The lunar garden will have basil, sunflowers and turnips. The plants will grow in coffee-can-sized habitats made of aluminum. These habitats will have many sensors and cameras, so researchers on earth can monitor the plants as they grow.

 

Habitat

 

It will be a real technological challenge. The habitats will have to be self-powered and regulate their own temperature and water in the harsh lunar environment.

 

NASA does not plan to use their own rockets to put the plants on the moon. Instead, they will use private companies–specifically companies that will be participating in the Google Lunar X Prize contest.

 

NASA will also be asking schools to help out. They will send growing kits to select schools around the country. There, students will take care of the plants. As the plants in these kits grow, they will be compared to the ones on the moon.

 

NASA growing kit

 

If things go well, we could be seeing gardens on the moon in a couple of years.