Researchers in Texas have achieved a remarkable first in space agriculture, successfully growing chickpeas in artificial lunar soil. The team at the University of Austin managed to grow the Myles variety of the legume in growing beds containing simulated moon dust, recreated from samples collected during NASA's Apollo missions more than half a century ago. This pioneering achievement could prove transformative for plans by both Nasa and the European Space Agency to establish permanent lunar settlements within the coming decade. The breakthrough addresses one of the most pressing challenges facing long-term space habitation: how astronauts might sustainably feed themselves without relying on supply missions from Earth. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Lunar regolith presents formidable obstacles for plant cultivation, comprising crusite rock fragments, mineral particles and microscopic shards of abrasive glass. Unlike terrestrial soil, it lacks essential water, nitrogen and phosphorus and contains potentially toxic heavy metals. To overcome these hostile conditions, the scientists employed a clever combination of techniques. They mixed the simulated moon dust with vermicompost, an organic fertiliser rich in nutrients and produced by earthworms. The chickpea seeds were additionally coated with arbuscular mycorrhizae, a fungus that penetrates root cells and exchanges soil nutrients for plant carbon. Growing beds with up to 75 per cent lunar soil successfully yielded harvestable crops, though higher concentrations caused plant stress and premature death. Sara Santos, the project's principal investigator at the university's Institute for Geophysics, described the work as "a small first step toward growing crops on the Moon", adding the science is "moving in the right direction". "In our goal toward establishing a lunar presence – or one on Mars – we will need to learn how to grow food on the Moon, since it will not be sustainable to ship food in spaceships," she said. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Space breakthrough as scientists change course of asteroid in bid to stop future doomsday Revealed: The unseen role of British engineers in Nasa's first crewed Moon mission in half a century Scientists uncover origin of three mysterious signals coming from Milky Way Jessica Atkin, the study's lead author, highlighted why this particular crop was selected: "Chickpeas are high in protein and other essential nutrients, making them a strong candidate for space crop production." The researchers are now conducting tests to determine whether the lunar-grown chickpeas are safe for human consumption and contain adequate nutritional value. "We want to understand their feasibility as a food source," said Ms Atkin. "How healthy are they? Do they have the nutrients astronauts need? If they aren't safe to eat, how many generations until they are?" This achievement builds upon earlier work from 2022, when University of Florida scientists grew cress in actual Apollo mission soil samples. The findings, published in Scientific Reports, also carry implications for terrestrial agriculture, demonstrating how crops might adapt to increasingly harsh growing conditions as global temperatures rise. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter