As NASA prepares for the Artemis II mission and a renewed push to explore the Moon, scientists are thinking about a practical challenge for future astronauts: what they will eat. New research from The University of Texas at Austin suggests that chickpeas could be part of the answer.
In a recent experiment, scientists successfully grew and harvested chickpeas using simulated “moon dirt.” This is the first time the crop has been produced in a material designed to mimic lunar soil. The research was carried out with collaborators from Texas A&M University and published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Sara Santos, the project’s principal investigator, said the findings represent an important step toward understanding how crops might be grown on the lunar surface.
“The research is about understanding the viability of growing crops on the Moon,” said Santos, who is a distinguished postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) at the Jackson School of Geosciences. “How do we transform this regolith into soil? What kinds of natural mechanisms can cause this conversion?”
Challenges of Growing Plants in Lunar Soil
Lunar regolith is the scientific name for the dusty material that covers the Moon’s surface. Unlike soil on Earth, it does not contain microorganisms or organic matter that plants depend on to grow. Although regolith includes minerals and nutrients that plants can use, it also contains heavy metals that may harm plant development.
To test whether crops could grow in these conditions, the researchers used a simulated lunar soil produced by Exolith Labs. This mixture is designed to closely resemble the composition of moon samples brought back during the Apollo missions.
Creating Better Soil With Worm Compost
To improve the growing environment, the team mixed the simulated moon dirt with vermicompost. This nutrient rich material is created by red wiggler earthworms as they digest organic waste. Vermicompost contains valuable plant nutrients and a diverse microbiome that supports plant health.
In a space mission setting, the worms could generate compost from discarded materials such as food scraps or cotton clothing and hygiene products that would otherwise be thrown away.
Before planting, the researchers coated the chickpea seeds with arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi. These fungi form a symbiotic relationship with plants. They help plants absorb key nutrients while also reducing the amount of heavy metals taken up from the soil.
Chickpeas Grow in Simulated Moon Dirt
Santos and her team planted the chickpeas in different mixtures of moon dirt and vermicompost.
The results showed that plants could grow successfully in mixtures containing up to 75% simulated lunar soil. When the amount of moon dirt increased beyond that level, the plants experienced stress and died sooner.
Even in difficult conditions, the plants treated with fungi survived longer than those that were not inoculated. This highlights how important the fungi were for supporting plant growth. The researchers also discovered that the fungi were able to establish themselves in the simulated lunar soil, which suggests they might only need to be introduced once in a real lunar farming system.
Are Moon Grown Chickpeas Safe to Eat?
Although harvesting chickpeas from simulated moon dirt is a significant milestone, several questions remain. Scientists still need to determine whether the plants absorb harmful metals from the soil and whether the chickpeas provide the nutrients astronauts would need.
“We want to understand their feasibility as a food source,” said Jessica Atkin, the first author on the paper and a doctoral candidate in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University. “How healthy are they? Do they have the nutrients astronauts need? If they aren’t safe to eat, how many generations until they are?”
The project was originally funded by Santos and Atkin themselves. It has since received additional support through a NASA FINESST grant, which will help advance research on growing food for future missions to the Moon.