Texas A&M Student Leads Breakthrough in Space Agriculture
Jess Atkin, a doctoral student at Texas A&M University, has made a groundbreaking achievement by growing chickpeas in soil made from up to 75% simulated lunar regolith according to AGRILIFE Today, Texas A&M AgriLife's digital magazine.
Her research combines agriculture and space science to explore whether life can thrive in harsh environments beyond Earth.
Inspired by the natural partnership between fungi and plants, which helped life colonize land millions of years ago, Atkin used this ancient resilience to her advantage. She enriched the lunar-like soil with helpful fungi and vermicompost. This not only improved nutrient access but also reduced toxicity in the soil, creating a more stable structure suitable for plant growth.
Chickpeas, known for their toughness and ability to grow in extreme conditions, were the focus of the study. Atkin studied 16 chickpea varieties in a USDA-supported project, identifying the most resilient strains. The experiment simulated near-space conditions to test plant and microbe performance under pressure.