
Copernical Team
Webb observes a globular cluster sparkling with separate stars

James Webb spots super old, massive galaxies that shouldn't exist

Chandra discovers giant black holes on collision course

CARMENES project boosts the number of known planets in the solar neighbourhood

"Forbidden" planet orbiting small star challenges gas giant formation theories

Water rich asteroids came from far outside the asteroid belt

Meteorite crater discovered in French winery

World's first 3D-printed rocket Terran 1 is ready for its maiden flight

NASA, SpaceX delay Sunday Crew-6 flight until Monday

Treating lunar soil to create fertilizer for growing plants on the moon

Sooner or later, settlers on the moon will have to become farmers. A new ESA Discovery project led by Norway's Solsys Mining is looking into the treatment of lunar soil to create fertilizer for growing plants.
The good news is that analysis of lunar samples returned to Earth in the past by moonwalkers and robots shows sufficient essential minerals are available for plant growth, apart from nitrogen compounds. The bad news is that lunar soil (or "regolith") compacts in the presence of water, creating problems for plant germination and root growth.
Hydroponic farming therefore offers a practical alternative; this type of agriculture involves feeding plant roots directly with nutrient-rich water, without the need for soil. The potential is still there however to put lunar regolith to work, on the basis of "in-situ resource utilization"—or living off the land.
The "Enabling Lunar In-Situ Agriculture by Producing Fertilizer from Beneficiated Regolith" project, led by Solsys Mining with Norway's Geotechnical Institute (NGI) and Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Space (CIRiS), involves studying a combination of mechanical, chemical and biological processes to extract mineral nutrients from the regolith.