Winston-Salem State University awarded $300K NASA grant to explore growing food in outer space
Dr. Loureiro also awarded similar NC Space Grant
After sending plants to space this spring, Winston-Salem State University has earned a $300,000 NASA grant to study how astronauts could grow food beyond Earth.
Dr. Rafael Loureiro, associate professor of botany and plant physiology, and founder of the Astrobotany Lab at WSSU, has received a $300,000 grant for “LICH – Assessing the Efficacy of Bioleached Nutrients from Lunar Regolith in Hydroponic Systems for Fruit-Bearing and Leafy Green Crop.” Collaborators on the project are Dr. Andrew Palmer from the Florida Institute of Technology and Dr. Anna Simpson from Blue Marble Space Institute of Science.
This innovative project will explore how certain bacteria and fungi can release valuable nutrients trapped in lunar soil, known as regolith, to help grow crops in space. Using a process called bioleaching, these microbes dissolve minerals so plants can absorb them in hydroponic systems, which grow plants in water instead of soil.
Led by Loureiro, the research will test whether these microbe-produced nutrient solutions can successfully grow crops such as tomatoes and lettuce in controlled hydroponic systems while also monitoring plant health.
By finding ways to use local resources on the moon, the team hopes to reduce the need for costly resupply missions from Earth.
“This work supports NASA’s Artemis program and long-term Moon-to-Mars exploration goals by advancing in-situ resource utilization technologies (ISRU),” Loureiro said. ISRU is the practice of harnessing local natural resources at mission destinations, such as the moon and Mars, instead of transporting everything from Earth.
“This project offers valuable opportunities for our students in STEM, giving them hands-on experience in cutting-edge space biology and plant science,” he said.
Undergraduate students in the WSSU Astrobotany Lab will actively assist with this research by setting up the lunar regolith treatments and running the hydroponic experiments, he said. Students will help prepare and monitor bioleaching trials, track plant growth in the hydroponic systems, and participate in data collection on plant health, nutrient uptake and microbial activity.
Students will also be trained in specialized techniques such as soil analysis, metabolomics and ion chromatography, with opportunities for internships at collaborating institutions and the NASA Kennedy Space Center for hands-on experience in advanced space biology.
“We commonly think of the moon as a lifeless rock. It represents the best of humankind’s exploration but is not necessarily an obvious opportunity for farming,” said Dr. Kelsey Bisson, acting program manager for NASA’s Research Initiation Awards Program. “Dr. Loureiro’s innovative project brings us both, by leading experiments to unlock nutrients that were previously trapped in lunar soil. Not only could these experiments lead to realities at the edge of our imagination (fresh fruit in space), but could also result in massive savings for the agency by growing food for astronauts in real time where they are based.”
WSSU also earns NC Space Grant
Loureiro is also a faculty research recipient of a 2025 NC Space Grant that involves similar research. This grant will support the project, “ACCLIMATE (Adaptive Crop Cultivation in Lunar Regolith through Multigenerational Analysis of Plant-Microbe Interactions and Transformation.)”
ACCLIMATE is a multidisciplinary research project led by WSSU in partnership with the Florida Institute of Technology and Duke University. The project investigates the adaptive capacity of lettuce and tomato crops grown over multiple generations in high-fidelity lunar regolith simulant. Its goal is to evaluate the viability of long-term, bioregenerative agriculture on the moon. ACCLIMATE aligns closely with NASA’s strategic goals in space biology and supports future ISRU and long-duration missions.
NC Space Grant created the Faculty Research Engagement Grant to provide support for faculty research that engages students in the work. This award is aimed at both emerging and established researchers whose work is aligned to one or more of NASA’s Mission Directorates.
Faculty selected for these awards have demonstrated strong scientific and technical merit and have meaningfully engaged undergraduate and/or graduate students in faculty-led research endeavors.
