Astro-Plant: If You Believe They Put a Plant on the Moon

Hi,

Paragon Space Development Corporation and Odyssey Moon have recently joined forces to compete for the Google Lunar X Prize: the contest that will award $30 million to the first private company to land on the moon by 2012. Their plan is to send a small pressurized greenhouse to the lunar surface containing a seed, soil, water and carbon dioxide. The seed will grow to maturity and go to seed itself while on the moon, completing its life cycle and showing that, with the right equipment, it is possible to grow gardens in space.

Now that is a pretty cool idea in my opinion. And 2012 is not so far away. I hope they will provide us with live pictures of the plant growing, if they are succesful.
The plant they chose is from the Brassica family, and it completes it`s lifecycle in only 14 days from seed to releasing it`s own seeds.
So far the greenhouse looks a little cheap but obviously they know their business.

NASA Ames planetary scientist Dr. Christopher McKay will be supporting the Lunar Oasis science team. "The first plant to grow from seed and complete its life cycle on another world will be a significant step in the expansion of life beyond the Earth. The sooner we do it the better," he said.

Sources:
gajitz.com...
www.paragonsdc.com...

I had to do this on earth in the fifth grade.

Now if these guys can't do it in the 100th grade, then shame on them!!!



All in all, this would be a pretty nice accomplishment.

reply to post by Republican08


Thank you for your thought(s). I think growing a plant on this planet is a given and not that difficult. Growing a plant on the moon you have to be either a 100th grader or very smart.

There is going to be a LOT more to it, than simply sending up a glorified plastic bag containing soil, water, CO2 and a seed or two.

What about temperature extremes?

Light?

A plant needs light for photosynthesis..if you put a plant into sunlight on the moon, your looking at a couple of hundred degrees C...in the dark it's the opposite.

Unless you add artificial light and a long lasting power source, it's going to freeze or cook. Placement of the 'greenhouse bag' is going to be critical.

come on, they already proved this is possible with those domes, and they already have grown plants in space.

you should watch the movie Silent running

this is the coolest sht i ever heard
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[edit on Sat Nov 14 2009 by Jbird]

the contest that will award $30 million to the first private company to land on the moon by 2012.

By 2012? Wow, they got to be working very hard, doesn't the construction of a shuttle itself take more than 3 years for a privately owned company, involving far more than 30 million dollar?

Thank you all for posting.
@spikey:
Maybe they could use LED as a light source. I know they are available in the spectrum suitable for plants and they don`t need very much energy. They only need it for 14 days, that is when the plant used ends it`s life cycle. But temperature? I don`t know how they solve this.

@ DjSharperimage:
Thank you very much, I felt the same about it.

@ Clairaudience:
Good question. I don`t know if it`s a easier task to put something so small on the Moon or if size doesn`t matter? I was stunned too that they plan on doing it so soon.