Automated Plant Morphological Assessment and Microbial Community Monitoring in Simulated Lunar Regolith

Upcoming lunar bases will need to leverage in-situ resources to ensure long-term sustainability and reduce mission costs. One key challenge is food production, which could be addressed by growing crops in lunar regolith-based substrates. However, lunar regolith lacks essential nutrients, requiring organic amendments to support continuous plant cultivation. This study examined the impact of manure-amended lunar regolith simulant on Mizuna mustard growth while assessing microbial community diversity and functionality. To support this effort, a custom software pipeline utilizing an open-source library, PlantCV, was developed to automatically track plant leaf area and height via image analysis. Results indicated that amended rhizosphere microbial communities adapted with robust metabolisms related to organic matter decomposition and nitrogen cycling in a single growth cycle. Additionally, the automated pipeline reduced analysis time by 99.8% from manual measurements with high reproducibility for Mizuna. These contributions provide insight and resources for future large-scale lunar agriculture research.