Overview

• Tea saplings established roots and grew in lunar regolith simulant at rates comparable to an Earth control, while plants in Martian simulant failed to grow.
• Researchers maintained controlled temperature, humidity and lighting to emulate space-habitat conditions during the weeks-long trial.
• Project students Anna-Maria Wirth and Florence Grant tracked soil moisture, nutrient content, pH, root length and leaf health to assess plant performance.
• The work, led by Professor Nigel Mason and Dr. Sara Lopez-Gomollon, involved collaborators including Dartmoor Tea, Lightcurve Films and Europlanet.
• The team frames the findings as early-stage evidence that lunar greenhouses could support crops and as a source of insights for improving crop resilience in poor soils on Earth.