Research on plant development is one of the three experiments that astronauts from the Artemis 3 Program are expected to conduct on the Moon.
The astronauts of the Artemis 3 Program will land on the Moon’s surface after more than half a century and are set to build a mini greenhouse on the Moon, if everything goes according to plan.
To carry out this mission, NASA recently announced the selection of three initial scientific experiments that astronauts will deploy on the Moon’s surface during the Artemis 3 mission in 2026, including LEAF (“Lunar Effects on Agricultural Plant Systems Experiment”). This experiment will investigate how various crops perform in the lunar environment.
Artemis astronauts will bring crops to the Moon in 2026. (Photo: istock).
“LEAF will be the first experiment to observe the processes of photosynthesis, growth, and stress responses of plants in space radiation and low gravity,” NASA officials stated in an announcement about the proposed experiments.
They further shared: “Data on plant growth and development, along with environmental parameters measured by the LEAF experiment, will help scientists understand how to utilize plants grown on the Moon to provide nutrition for humans, support life on the Moon, and more.”
In fact, experiments like LEAF are not the first to occur on the Moon. China sent cotton seeds to the far side of the Moon during the Chang’e 4 robotic mission in January 2019.
Next, LEMS is an automated seismometer experiment designed to hunt for moonquakes. NASA officials affirmed: “This experiment will describe the structural characteristics of the Moon’s crust and mantle, promising to add valuable information to models of the Moon’s formation and evolution.”
Meanwhile, the LDA experiment will measure the capability of the Moon’s regolith—its top layer of dust and gravel—to study its electric field transmission properties. NASA officials wrote: “This experiment will collect essential information about the structure of the Moon’s regolith, monitoring any changes in the electric field of this geological layer if present.”
These experiments may be deployed near the Moon’s south pole, an area believed to contain significant water ice that could support one or more crewed bases. The exact location is still unknown, as NASA has not yet announced the final landing site for the Artemis 3 mission.
And there is no guarantee that experiments like LEAF, LEMS, and LDA will officially be part of Artemis 3. That’s the current plan, but final decisions will clearly need to wait for some time longer.
