Submitted by landlord2213 t3_119yvoy in Futurology
Comments
landlord2213 OP t1_j9opwu8 wrote
Lunar astronauts might have to get their overalls ready, because the Moon could be the next great frontier for agriculture. The European Space Agency and Norwegian lunar agriculture company Solsys Mining have teamed up on a project to study how lunar soil could be used to produce fertilizer.
The project builds upon prior research demonstrating that plants can grow in lunar soil, albeit not very well. One of the main challenges is that lunar regolith lacks certain amounts of nitrogen compounds—a key ingredient in soil that allows flora to flourish. Another issue is that lunar soil gets tightly compact when wet, which creates trouble for plants trying to put down healthy and strong roots.
Devadander t1_j9p1ym4 wrote
So what’s the ingenious technique?
snikZero t1_j9p5boy wrote
Basically cheating by not growing it in the soil.
Using water they can take some of the nutrients out of the ground, then pipe that to a hydroponics greenhouse where they grow without soil.
GaudExMachina t1_j9qk376 wrote
The key is going to be having microbes that can fix the nitrogen utilizing crushed lunar regolith as a substrate. Millions of people have been growing using hydroponics, but you have to add nutrient, and that will become a problem without there being as much available nitrogen on the moon.
Seidans t1_j9sf1f4 wrote
so vertical farm but on the moon, such ingeniosity
regular farming seem difficult as radiation and the lack of atmosphere (asteroid impact) prevent farming at ground level
that's why vertical farming cost more than regular farming on earth but on the moon? seem mandatory
FuturologyBot t1_j9oupmb wrote
The following submission statement was provided by /u/landlord2213:
Lunar astronauts might have to get their overalls ready, because the Moon could be the next great frontier for agriculture. The European Space Agency and Norwegian lunar agriculture company Solsys Mining have teamed up on a project to study how lunar soil could be used to produce fertilizer.
The project builds upon prior research demonstrating that plants can grow in lunar soil, albeit not very well. One of the main challenges is that lunar regolith lacks certain amounts of nitrogen compounds—a key ingredient in soil that allows flora to flourish. Another issue is that lunar soil gets tightly compact when wet, which creates trouble for plants trying to put down healthy and strong roots.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/119yvoy/ingenious_technique_could_make_moon_farming/j9opwu8/
[deleted] t1_j9owotp wrote
[removed]
Rabatis t1_ja22vfs wrote
Would making a farm out of the moon make it habitable for terrestrial life, should this take off?
3y3sho7 t1_j9pale3 wrote
🎉🎉 space weed 🎉🎉 now with 10% extra alien powers.. 100% authenticity grown on the moon.