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Quantum fluctuations in space, science, exploration and other cosmic fields... served up regularly by MSNBC.com science editor Alan Boyle since 2002.

Alan Boyle covers the physical sciences, anthropology, technological innovation and space science and exploration for MSNBC.com. He is a winner of the AAAS Science Journalism Award, the NASW Science-in-Society Award and other honors; a contributor to "A Field Guide for Science Writers"; and a member of the board of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing.

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A flower on the moon?

Posted: Thursday, March 26, 2009 7:10 PM by Alan Boyle


Paragon Space Development
Flowering plants would be enclosed in a mini-greenhouse placed on Odyssey
Moon's lunar lander, as shown in this artist's conception.

A company that has built mini-biospheres for orbiting space stations says it's ready for the next giant leap: growing flowers on the moon.

"It's all very aggressive," Taber MacCallum, chief executive officer of Arizona-based Paragon Space Development Corp., said of his company's plan to send a miniature greenhouse to the lunar surface. "But it isn't fun if it isn't aggressive."

Paragon's "Lunar Oasis" would piggyback on a lunar lander currently being developed by Odyssey Moon to vie for a share of the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize. Details of the partnership are to be publicized Friday during a news conference at Paragon's headquarters in Tucson, Ariz.

To win the prize, Odyssey Moon would have to get its lander/rover craft on the moon's surface by the end of 2014. Paragon is working with Odyssey Moon on the lander design and its thermal control system as well as the mini-greenhouse.

"We are thrilled to have Paragon join the team with their expertise in thermal and biological systems," Odyssey Moon's founder and chief executive officer, Bob Richards, said in a news advisory. "I am incredibly inspired by our hope to grow the first plant on another world."

Capturing the imagination
The greenhouse idea has emotional as well as scientific appeal.

"People of all ages will get excited about the idea of growing a plant on the moon," Jane Poynter, president and founder of Paragon (as well as MacCallum's wife), said in the advisory. "Imagine a bright flower on a plant in a crystal clear growth chamber on the surface of the moon, with the full Earth rising above the moonscape behind it; these are the ideas that got me interested in space."

MacCallum has been impressed in particular by how kids react to the idea. "To them, right now it's more cool than astronauts," he told me.

But the experiment isn't just kid stuff. "The first plant to grow from seed and complete its life cycle on another world will be a significant step in the expansion of life beyond the earth," Chris McKay, a planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, said in the advisory. "The sooner we do it, the better."

Plants already have been found to flourish in zero gravity - in fact, Paragon played a big role in plant-growth experiments on the space shuttle and Russia's Mir space station as well as on the international space station. But plants haven't yet been grown in lunar-type reduced gravity, said Volker Kern, Paragon's director of NASA human spaceflight programs.

"Scientifically, it will be very interesting to understand the effects of the moon and one-sixth gravity on plant growth," he said.

Mother Nature on another world
MacCallum knows that getting plants to grow in the Lunar Oasis will be a challenge. First of all, the greenhouse would have to survive the trip to the moon in working order - which is definitely one giant leap for the Odyssey Moon team.


Odyssey Moon
Odyssey Moon's lander makes its descent to the
lunar surface in this artist's conception.

Then Mother Nature would have to do its thing on another world, with a lot of help from the onboard life support system. The current prototype for the greenhouse is a 15-inch-high (37.5-centimeter-high) reinforced glass cylinder that's about 7 inches (18 centimeters) wide on the bottom. Seeds for a rapid-cycle type of Brassica plant - basically, mustard seeds - would be planted in Earth soil within the container.

"It's one of those 'lab-rat' plants that scientists use a lot and know very well," MacCallum explained.

The petite plants have been bred on Earth to develop yellow flowers 14 days after planting - which happens to be how long a lunar day lasts. "We're hoping to at least go to flower and set seed in the course of one lunar day," MacCallum said.

Without the mediating influence of an atmosphere, lunar surface temperatures can swing widely between day and night, from 225 degrees Fahrenheit (107 degrees Celsius) during the day to colder than 240 degrees below zero F (-153 degrees C) at night. "My guess is the plant is going to get so cold that it dies during the night," MacCallum said.

