Plants to be grown on the Moon when humans return
NASA has announced that when humans take their first steps back on the Moon after 50 years during the Artemis III mission, astronauts will cultivate and return lunar-grown plants to Earth for the first time.
Duckweed.
Known as Lunar Effects on Agricultural Flora (LEAF), the project will collect plant growth and development data that will help scientists understand the use of plants grown for both human nutrition and life support on the Moon and beyond.
Slated for a September 2026 launch, the consortium of partners who will pioneer this initiative includes a core group from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space (P4S), headquartered at the University of ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø.
The project is led by Space Lab Technologies and involves the University of ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø, La Trobe University, and NASA Kennedy Space Center, all P4S partners, as well as the United States Department of Agriculture, University of Colorado Boulder, and Purdue University, with additional analysis to be conducted