What About Watermelon?

I’m a little nervous about my ongoing attempt to plant watermelons in my own backyard, but I recently stumbled upon a story that makes my Earth-bound project seem relatively simple by comparison.

In an effort to test the fertility of the lunar surface in preparation for potential colonization of the Earth’s moon, scientists have announced plans to send an unmanned vessel to the Moon in 2014 to plant more than 100 watermelon seeds. The vessel will be tasked with watering the crops during the 120-day experiment and transporting samples of the “moon melons” back to Earth for testing and consumption.

The moon farming craft at the heart of the out-of-this-world mission will be called “Jubilee” (after the type of watermelon that will be planted), and will be roughly the size of a small go-kart. Jubilee will make use of special technology that will allow it to create water found in tiny ice particles naturally found in space.

Although the scientific team hopes to grow at least two dozen watermelon to maturity, Jubilee will only be able to transport a few samples of the melons back to Earth when it completes its mission late next year.

“It’s hard to say how the watermelon will taste after being grown in the low-gravity environment of the moon’s surface, but our tests indicate that they’ll be just as nutritious as watermelon grown here on Earth,” said a scientist close to the project.

If all goes well, the mission could result in additional crops grown on the moon in 2015 and beyond, with the goal of creating a full-time “moon farm” within the next 10 years. I’d definitely be willing to give the moon melons a try, wouldn’t you?

(This is, of course, an April Fool’s joke, but wouldn’t it be cool if it were real?)