But wouldn't it be cool if the plant developed mustard seeds that started a whole new cycle of growth on the moon? If that happened, "we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves," MacCallum said.

Lessons in life support
Paragon's would-be lunar gardeners will have to work their way through lots of technical challenges: How do you design the greenhouse glass to block the sun's harmful rays while letting in the sunlight needed for Earth-style photosynthesis? How do you meter in the carbon dioxide and water that the plant will require, while removing the oxygen given off by the plant? "It gets complicated very quickly," MacCallum said.


NASA / Paragon
Paragon Space Development's
Autonomous Biological System
provides a sealed habitat for
aquatic plants or animals in space.

But as MacCallum said, that's part of the fun. These are the kinds of challenges he's been dealing with since the early 1990s, when he and Poynter served as resident scientists in the eco-laboratory known as Biosphere 2. The couple started up Paragon even before they left Biosphere 2, and the company collaborates with NASA as well as outside researchers on space-biology experiments.

Today, Paragon specializes in the testing and development of life support systems for outer space as well as for underwater diving. The company is part of the Lockheed Martin team building NASA's next spaceship, as well as the Oceaneering team designing NASA's next spacesuit. Paragon has also been awarded a U.S. Navy contract to start production of an advanced diving system designed specifically for use in contaminated water.

All those projects will be mentioned during Friday's news conference, with U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., in attendance. But the Lunar Oasis is likely to be the star of the show: Paragon plans to present a model of the greenhouse to Giffords, who is chairwoman of the House subcommittee on space and aeronautics.

The model was still under construction as of this week, and MacCallum said he couldn't guarantee that it'll be a realistic representation of the greenhouse eventually going to the moon. "Since we really don't know what 'realistic' is, we'll have to see," he joked.

Check out this msnbc.com gallery and this X Prize Web site for basic facts about the Google Lunar X Prize teams.

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Comments

this piece brings me right back to the 'send compost' idea...we could make Mars habitable within a few million years, eh?
might as well get started...

steve smyth (Sent Thursday, March 26, 2009 7:31 PM)

Neat.  I thought scientists usually tried NOT to contaminate other worlds with earth life.  Remember the extraordinary steps that were taken with Galileo to avoid contaminating the Jovian moons?  What about all the hullabaloo about Russian scientists attempting to contaminate one of Mars' moons?  I guess when it comes to our moon, the rules are a little bit more "relaxed".  

Timmy Two Moons (Sent Thursday, March 26, 2009 8:45 PM)

The interior of the greenhouse would supposedly be sealed off from the outside ... otherwise the air would leak out and the plant would die. But the Surveyor 3 mission illustrates just how long some critters can live on the moon:

http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast01sep98_1.htm

Alan Boyle (Sent Thursday, March 26, 2009 9:03 PM)

im still waiting to see a humming bird in zero gravity!!!

jordan, salt lake. utah (Sent Thursday, March 26, 2009 9:09 PM)

The moon is a dead rock. I have no problem with "contaminating" it if the project improves the human condition.

Albatross, San Antonio, Texas (Sent Thursday, March 26, 2009 10:14 PM)

Not a new idea, by far.  Check out Karl Kofoed's artwork at http://users.rcn.com/kkofoed/newGGpage/comet.html

First time I saw this was in the Heavy Metal magazine, Nov 79 edition: "Galactic Geographic: Life On A Virgin Comet" - Karl B. Kofoed

Cool stuff!

LostInSpace (Sent Thursday, March 26, 2009 10:22 PM)

leave my moon alone

Bobby Brown Seaside, Oregon (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 3:07 AM)

Hey I have an idea. Why don't we work to undo the damage we have done to the earth before we go and screw up another planet. Once we can successfully hault, or should I say slow down the Global warming then go on to other things like this project. There are so many ways that kind of money could be used to improve conditions right here on good ole Ma Earth.

Christy Alkire (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 6:56 AM)

Thats Really cool! Mabye we COULD live on the moon someday, if the flower survives.

Jasmine Chevalier, New Haven, CT (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 7:42 AM)

I hope our civilization do not expect to find earth-like life in space. There is a high probability some other forms of life have already crossed paths with ours and we never knew...  Remember, our universe has proved us wrong every step of the way... time, size energy and space are not easy concepts...Maybe we will start grasping the idea in a billion years or two
... Greetings from Houston, Texas . . .

