An optimistic artist’s conception of lunar farming
Earth is the only known home of life. For all of humankind’s aspirations and ambitions, we have only succeeded in walking on one other celestial body and putting a few people, rats, and ant colonies in some leaky tin cans in low Earth orbit (I’m sorry to be so brutally honest about Skylab, Mir, and ISS). This is deeply troubling since I believe humankind can only survive and redeem itself by moving into the heavens (although some of my cynical friends worry that we will only be exporting humankind’s problems and appetites wherever we go). Whatever the case, we are not moving very quickly towards the skies. Political gridlock, greed, and a lack of engineering and imagination have kept us from making any real progress at space-steading. So far we have proven to be maladroit stewards who are incapable of bearing life’s luminous seed into space (although we are amassing a nifty robot fleet around the solar system, and, despite our many flaws, we keep learning).
This is why I was so excited to see the most recent space exploration news: NASA recently announced that they are teaming up with the mad moguls of Google in a project to grow crops on the moon! The space agency is constructing a tiny (approximately 1 kilogram) capsule to grow a handful of plants on the lunar surface. The little growth capsule with its cargo of air water and seeds will be dropped off on the moon by the Moon Express (a lunar vehicle built by Google in hopes of obtaining the lunar X Prize).
The initial project will not exactly provide much produce for a lunar greengrocer. An online article by James Plafke describes the contents of the lunar garden canister, “Currently, the chamber can support 10 basil seeds, 10 turnip seeds, and around 100 Arabidopsis seeds. It also holds the bit of water that initiates the germination process, and uses the natural sunlight that reaches the moon to support the plant life.”
The Moon Farmer from Futurama
Arabidopsis is not exactly a favorite at the supermarket, but it was the first plant to be genetically sequenced and it is used in biology labs everywhere as a model organism. In a pinch though, the basil and turnips might be good for some sort of impromptu Italian farm-style dish. NASA will monitor the seed growth and development from Earth with an eye on how lunar gravity and radiation levels impact the germinating seeds and the growing plants. Admittedly the microfarm is a small step towards colonies beyond Earth, but at least it is a step (and frankly the beginnings of agriculture here on Earth were similarly small and incremental). Or, who knows? Maybe the turnips will climb out of the canister and start dragging their knuckles along the lunar plains and throwing rocks at the Chinese landers.
You never know where science will take you
ferrebeekeeper 
11 comments
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December 10, 2013 at 10:44 AM
Val F.
I guess I am one of those “cynics”. I believe that until humans demonstrate that we are capable of properly caring for our own planet, and respecting other forms of life with which we share it (rather than sport-hunting, factory farming or experimenting on said lifeforms), then we do not deserve to go anywhere.
And if we do succeed in real long-distance space travel, we’d better hope that we don’t run into any superior civilizations that have similar attitides to ours.
In some ways it’s a fortunate irony that the very characteristics that make us such poor stewards of this planet are the same ones that prevent us from leaving. Not to mention, the more junk that accumulates in orbit, the more of a barrier there is.
December 10, 2013 at 1:59 PM
Wayne
Well, long-distance space travel is (probably) a long way off, we’re only just now putting a bucket of seeds on the moon. However I tend to think the rigors of space would, by necessity, cause humankind to be more disciplined, cooperative, and innovative. Plus it would give us something worthwhile to aspire to other than scary absolutist utopias. I don’t think we’ll ever figure out how to care for the planet without colonizing space: there are just too many of us (with too many conflicting agendas) on top of each other here on Earth.
But, in the end, your criteria is the only true threshold to cross: are we able to get together as a species and accomplish this astonishing liminal jump by whatever means necessary? Apparently not.
Also, thanks for your thoughtful dissent! I hope you are wrong, but events are proving you right…so far.
December 12, 2013 at 5:11 PM
Neomys Sapiens
Whenever any grocery goods and interplanetary voids are mentioned together, my mind immediately switches to a story by Stanislaw Lem (part of his Ijon Tichy cycle). In this Story, the protagonist, Professor Tarantoga I believe, was tasked with investigating some mysterious attacks on spacefaring vessels originating from some (extrasolar) asteroid belt.
The perpetrators turned out to be…POTATOES! The enterprising tubers, originally planted on a small, uninviting body of rock, did unroot themselves and migrated to sunnier habitats, which they, having already aquired a semi-mobile lifestyle, defended against any intrusions.
So let’s really hope, that your knuckle-dragging turnips know which side they are on – S.L.’s prophetic abilities were so shockingly accurate in some other cases, that the next manned expedition should include a high-strength herbicide for good measure!
