Neil Armstrong may have made a giant leap forward for
mankind when he landed on the moon more than 40 years ago, but
scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center in California are looking out
for plantkind. The Lunar Plant Growth Habitat project is hoping to put
some basil, flowers and turnips on the moon in late 2015.
"We are
constructing a small technology demonstration unit to study germination
of plants in lunar gravity and radiation on the moon," said NASA in a statement on the project website. "This will be the first life-sciences experiment on another world."NASA is planning to hitch a ride to the moon with one of the private spacecraft companies currently competing for Google's Lunar X project. The competition is awarding more than $40 million in prize money to any company that can successfully land on the moon.
NASA originally said that it was looking to partner with Moon express, one of the companies competing for the Lunar X Prize. But Moon Express CEO Bob Richards has said that deal isn't set in stone. "Because it's a NASA payload, any organization with the recognized commitment and ability to reach the lunar surface will have a chance to fly the 'LP-X' Lunar Plant experiment," he said in a statement. "But, of course, we hope it flies with Moon Express first."
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