Pasco County Libraries is ‘over the moon’ with a win in the Best in Show for Evaluation of Results category, in NASA’s Plant the Moon Challenge.
The Institute of Competition Scientists issued the challenge — in collaboration with the University of Central Florida’s Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS) Exolith Lab, which, in turn, provided the lunar soil simulant to conduct the experiment.
Earlier this year, the library’s team of ‘scientists,’ the MoonRakers, embarked on the 10-week task to examine how vegetation grows in lunar soil. The team collected data to help determine ways to use lunar soil to grow crops for future space missions.
After the growing period, which took place at the Hugh Embry Library in Dade City, the MoonRakers submitted its findings and showcased them at a virtual symposium in April, with NASA scientists and other researchers.
As a result of the team’s efforts, its data will be used in NASA’s Artemis Program, the new initiative to return to the moon.
You can learn more about the challenge on Hugh Embry Library’s Facebook page.
Published August 25, 2021
