Chickpeas Thrive in Moon Soil Simulant, Pioneering Lunar Agriculture
Researchers at UT Austin (with Texas A&M) grew chickpeas in a lunar soil simulant using vermicompost and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, a first step toward farming on the Moon for long missions; the crops survived longer with fungi and showed reduced uptake of harmful metals, but scientists still need to assess safety and nutritional value before declaring them a viable astronaut food source.