Enrique Perez (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 8:56 AM)

Yeah... the only life on the moon is the stuff we sent there. No one thionks any Lunar Organisms exist, so not it's time to have some real fun, and begin to learn how to LIVE there.

Dennis, Richmond VA (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 9:21 AM)

Tomothy Two Moons is right.  Remember what happens when we bring non-native species to places where they don't belong.  It usually causes big problems in the long run.  This is a cool idea, but we should think very, very carefully before doing what "sounds cool."  Bringing foxes to Australia sounded cool, but it wreaked havoc on the ecosystem.  Smallpox in the Americas anyone?  

For me, this story reads "CAUTION."

Gary, Chicago, IL (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 9:32 AM)

Non-contamination applies only to habitable biospheres, ones that can support life. Titan, Europa, Mars would all be potential biospheres. Luna has no atmosphere and is therefore not subject to biological contamination.

Exeder (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 9:37 AM)

Interesting article Alan!  Plants in Space!  Next Day of the Triffids?  Actually an excellent idea to try growing plants on the moon to see how that works and how to make it work properly.  Could see some evolution in action if the plants can be kept growing for several generations.  They might be able to adapt themselves better to the conditions of being on the moon with different gravity and sunshine conditions.

In Science We Trust!

Eric, Salinas, CA (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 10:15 AM)

Hope it's maryjowanna.....how cool would it be to get
baked and go play in 1/3 Earth gravity.....

smokinjo (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 11:00 AM)

Timmy Two Moons:   The Moon is dead, what harm is there in "contaminating" it with life. We were careful about the Jovian moons because we don't yet know if they harbor life that our terrestrial organisms would compete with.


This experiment is fantastic. This is the kind of research that needs to be done.
  What about getting plants to grow in micro gravity? If the right kind of asteroid is chosen, many of the organics needed to grow plants would already be present, meaning less would have to be expensively boosted to orbit. An asteroid could be easily (relatively) spun up to create a 24 hr day. It seems engineering plants for near-zero G would be easier than engineering them to survive the Moons 2 week night, and it would be easier to maintain he temperature in the green house.

Evilbino, Plattsburgh NY (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 11:45 AM)

At the risk of sounding like a nutcase, I say we infect as many planets as we can with life. I understand it's a controversial view in many circles, but with all the places we've found life on Earth (volcanic vents, sulfuric pools, eating rocks in underground caverns?!) I feel that it's robust enough that if it was there, we will find it, and if we don't, we should put it there. All in all, I think it's a good idea to test the viability of plants in greenhouses on other bodies before we invest tons of money in Moon/Mars-bases.

Doug, Atlanta, GA (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 11:58 AM)

Great News. Looking forward to seeing the pics and video when it lands. The other first, that's not mentioned is the first organic oxygen production on another world. This is a biggie for all future space travelers that happen to rely on air to breath :-)

Onevoice, Frederick MD (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 12:45 PM)

I would hope that this could provide a basis for ways to grow food in space.  If we are ever to go forward into space and really explore (it has to be a mix of human and robot), we need the craft that go out there to be able to sustain those that live on board.  It could also provide ideas to have underground and orbital farms to provide extra food.  

S.B. Stein E.B. NJ (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 1:00 PM)

Timmy -

If humans are to survive for a long time (100s of millions of years), we have to colonise other planets. The Earth won't be forever. So take your pick. Either we contaminate, terraform moisture-laden planets(like Mars etc.) or simple die out.

We've been responsible for the extinction of so many species on Earth, fight/kill so many of our own, and yet we worry about "contamination" to other worlds. How are we sure that the probes we've sent are absolutely contamination-free?

No two systems are completely compartmentalized. Remember the "butterly effect".

Rakesh Sharma, San Mateo (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 1:13 PM)

By the way humans will contaminate any environment they live in with terrestrial life. We (humans) are veritable microbe farms. We will be in outer space and on the moons of Jupiter one day, or extinct...take your pick.

