SCIENTISTS have grown chickpeas in moon dirt in a bid to prove humans could farm in space.
The airless, dry and rocky conditions are one of the greatest barriers to setting up cosmic colonies.
Chickpeas were planted in a mixture based on lunar regolith — rocky debris collected on Apollo missions.
The experts added compost and a fungus because the dirt does not contain organic matter that plants need.
They successfully harvested chickpeas from mixtures of up to 75 per cent simulated moon dirt.
At higher concentrations, heavy metals in the rocks began to poison the plants.
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Dr Sara Santos, of the Texas team, hailed it a milestone but experts had not yet tried to eat them.
Co-author Jessica Atkin added: “We want to understand how healthy they are and if they have the nutrients that astronauts need.
“If they aren’t safe to eat we’ll have to work out how many generations until they are.”
Astronauts on the International Space Station have already tried growing peppers, tomatoes and wheat.
It is thought potatoes could be grown in Mars-like conditions.
