With Artemis II set to launch on November 24, it is no surprise that science journals are buzzing with research on lunar regolith, building bases on the moon, and working with moon soil to grow plants... you get the drift.
A recent study in the journal Communications Biology described an experiment in which the moon soil samples collected during the Apollo missions were used to grow plants. And for the first time, an Earth plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, commonly called thale cress, grew and thrived in the lunar soil samples during the experiment.
Another recent research, funded by NASA, and published in the journal New Space, analyzed the challenges of construction in situations where lunar dust would swirl around during launches or landings.
That's a lot of theory and lab experiments. But, who will initiate action and build a lunar base with moon soil first?
Turns out, China will.
And they even have an estimated time of action.
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