Evilbino, Plattsburgh NY (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 2:36 PM)

Haven't we learned enough about invasive species being deliberately or accidentally introduced to a non-native habitat to know that this is folly?

KT, Minneapolis, MN (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 2:44 PM)

"Neat.  I thought scientists usually tried NOT to contaminate other worlds with earth life.  Remember the extraordinary steps that were taken with Galileo to avoid contaminating the Jovian moons?  What about all the hullabaloo about Russian scientists attempting to contaminate one of Mars' moons?  I guess when it comes to our moon, the rules are a little bit more "relaxed". "

The difference is that the moon around Mars and the Jovian moons have their own atmosphere. Our moon has no atmosphere, it is just a dead rock (like an astroid). Its tempature extreme, combined with its total lack of any gases (atmosphere) means that without artifical support it cannot support life. Hence no worries about contaminating it with invasive lifeforms.

JTwig (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 3:06 PM)

Maybe we will get a Mutant plant right out of SciFi since the greenhouse won't be shielded from radiation.  It would be nice if the plant were grown in Moon Dust and not in transplanted dirt from Earth.

[ALAN ADDS: I did ask about that, and MacCallum said using moon dirt (or simulant) was something he and his colleagues thought about. "That's a whole level of complexity that we'll have to save for the second mission," he said.]

a p garcia (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 4:51 PM)

""My guess is the plant is going to get so cold that it dies during the night," MacCallum said."

Which can happen easily enough on Earth, on a cold, clear night. Also, I have to think this little 'greenhouse' would get far too hot in the Lunar daytime. (There's a *reason* Space helmet visors have a gold coating [infrared reflection])


"Neat. I thought scientists usually tried NOT to contaminate other worlds with earth life.  Remember the extraordinary steps that were taken with Galileo to avoid contaminating the Jovian moons?  What about all the hullabaloo about Russian scientists attempting to contaminate one of Mars' moons?  I guess when it comes to our moon, the rules are a little bit more "relaxed"."


Yes, they are. And have been for a long time.

We stopped worrying about 'contaminating' the Moon long ago. Lunar probes haven't been sterilized since about the early 1960's, as clearly a place extremely hostile to unprotected life. (Quarintine of asronauts after returning, ended after the first few flights as well.) Zero atmospheric protection from the Sun and cosmic rays, thermal extremes described above, zero water (except possiblly permafrost-like ice near the poles, and even that's in places eternally shaded and extremely cold).

Mars, I worry. Europa, I worry. Titan...I don't know if I should worry. But for biological purposes, the Moon is just a rock. If anything we might bring to the Moon can somehow take hold, more power to it...


"There are so many ways that kind of money could be used to improve conditions right here on good ole Ma Earth."

Are you under the impression that no one is spending big money on those problems already?

And in any case, this particular lander would be done with private money, not your taxes. They can spend it as they please.

Frank Glover, Rochester, NY (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 5:09 PM)

I wonder how much solar panel + battery weight you would need to keep the plant defrosted during the night?  Throw some worms, insects or other simple hearty animals in there for you O2->CO2  Sounds like the people working on this have that kind of experience.  Excellent idea.

Bounty (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 6:55 PM)

To H_ _ _ with all this B - - - - - - T!!! We can't take care of all the starving & homeless people on this planet now! That is where the money needs to go; PERIOD! In the future (if we have any) we can worry about this BU_ _ _ _ _ T

mishicotpatriot (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 9:46 PM)

