsys Mining will have to create a method that extracts nutrients from regolith, concentrating the valuable elements before use, and removing the undesirable ones.<\/p>\n

This would require three steps, as illustrated below. Firstly, regolith would be pulled through a mechanical sorting area. Then, nutrients would be extracted by a processing plant, before being dissolved into water and pumped into a greenhouse for hydroponic farming.<\/p>\n

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<\/i><\/a>Artist\u2019s impression of what the installation on the Moon would like. From left to right: the mechanical sorting area, the processing plant, and the hydroponic greenhouse. Credit: ESA<\/figcaption>