Artemis III will grow plants on the Moon!

03.05.2024 - 14:17 / theunconventionalgardener.com / Emma Doughty

Exciting news from NASA – the space agency has selected the first science experiments designed for astronauts to deploy on the surface of the Moon during Artemis III (currently planned for 2026) – and one of them will grow plants!

Lunar Effects on Agricultural Flora (LEAF) will “investigate the lunar surface environment’s effects on space crops. LEAF will be the first experiment to observe plant photosynthesis, growth, and systemic stress responses in space-radiation and partial gravity. Plant growth and development data, along with environmental parameters measured by LEAF, will help scientists understand the use of plants grown on the Moon for both human nutrition and life support on the Moon and beyond. LEAF is led by Christine Escobar of Space Lab Technologies, LLC, in Boulder, Colorado.”

[Christine mentioned this project in Gardeners of the Galaxy episode 11.]

According to the Space Lab Technologies website, the team behind the LEAF β – Lunar Effects on Agricultural Flora Beta (LEAF β) payload also includes Space Lab CEO Adam Escobar, Space Lab Mechanical Engineer Madison Jones, and space biologists from NASA Kennedy Space Center (Dr Aubrie O’Rourke, Dr Gioia Massa and Dr Raymond Wheeler), University of Colorado at Boulder (Dr Barbara Demmig-Adams), Purdue University (Dr Marshall Porterfield), USDA (Dr Gayle Volk), La Trobe University (Dr Mathew Lewsey), and University of Adelaide (Dr Jenny Mortimer). 

“The LEAF β (‘LEAF Beta’) payload will protect plants within from excessive Lunar sunlight, radiation, and the vacuum of space, while observing their photosynthesis, growth, and responses to stress. The experiment includes a plant growth chamber with an isolated atmosphere, housing red and green varieties of Brassica