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How can vegetables be grown in a place with no habitable atmosphere, no fertile soil and no freely available water?
This is exactly what the international Project Lunar Agriculture Module – Ground Test Demonstrator (LAM-GTD) (source in German) is about.
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is working together with NASA and the Canadian Space Agency CSA on concepts for greenhouses on the Moon. These are initially intended to supply astronauts on future long-term missions with fresh food.
A greenhouse as life insurance in space
Temperatures on the Moon fluctuate extremely, its surface is almost airless, water is scarce and cosmic radiation poses a considerable danger. Simply putting plants into lunar soil is not an option. Controlled cultivation systems are needed that can operate independently of natural environmental conditions.
The idea is that a greenhouse module will be directly connected to a simulated living and working area for astronauts. This would allow researchers not only to study plant growth, but also to test how the greenhouse and habitat can supply each other.
The planned demonstrator is to be built entirely on Earth to begin with. By 2032 at the latest the three partners want to decide whether and how it will actually be constructed.
NASA in particular has already carried out numerous experiments of this kind on the International Space Station ISS. Among other things, lettuce, Chinese cabbage and chilli peppers have been grown there.
The next step now moves on from small experimental setups on the ISS to much larger and more complex cultivation systems that could supply entire crews.
The German partner, DLR, can draw on experience from earlier projects, in particular the EDEN ISS greenhouse, which was operated in Antarctica for several years.
From 2018 to 2023 researchers ran a specially designed greenhouse in Antarctica, just a few hundred metres from the German research station Neumayer III. Under extreme conditions they grew fresh vegetables there without soil and without natural sunlight. LED lamps, artificial nutrient solutions and a sophisticated irrigation system made it possible to harvest lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes and even strawberries. In total, around one tonne of fresh vegetables was produced.
A project built on international cooperation
Antarctica is not the Moon, but it offers an important similarity: supplies are difficult, environmental conditions are demanding and mistakes can quickly become a problem.
It is no coincidence that Germany, the United States and Canada are working together on LAM-GTD. DLR contributes its expertise from space research and previous greenhouse projects. NASA is working on the foundations for future lunar missions and a long-term human presence on the Moon. The Canadian Space Agency CSA adds its experience in space research and in technologies for crewed missions.
A small step for lettuce, a giant leap for humanity
The research is not only of interest to astronauts, because there are also places on Earth where growing food is difficult, such as arid desert regions or areas with limited water resources.
Technologies that can supply plants with as little water, energy and space as possible could also help in these regions. Controlled greenhouses could also contribute to producing food more precisely and with less use of pesticides.
Looking beyond Earth could therefore yield knowledge that helps us find new ways of growing food on our own planet.