Also: Moon rocks, lunar regolith, Apollo soil
About 382 kg of rock and soil brought back by the Apollo astronauts (1969-1972) are still being studied, including for growing plants and finding water inside the Moon.
Search Google Patents for this topic: all patents · recent applications (2022+)
Patent searches are generated from the topic's key terms; a patent is a legal claim, not proof that something works. See the Patents page.
Readiness: lab lab studies · prototype demonstrated objects · commercial products or buildings in real use · review summaries of other studies.
Export this topic's references: BibTeX · RIS (Zotero, EndNote, Mendeley)
Paul and colleagues grew the cress-like plant Arabidopsis in soil from Apollo 11, 12 and 17. The plants germinated and grew, but slowly, and many showed severe stress, with gene activity resembling responses to salt, metals and reactive oxygen.
As reported in: Paul, Elardo, Ferl (2022). Plants grown in Apollo lunar regolith present stress-associated transcriptomes that inform prospects for lunar exploration. Communications Biology. doi:10.1038/s42003-022-03334-8
Saal and colleagues measured volatiles in Apollo volcanic glass beads; modelling gave a best estimate of about 745 ppm of original water, suggesting the Moon is not entirely dry inside.
As reported in: Saal, Hauri, Cascio et al. (2008). Volatile content of lunar volcanic glasses and the presence of water in the Moon’s interior. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature07047
Abstract only
Hui and colleagues reported water in lunar anorthosite (crust) samples, which they took as evidence for a wet early Moon.
As reported in: Hui, Peslier, Zhang et al. (2013). Water in lunar anorthosites and evidence for a wet early Moon. Nature Geoscience. doi:10.1038/ngeo1735
Abstract only