Fancy some lunar salad? NASA announces plans to grow seeds on the Moon

As far and wide as we are proud to say our customers come from here at Seeds By Post (http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk), we must admit that the Moon is one place that we don't deliver mail order seeds to. But that could change one day, with the news that NASA plans to bring basil, turnip and cress seeds on its next mission to the Moon so that it can grow plants there for the first time.

This first ever attempt to germinate plants on another world will doubtless have imaginations racing about the possibility of we humans one day taking up residence there, although for now, the mission will doubtless also fascinate the gardeners who shop for vegetable and herb seeds with us. Just in case you're wondering about the atmosphere issue, NASA has said that a specially constructed canister will be used to house the seeds, with what has been dubbed the Lunar Plant Growth Chamber carrying enough air for 10 days.

The air in the chamber would be adequate to enable the sprouting and growth of the seeds for five days, NASA has stated, amid hopes that the experiment will eventually lead to astronauts growing their own food while in residence on a lunar base. The mission, with a launch date of 2015, forms part of a commercial Moon landing project, the Moon Express lander.

Anyone who ever grew cress seedlings on filter paper at school should be able to understand NASA's basic plans, which will involve the use of natural sunlight to germinate the plants inside the chamber, with the seeds growing on pieces of filter paper laden with nutrients. In a statement, the NASA Ames Research Center said that the growth of plants on the Moon would also assist its assessment of the suitability of the lunar surface for supporting life, with the long term goal being for human beings to live and work there.

It said: "As seedlings, they can be as sensitive as humans to environmental conditions, sometimes even more so. They carry genetic material that can be damaged by radiation as can that of humans. They can test the lunar environment for us acting as a 'canary in a coal mine'. If we send plants and they thrive, then we probably can."

The statement added that colonists not only required the life support - "food, air, water" - provided by thriving plants, but that plants were also a source of psychological comfort, as shown by how popular greenhouses had proved in Antarctica and on the Space Station show. Indeed, it was experiments on the International Space Station that demonstrated the ability of plants to grow in low gravity environments.

We're certainly excited here at Seeds By Post (http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk) to learn more about the herb and veg seeds' fate when the mission finally happens, but in the meantime, we'll remain a little more 'down to Earth' - by continuing to provide all of the very finest seeds, of the leading brands, to our loyal customers.

Editor’s Note: Seeds By Post (http://www.seedsbypost.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.