FLOWERS ON THE MOON IS NOT A TOO-FAR-FETCHED IDEA. I SINCERELY, BELIEVE, FROM A CHRISTIAN-SCIENCE STANDPOINT, THAT THE EARTH IS THE LAST PLANET TO HOLD LIFE AS WE KNOW IT. I FEEL THAT THE OTHER PLANETS HAVE KNOWN SUCH LIFE IN THE PAST, BUT, EARTH IS THE LAST PLANET TO HAVE US AS LIVING BEINGS. THIS IS WHY I THINK WE EXPERIENCE SO MUCH TO KEEP IT SO. BUT, I DO FEEL WE ARE GETTING CLOSER TO THE END TO JOIN THE OTHER PLANETS. THE HAPPENINGS IN THE WORLD SEEM TO BEAR THIS OUT, ALSO. I FEEL THE U.S. IS EXPERIENCING WHAT THE USSR UNDERWENT SOME YEARS AGO AS FAR AS THE EUROPEAN UNION IS CONCERNED. I BELIEVE WE ARE GETTING CLOSER TO THE TIME WHEN THE IMPLODED EARTH OR SELF DESTROYED EARTH WILL BE A FACT AND NO LONGER FANTASY. THE PLANETS DICTATE TO THE CONTINENTS, THE CONTINENTS DICTATE TO THE NATIONS AND THE NATIONS TO THE STATES. THE STATES ARE AT THIS TIME, IN THE WORLD BLENDING TO CREATE ONE BIG WORLD INSTEAD OF THE MANY NATIONAL AREAS. THIS IS ALL TO DO WITH THE FALL IN GENERAL. A UNIVERSAL FALL AND NOT JUST THE FALL OF MAN THIS TIME. THE SEASONS HAVE FALLEN, THE ELEMENTS ABOVE HAVE FALLEN. THE FALL IS NOW IN THE PAST TENSE, UNIVERSALLY. AND WE CAN'T TELL WHEN THERE IS AN EXPLOSION OR WHEN THERE IS AN IMPLOSION IN MANY CASES. THE UNREST BELOW THE GROUND IS GENERAL. I THINK THE VERY FACT THAT THE OTHER PLANETS ARE LIFELESS AS WE KNOW THEM WOULD TELL US THAT EARTH WOULD NOT BE THE ONE AND ONLY ONE TO LAST THIS WAY. IT IS CLEARER THAT THE OTHER PLANETS HAVE ALL UNDERGONE WHAT PLANET EARTH IS NOW UNDERGOING. AMERICA IS SLOWLY BECOMING WOVEN INTO THE WORLD FABRIC THE WAY EARTH IS SLOWLY JOINING THE OTHER PLANETS, ALSO. EVEN IF YOU ARE A NONE BELIEVER, YOU MUST PAY ATTENTION TO THE TIMES. I FEEL MARY BAKER EDDY WAS OF THE SAME OPINION. HAPPY EARTH HOUR TOMORROW EVENING {8:30-9:30 P.M.} JUST CALL IT A MARY-MARGARET STELLAR FEELING.

ESTELLA DAVIS MONROE, LA (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 9:59 PM)

Looks like it's time for private enterprise to take over the space initiatives. NASA needs a more far-reaching mission that going back to the moon for an encore of something they did 40 years ago with similar looking hardware. The moon is now technically within range of commercial companies and perhaps more ambitious educational and scientific organizations. Let them have it while NASA develops the exploration technology and scientific database on other planets and stars. If that is getting beyond the price we want to foot as a nation, then an international effort is called for. After all, we all benefit from new knowledge.

JohnShepler (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 10:05 PM)

that would be impressive, as we have never been on the moon ourselves.....

kjd (Sent Friday, March 27, 2009 11:54 PM)

re: so called "invasive species" concept.

ALL LIFE is invasive, that's part of the nature of life itself.

also, since the objects in our solar system trade rocks back and forth, it's quite possible that there's already earth life (microbes at least) on, or more likely, under the surface of the moon.  

and, since the moon has some water in it, it's even possible that some of the microbes are living in the lunar soil.

p w, panama city, fla. (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 12:06 AM)

What was that movie they planted the worlds forests in outer-space habitats,and then started blowing them up due to budget cuts.I think it's better to solve our planet's problem's then to create a new problem somewhere else.

David P. Rouleau,Still River,MA (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 12:25 AM)

pretty weird

obama (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 12:50 AM)

Hmmmm. Growing Pot on the Moon. Can one get a franchise for such?

Jim Dwyer, Bisbee, AZ (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 1:57 AM)

i like bountys idea, just imagine having a self sustaining ecosystem on the moon thats something to think about,

they are not puttin the plant out in the open to flourish on the moon they are putting it in a enclosed greenhouse its not gonna somehow get out and flourish on the moon, thats a silly thought mayeb you should read the article again.

but yea the mini ecosystem im sure thats the goal after a few missions

Tj, honolulu hi (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 3:22 AM)

i mean this is cool and all..but why bother? we have our OWN planet

Erin Flannery, Raleigh, NC (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 6:38 AM)

Let me see, contaminating the moon? well it didn't bother anyone when we sent plutonium into space on some journey to the outer limits. I don't think anybody cares if we contaminate the moon. We have certainly contaminated this planet and it's atmosphere. I say we send some corn up there, a lot more prosperous than mustard seed, although some moon grown beef might be good with that mustard seed?

