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Chickpeas grown in lunar regolith are stressed but reach maturity, shows study (phys.org)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Exactly.

We already do a lot of research on earth to maintain and improve soils, such basic things as turning under a winter crop which is used as a fixative, making that soil healthier.

Seems like it could work with regolith (as in these tests) - turn each plant generation back into the regolith, composting it, eventually it becomes soil with everything being retained.

It'll be really interesting to see the plant growth and soil improvements over the generations of composting (which I assume is part of this testing).

"Older than dirt" lol, yep!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azolla_event

So I think Azolla (a floating fern that fixes nitrogen) is the way to go to jumpstart an extraterrestrial soil. It’s insanely productive and makes amazing compost. The wikipedia link is just a cool thing I like to share.