NASA is gearing up for a bold mission: sending astronauts from the Artemis program to the moon to not only explore the lunar surface, but also grow plants.

The Artemis 3 mission, scheduled for late 2026, will be the first manned mission to the Moon in the 21st century.

According to NASA, three experiments The choice has been made To send them to the moon, one of them aims to study the ability of plants to survive and grow in the lunar environment.

The experiment, called LEAF (English abbreviation for Lunar Effects on Agricultural Plants), will be led by Christine Escobar of Space Lab Technologies.

It will investigate how plants behave under sunlight at the Moon's south pole, taking into account space radiation and the Moon's weaker gravity.

Therefore, this study is necessary to evaluate the feasibility of future farms in lunar greenhouses. In addition to providing food for the crew on the Moon, these plants could also help keep the air breathable. Thus converting carbon dioxide into oxygen through the process of photosynthesis.

Other experiments on Artemis 3

Two other experiments chosen by NASA to coincide with the Artemis mission are LEMS (Lunar Environmental Monitoring Station) and LDA (Lunar Dielectric Analyzer).

LEMS will monitor seismic activity in the Moon's south polar region, while LDA will measure the ability of lunar regolith (the dust that covers the surface) to propagate an electric field, looking for volatiles, such as ice.

These experiments are essential to prepare future manned missions to Mars and to understand how plants can overcome stressful conditions in food-scarce regions on Earth.

The research also represents a return to experiments that began in the Apollo missions. It shows that even after 50 years, space exploration continues to surprise us and open new horizons for humanity.