Students in the seventh grade STEM class at Dadeville are getting a unique opportunity to work in conjunction with NASA as it prepares to complete a long-standing plan: to establish settlements on the moon and on Mars. The Artemis Mission, the first of its kind in the world, seeks to establish a permanent human settlement on the moon to prepare for future missions to Mars. Such a mission requires an enormous amount of planning and experimentation before it gets underway, and NASA has turned to the students of the world to help gather specialized information as only they can.
The Dadeville students are part of the Plant the Moon/Plant Mars Global Science Challenge, helping NASA collect data on the viability of growing plants in Martian regolith and what amendments can be added to help future astronauts have successful fruits and vegetables. Regolith, or soil, on both Mars and the moon is vastly different from Earth’s soil. It contains no nutrients or biodiversity, so the challenge is to find innovative ways to amend that regolith so that it can support plant life and help the astronauts to become self-sufficient in space.
The STEM class is competing as two separate teams; one is experimenting on ways to help plants retain moisture and the other is experimenting with soil amendments to help create a nutritious environment for the plants. Both teams are hoping to win a Best in Show award for the Fall 2023 competition. They and their teacher, Mrs. Sheila Buus, are excited for this amazing opportunity and hope to be able to help NASA’s Artemis Mission succeed!