Shoot for the stars, aim for the moon, they say. While often meant figuratively, some Concordia College students are taking it literally, kind of.
Concordia students will get the opportunity to assist NASA in sending astronauts to the moon by figuring out a way to grow plants in extraterrestrial soil.
Mallorie Taylor-Teeples, assistant professor of biology at Concordia has started a group for students through which they will participate in the Plant the Moon Challenge hosted by the University of Central Florida’s Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science Exolith Lab.
“The cool thing about this project is that we are exploring biology, but in space, and that appeals to a broad swath of people. Everyone is curious about Mars,” said Taylor-Teeples.
The challenge is to grow vegetable plants in simulated Martian soil provided by UCF’s CLASS Exolith Lab. The soil, recreated from real Martian samples, is very fine and holds moisture too well. This will be the main challenge to overcome, said Sophie Schaumann, a biology and math student at Concordia.
The group offers a unique way to get involved on campus and caters to a wide variety of students studying diverse things. Schaumann and pre-dentistry student Taylor Devine offer different reasons for taking part.
“I have always been interested in space growing up but have never had the opportunity to pursue learning in that field, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to act upon my curiosity from growing up,” said Devine.
Schaumann simply has an interest in growing plants, and thinks it is “pretty insane” if life can survive on Mars.
The Plant the Moon Challenge is a global experiment including K-12 students, undergraduate students and professional level participants. The wide range of education cultivates experiments incorporating many more unique ideas than would otherwise be possible, said Devine.
The group at Concordia is open to anybody, and participants represent most of the different fields of STEM majors. Devine said the group includes students from physics, biology, chemistry, environmental studies and several others.
Concordia’s group will grow spinach plants, which, aside from being a nutritious leafy green that would well serve astronauts, has a short growth cycle. The group has 70 days to run their experiments, and spinach allows for multiple attempts.
Each participating group sets its own parameters, said Schaumann. Concordia’s group will primarily be testing the effects of Earth sunlight versus simulated Martian sunlight. Additionally, the group will add a specific fungus called arbuscular mycorrhizae to help reduce water retention.
“Mars gets 44% of the light Earth does, so we’re testing growing at much dimmer conditions versus what you would get on Earth,” said Taylor-Teeples.
Many groups facilitate growing by adding nutrients and fertilizers, according to the Plant the Moon Challenge website. Concordia’s group hopes to avoid fertilizer, using the fungus as a nutrient source, said Schaumann.
“Arbuscular mycorrhizae form relationships with plant roots, and they help plants access nutrients in the soil,” said Taylor-Teeples.
Following the completion of the growth period, groups produce a final report which is submitted to the CLASS Exolith Lab, said Schaumann. Then, alongside NASA scientists, they choose which data is used by NASA.
The data may be used to advance NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program, which aims to put humans on the moon once again. There are many challenges to stepping foot on the moon, but a major one is feeding crew members.
While returning humans to the moon is already a lofty goal, the moon is not the final destination in NASA’s trip to space. The end goal of this initiative is to eventually put humans on Mars. The moon prepares for that trip according to the Challenge’s website.
The program advances the Artemis mission, but there are also bigger ideas at play, said Schaumann. The program has a broader focus on possible colonization of Mars or the moon, as well as publishing general research about planting other planets.
Whether or not Concordia’s efforts directly affect NASA’s initiative, the group is a great way to get involved in a unique opportunity on campus, and experience space research on a small campus, as Taylor-Teeples said.
“We may never go to Mars, but we do get to play with Martian soil.”
