NASA has announced that it will conduct experiments on growing plants such as basil and turnips on the moon by 2015 as a first step in research for future human habitation of the moon. The INDEPENDENT, a British media outlet, reported the news.


According to the media outlet, the NASA experiment will be conducted by the end of 2015. The experiment will study plant germination in the gravity and radiation on the Moon. After landing on the moon later that year, water will be added to the plant seeds planted in the module. Their growth will be observed for 5 to 10 days and compared to that of the base station on Earth. The seeds include Nazuna, basil, and turnip.


NASA describes the experiment as "hitchhiking" the seeds to the moon, as they will be transported by the Moon Express spacecraft, built by Moon Express, Inc.

NASA is going ahead with this experiment because if plants that need nutrients, air, and water can survive on the moon's surface, we humans can also live there.