With Nasa's Artemis countdown already begun, humans will soon be returning to the Moon – this time to establish a manned base. For any moonbase project to succeed long-term, astronauts must be able to grow their own food.
The lunar soil, known as regolith, poses significant horticultural problems, being essentially a powder in which it is difficult to grow plants. The Moon is also characterised by temperatures that can reach as high as 127°C during the day, then fall to as low as -173°C at night.
Addressing all of these issues is the LunarPlant international project, headed by NTNU Social Research and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Space (Ciris).
Norwegian researchers are also part of the LunarPlant project, with the independent research organisation Sintef working in collaboration with the VTT technical research centre in Finland to develop a substrate that functions as a supportive collar for growing plants.
Sintef researcher Galina...