Researchers Successfully Grow Chickpeas in Moondust Soil, Offering a New Hope for Space Missions

When NASA astronaut Sunita Williams got stranded in space due to technical faults in the spacecraft, one of the things she missed the most about home was food. Though not scanty, the menu for most outer space missions is still modest- typically freeze-dried powders, rehydrated soups, and pre-packaged snacks. Piqued by this problem astronauts often face during space missions, along with her curiosity for space exploration, researcher Jessica Atkin discovered a way to grow chickpeas in moon dust. In a paper published on the bioRxiv server, she documented how she and her team used toxin-trapping fungi and the poop of wiggly worms to grow these protein-rich legumes.

Why chickpeas?

Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, are rich in protein. Like Williams, astronauts on long-term space missions aren’t left with any choice but to rely on pre-packaged snacks, freeze-dried items, and casseroles to satisfy their bellies. Although Williams had generous access to calorific foods like pizzas, powdered milk, roast chicken, and shrimp cocktails, the supply of fresh food kept on dwindling with the passing months, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, according to a report by the NY Post.

So when she landed back on Earth after the prolonged mission, her first meal was a grilled cheese sandwich her father freshly made for her, per BBC. “They are a great protein source and use less water and nitrogen than other food crops,” Atkin said in a press release. “We used a desi chickpea variety to deal with the space limitations inside a habitat.”

Making the moondust hospitable

This is the first time a researcher has experimented with moon dust to grow and cultivate food crops. Atkin teamed up with fellow researchers from Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (@aglifesciences) to create a simulated version of moon dust, which contained approximately 75% of the lunar regolith and the remaining earthly soil. The moon dust that Apollo astronauts had brought to Earth wasn’t sufficient for the project, and it had to be amended.

Moondust carries the reputation of being notoriously uninviting and forbidding to plants, including food crops. Unlike the soil on Earth, it isn’t worn smooth by winds and water. Rather, its particles, as wide as the width of a human hair, are rumbling with electric charge deposited by crashing meteorites. These meteorites pulverize the rocks and fuse them with bits and pieces of debris that charge the moondust with an electric charge. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, this silver-grey dust is sticky, jagged, abrasive, and spiky, like shards of glass, and unfriendly to earthly plant babies.

To make this otherwise hostile lunar soil suitable for chickpea seedlings, Atkin used a blend of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) and worm poop, also called Vermicompost (VC). This mixture created a transformed matrix in the soil particles. The plan was that the fungi would trap all the toxins lurking in the soil, and the worm poop would make it hospitable, fertile, nitrogen-rich, and resilient against environmental stress. Atkin added that by releasing red wiggler worms into this soil, they could decompose biowaste such as clothing, hygiene items, and food scraps discarded by astronauts on missions.

Solution for food sustainability

Researchers noted that this experiment could break one of the most significant barriers in long-term space travel. If scientists could utilize moon dust to grow food in space, it would eliminate food unsustainability and paltry budgets that space agencies encounter while sending astronauts to space. Not to forget that this will enable astronauts to enjoy tasty, protein-rich meals while still confined inside the chambers of a space laboratory with magnetized plates strapped to their microgravity tables. A bowl of creamy chickpea hummus, anyone?

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