Arabidopsis Transcriptomes in Apollo Lunar Regolith for Space Life Support

Arabidopsis thaliana plants were grown in lunar regolith samples from Apollo 11, 12, and 17 missions. The dataset likely contains transcriptomic data showing stress-associated gene expression and morphological observations from this experiment. This research was conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Identify plant stress response pathways based on transcriptomic data from lunar regolith growth.
• Assess the viability of using in-situ lunar resources for agriculture based on plant growth and morphology results.
• Compare plant performance across different Apollo mission regolith samples mentioned in the description.
• Model the ionic and environmental stresses on plants in non-terrestrial substrates.

Strengths

• Data originates from controlled experiments using authentic Apollo 11, 12, and 17 lunar regolith samples.
• Research provides direct evidence for plant growth in extraterrestrial material, a rare and distinctive resource.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• File format is listed as BIN, which may require specialized tools for access and analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Laboratory experiment growing Arabidopsis thaliana in lunar regolith samples.

Time Range

Experimental timeframe not specified; data reflects conditions at time of study.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:50:10.150694; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Laboratory study; material source is lunar regolith from Apollo missions.