Bubba Oriley, Dodah, USA (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 7:34 AM)

hm might as well test algea, the most common plant on earth..

John Doe, Seattle, Wash (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 8:17 AM)

Well, I've seen many people on many forums and sites saying we will be around another million years or so, so why bother? I ask them all the same question, 'are you insane'? We barely made it through the nuclear allerts of the 60-70's and now more people in the world..including some the average person doesnt have a clue about...have nukes, and their spreading. There are nutjobs in high places just waiting for their chance to kill us ALL, why? Because it gives them the feeling their a god..its what nutjobs do, and think. So if they have the ability to end life everywhere, maybe with an eye on recolonizing some small place after...why not? I feel we'll be lucky if my grandchildren life to grow up..thats not a million years, my friend..just look around.

kevin marsh,tyrone, pa (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 11:18 AM)

As far as is currently KNOWN, Holy Mother Terra is the ONLY lifebearing world in existence.  Though I'd love to be shown to be wrong on that, until life elsewhere is conclusivly proved, we have to ACT as if this is the case.  This project is a first, tenative, step in sharing that gift with the larger Universe as a whole.

Life is sweet - pass it on!

Denis Foley, Manheim, PA (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 12:45 PM)

"Let me see, contaminating the moon? well it didn't bother anyone when we sent plutonium into space on some journey to the outer limits. I don't think anybody cares if we contaminate the moon."

First...sending plutonium 'into space' is a very non-specific description. With out some qualifier, it can mean the entire Universe, except the first 100km around this one planet. A few pieces of plutonium deep in the solar system (specifically orbiting Saturn, in the case of Cassini) is not any reasonable person's idea of a threat. How do you contaminate 'the outer limits' anyway? (Would that *all* high-level waste could be sent safely that far away.) Perhaps we should see about shutting off the Sun, because of all that nasty hard ultraviolet and the occasional solar flares and coronal mass ejections it also spits out...?

Second...do you *really* see a flower as being in the same category as a long-lived piece of radioactive material? What happened to the 'green' mantra?

Again, unprotected life on the Lunar surface will die in a very short time and there is no existing ecology there *to* disrupt. I think the flower thing is pointless, but I'm not losing sleep over it, as it's not the primary purpose of the lander, anyway....

Frank Glover Rochester, NY (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 1:49 PM)

Hey Frank..that's the same attitude Folks had when we were so ignorant that fouling the Oceans seemed impossible...they were soooo big...
The earliest Space Guys made commitments not to 'contaminate' space with Earth based poisons...fifty years in and you decide it's foolish.
What's a few pieces of plutonium?
What's a few bazillion tons of caca in the ocean?
It starts with the first dump...don'tcha think?

steve smyth (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 4:49 PM)

Arewe trying to play Buck Roger the 21 centrary or what. We know we can,t grown flower on the Moon or anywhere else in space for that matter so stopped wasting money.Thre a lot of people right here on earth who are going hunry with no place to live we can used that money hear then wasting it on silly proc we already have spent Million of dollar on a space station.

George Marion Ohio (Sent Saturday, March 28, 2009 10:52 PM)

it is indeed a great idea or innovation to plant flower on the moon ....should be interesting .what does that really mean to more than 70% of the population who even dont have enough resources to support their children's education..... developed countries had advanced beyond imaginations of the others but one civic responsibility they forget is the care for underdeveloped and labelling the play field so that every body can contribute........all the best

tshewang, bhutan (Sent Sunday, March 29, 2009 1:20 AM)