Greets MSc
December 14, 2013 at 2:28 PM
Wayne
Thank you for that comment. It is my favorite one since I started this blog. I would write more but first I need to go on an internet search for the space potato story…
December 20, 2013 at 11:37 PM
Neomys Sapiens
How fluent are you in German? The problem is, that the english translations of Lem are no way comparable to those in German (he wrote polish, of course.) But his own undisputed abilities with the german language (I read a non-translated, quite complex interview once) were combined with a unprecedented genius on the side of his chosen translators, which make you occasionally burst out with laughter even when reading his most serious works as well as seriously wondering about certain words and formulations on his lighter ones (to which the abovementioned belong)..
I can only totally and utterly recommend the reading of ‘Summa Technologiae’ (which is exactly what it is called). This is the man, who gave (within S.T.) a COMPLETE AND ALL-ENCUMBING TREATMENT ON VIRTUAL REALITY IN THE 1960’s, including social, technical, juristical and other aspects, and, to complete this feat, he coined the term ‘PHANTOMATIK’ for it. Sadly, this hasn’t catched on.
The small book ‘Waffensysteme des 21. Jahrhunderts’ (21st century combat systems), which he claimed to have written in satirical purpose, can as well serve as a compact catechism for the trade i am plying – it is indeed our task to exploit ‘Schwarmverhalten’ and to teach our munitions the ‘Schwaenzeltanz’ of the bees (I know where the juicy targets are…).
To cut it short – Lem was a genius! While i can express myself fluently in both languages, I do shy from the task of geving you even the merest ideas of his writings in translation, but I will try to look up the bibliographical data for anything of his works, that was translated to English and to find out if this story is among it.
Personally, I find your reaction to my comment quite flattering, given that you have attracted quite a literate and well educated following. Let’s develop this.
December 20, 2013 at 11:47 PM
Neomys Sapiens
Did I ever mention (not yet here, of course), but, on the other side, did I even need to mention, that the very single thing, that amounts to be an obstacle against being truly bilingual in English and German is – Capitalisation. (err, capitalisation, of course).
Being german, you are trained towards total, nonasking, uncompromising capitalisation of EVERY NOUN. When I write English, I think and formulate english. And yet I keep capitalizing and subsequently correcting many, sometimes even most, of the nouns. This is embarassing!
December 21, 2013 at 12:04 AM
Neomys Sapiens
More on Lem: he is known mostly for having written ‘Solaris’ (screen adaption by Tarkovskiy), But I personally regard ‘Fiasko’ as the best of his fictional works. The stories around ‘Pilot Pirx’ are very interesting hard SF, with a special technology paranoia that is mostly incomprehensible to non-engineers. They are outstanding examples of his earlier works, even if he himself doesn’t talk very gladly of them. If I find the time, I will point out some highlights. It will be interesting to find out, how they survived in translation (I have, until now, not read a single line of S.L.’s writings in English).
And a final comment for now: I very much appreciated the shrew!
December 23, 2013 at 2:04 PM
Neomys Sapiens
Polish: Dzienniki gwiazdowe (1971) dt. ‘Sterntagebuecher’ engl. ‘The Star Diaries’
within this: ‘The 25th Voyage’ (at least so in the original and the german issue (Suhrkamp 1978).
Some of the other ‘Voyages’ are superb and all of them are worth reading.
The ‘1st Voyage’ for example, is indeletably connected in my mind with coffee vending machines and representative assemblies. Not sure, whether it is a vending machine or an alien ambassador to the same galactical assemblage to which the protagonist attends on behalf of earths’ candidate status, the enterprising and thirsty Ijon Tichy inserts a coin. Subsequently, he is unsure, whether the result is indeed a beverage or if he is adressed with a greeting by aromatic communication glands. So, no further spoilers.
I would also recommend ‘Tales of Pirx the Pilot’. Transfer’, ‘Eden’, ‘The Invincible and Other Stories’, ‘Fiasko’ and ‘The Futurological Congress’.
Greets MSc
December 23, 2013 at 6:51 PM
Wayne
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the detailed list. I love classic “hard” sci-fi, and I’m sure I can find at least some of these somewhere: Lem is one of the giants of the genre!
April 2, 2019 at 7:26 PM
hooftales
Can you explain your viewpoint that humans must become space travelers for redemption? To me, it seems that would be a kind of interplanetary metastasis…
April 3, 2019 at 12:00 AM
Wayne
I started a reply…and it got bigger and bigger, until it just turned into today’s post. Let’s carry on the discussion in the comments there!