If generations of science-fiction readers (including yours truly) have their wish, human beings will someday live independently on the Moon.

We'll encounter many challenges in this endeavor. Air and water must be found. But we know there is a lot of ice concealed in some of the polar craters, and there is oxygen bound up in the lunar rocks that make up its surface.

How about food? Here on Earth, we grow plants, and they serve as the bottom of the food chain for us. Will plants grow on the Moon?

The best way to find out is to try it. So NASA is now planning experiments to see whether plants can grow and even thrive on the Moon, with an experiment called the Lunar Plant Growth Habitat.

The first steps are small. Some time next year, probably late in the year, NASA would like to send a few containers of seeds, about the size of coffee cans, to see if they can germinate under conditions of low gravity and elevated levels of radiation.

This is a simple mission, like many that the space agency has undertaken over the past couple of decades to reduce costs. Each habitat will weigh only a couple of pounds. It will incorporate cameras, sensors of various kinds, communications equipment, and enough air to last for five to 10 days.

The main variety of plant will be Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant related to cabbage and mustard. It was the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced, and now serves as a sort of an experimental "lab rat" in the vegetable kingdom. But smaller amounts of turnip and cabbage seeds will also be included.

The containers will likely hitchhike on a commercial spacecraft, to keep the cost down. NASA is hoping several such explorers will be launched to the Moon before the end of 2015, as part of the Google Lunar X Prize competition (about which more will appear in this space next month).

After landing, water will be added to the nutrient-rich filter papers containing the seeds, and the onboard cameras will watch to see whether the seeds start growing before the air in the canister is depleted.

Duplicate canisters will be sent to schools across the nation, so students can compare the plant growth they see with what happens on the Moon.

If the seeds do germinate successfully, we'll go further. We'll put a garden on the lunar surface for a longer time to find out whether plants can survive the two-week frigid nighttimes on the Moon, and whether multiple generations can continue. Since not everyone enjoys turnips and cabbage, we will definitely send up other kinds of plants.

The prime purpose of this first life-science experiment on another world is to determine the chances for growing food in future colonies. In addition, scientists expect they will also learn a lot about basic plant behavior and pathology. Finally, if tender young seedlings can survive and grow on the Moon, perhaps humans can also.

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The Edelman Planetarium is not offering public star shows during the summer months, though we are doing school programs by request. We tentatively plan to begin our fall season on Sept. 28 with "Back to the Moon-For Good," a dramatic presentation of the Google Lunar X Prize competition.

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