Jun 24, 2026 · 2 min · 3 segments
How will future inhabitants on Mars and the Moon get their veggies? Northern Arizona University doctoral candidate Laura Lee has been seeking the answer to that question.
And it turns out that Northern Arizona might hold the answers.
Plants need soil to grow, but launching bags of soil into orbit is expensive.
Their surfaces are made up of regolith, a sterile, pulverized rock that contains phosphorus but no nitrogen.
Both of those chemicals are vital to plant growth.
Her simulated regolith was harvested from Merriam Crater just east of Flagstaff.
Lee tried two different additives, a nitrogen-rich fertilizer and a fertilizer made of processed human waste.
She also added a microscopic root fungus to each regolith fertilizer mix.
Corn grown in Martian regolith simulant with fungus had the highest leaf chlorophyll, a major indicator of plant health.
But corn grown in lunar regolith simulant with fungus and human waste was larger, lived the longest, and produced visible ears.
Lee is interested in next growing the three sisters together in a single regolith plot.
Northern Arizona's volcanic geology and the region's longtime indigenous farming practices might just help shape humanity's space-faring future.
And it turns out that Northern Arizona might hold the answers.
Plants need soil to grow, but launching bags of soil into orbit is expensive.
Their surfaces are made up of regolith, a sterile, pulverized rock that contains phosphorus but no nitrogen.
Both of those chemicals are vital to plant growth.
Her simulated regolith was harvested from Merriam Crater just east of Flagstaff.
Lee tried two different additives, a nitrogen-rich fertilizer and a fertilizer made of processed human waste.
She also added a microscopic root fungus to each regolith fertilizer mix.
Corn grown in Martian regolith simulant with fungus had the highest leaf chlorophyll, a major indicator of plant health.
But corn grown in lunar regolith simulant with fungus and human waste was larger, lived the longest, and produced visible ears.
Lee is interested in next growing the three sisters together in a single regolith plot.
Northern Arizona's volcanic geology and the region's longtime indigenous farming practices might just help shape humanity's space-faring future.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
