The Moon Is Getting Plants In Just A Few Years
Humans first walked on the moon on July 20, 1969. Now, in 2026, NASA is sending a new team out to the moon to attempt something they have not done before: planting moon plants to study how crops are able to fare under the environmental conditions on the moon.
The study of these moon plants is all part of an experiment that NASA has dubbed LEAF (Lunar Effects on Agricultural Flora). This project will actually mark the first time that astronauts will have landed on the moon in over half a century. While there, they will be constructing a mini-greenhouse on the moon’s surface to house the plants and enable NASA to study how well they are able to grow off of the Earth.
NASA officials described the intentions of the moon plants experiment in an official statement, saying, “LEAF will be the first experiment to observe plant photosynthesis, growth and systemic stress responses in space-radiation and partial gravity.” And if you are wondering if this project aims to one day grow large scale vegetation on the moon, NASA confirms that is a possibility they want to examine.
“Plant growth and development data, along with environmental parameters measured by LEAF, will help scientists understand the use of plants grown on the moon for both human nutrition and life support on the moon and beyond.”