          Hey,  I think it is a really great idea.  The work we do to prepare actually produces jobs here
on  earth, - -  and I like that.  Please remember that  planet earth  has that unique  place in the solar system  where water actually sticks around  and neither  evaporates or freezes over,  while helping
out with the creation of  great atmosphere.   We could start with a  self  perpetuating  greenhouse
buried  somewhere  in the moon dust.  Then we can allow  a little  sunlight to help out.  Next,  we
can  allow some temperature variation.   The  real payout is that  some types of plants could
germinate  new  seedlings  which  can survive  extended  temperature swings.   Remember, some
human embryos  do  survive  in  deep  freezing  temperatures.   I  think that is why mustard seed
plants were chosen.  This is  much more complicated than most of us  realize.   It is only a  good
start.  Once we  discover  what the real obstacles are,  we have  truly achieved  something.   We  will
obviously  be  very   well  prepared to  discover that some  bacteria  can withstand  the moon’s  cold
temperature swings  but not the  hot  searing  temperatures so easily  available on the moon.  And
this  does not  touch  upon the  effects of  extreme  particle  radiation.  It would be nice to know
that  some  plants can  withstand  beta and gamma   radiation  more than  others.  If you  supply
artificial  carbon  dioxide  for the  plant to  live on,  how much of this  gas  actually  gets  torn up
by the  gamma  radiation  before it is considered  useless   for  any plant to consume?  These
answers  will  obviously  help  many  scientific  problems we  now  have  here on earth.  We certainly
need the many  answers  scientific experiments can provide for us.   Our moon is  truly a fascinating
laboratory.   Yes,  contamination  is  always possible,  but  please  be  realistic:  The  horrendously  hostile  conditions  on the moon  will  forever make  life  of any type  (germs, viruses, or  even plants)  very, very  unlikely  to  survive.  I  believe nothing  comes close to the unbelievably  beautiful conditions  we have  here on earth  for  sustaining  many forms of life.  The  dinosaurs  lived  some  200  million  years (that was just  65  million  years ago),  long before  the  closest  semblance of  any human  being  ever  emerged  only  some  4.5  millions  years ago.  And  there is  reason to believe  that  any  rudimentary forms language  did  not exist throughout  that  4.5  million year period until  the  last  50,000  years.   Before  50,000  years ago,  we were not  very human-like.  No one  can  begin to describe  the  many  very  huge obstacles  we  will  encounter  before  we can  populate  either  our  earth’s  moon  or  mars within   the  next  200  years.  

Joseph S. Garcia, Chicago, Illinois (Sent Sunday, March 29, 2009 2:57 AM)

What could be the worst that happens.. we contaminate mars, and life grows there... oooh whoopdy do. It's not like anything is using it, and who cares if it is, perhaps our life could be hybrids on different planets. What's the big deal if we plant trees on another planet, we wanna go there one day anyways, might as well make it habitable before we get there. If a tree can't survive, then its a pretty good chance we can't.

ChrisASicLe, Appleton, Wi (Sent Sunday, March 29, 2009 5:57 PM)

Question, have we tested moon soil on earth to see if anything will grow in it? Wouldn't it be very cost prohibitive to send enough earth soil to the moon for any life supporting research

Ken, Elkhorn Wisconsin (Sent Sunday, March 29, 2009 7:40 PM)

Steve Smyth, from Frank's post, "...is not any reasonable person's idea of a threat."  With all that's out there it's like you sitting in a boat telling people to be careful not to spill their water into that ocean.

Tim Rommes, Washington, UT (Sent Sunday, March 29, 2009 10:55 PM)

EXACTLY!!!

steve smyth (Sent Monday, March 30, 2009 5:40 AM)

I actually believe that we should be contaminating other planets as much as possible. If there is indeed life on other planets (I believe its safe to conclude that there is no life on the rock that is our Moon), then the life that's there would have already evolved to survive the conditions found there. And even if a species is wiped out by an earth-born invader, it would mean that the species from earth was more suited to the environment. Our microbes on Earth have already made one planet able to support life, why not take out the time it took them to develop on our planet, and just blast them everywhere else. Unless there's another sentient being in our solar system (Which I seriously doubt) what would be the harm of spreading our life to other planets. Not like we haven't destroyed species on our OWN planet. Survival of the fittest.

Caleb Stratton, Mooresville, NC (Sent Monday, March 30, 2009 11:13 AM)



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