PASADENA, Calif. — Dr. Max Coleman works at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, where he studies in situ resource utilization.

"[In situ resource utilization] means growing food on planets so we do not have to carry them there,” explained Dr. Coleman.

When the pandemic hit, it forced Dr. Coleman and his colleagues out of their labs, but he continued the research in his home kitchen. He wants to know if it's possible to grow food on the moon because, if so, it would be a stepping-stone — or a "stopover farm" — for future missions to Mars.

To simulate lunar regolith — science lingo for moon soil — Dr. Coleman used sand because, like the moon, it has no nutrients. The food subject he chose was the common radish. According to Dr. Coleman, because radish germinate quickly, it may be possible to grow them in a single lunar day — the equivalent to a month of daylight on Earth. 

Using finely calibrated scientific instruments in his kitchen, like a soup spoon and a radish dibber stick (also known as a ballpoint pen), Dr. Coleman carefully planted each seed into containers of sand. His goal was to find out the minimum amount of water and nutrients needed to grow radishes on the moon.

NASA, which is weight-conscious when it comes to space flight, wants to carry as little fertilizer and water to the moon as possible.

Dr. Coleman’s research sounds like a third grade science fair project his 8-year-old granddaughter Lillibette might conduct at her school in England. In fact, during his regular video chats with her, he stresses the importance of science to her and other young students.

“We want to involve them in STEM," he said. "We want them to get excited by science."

Naturally, Dr. Coleman chose Lillibette to be his lab assistant. He sent sand and seeds to her home, where she is running a parallel experiment in her kitchen 5,400 miles away.

Yes, it is serious science.

Dr. Coleman, who is trained in isotope geochemistry, is meticulous when it comes to recording data on his laptop. Trial number nine, for example, is a radish seed he planted at 3:09 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

So far, the results of Dr. Coleman's experiment have been groundbreaking — literally.

"Oh great!" exclaimed Dr. Coleman as he took off the lid off a container sitting on his kitchen counter. To his surprise, the radishes poked through the soil with very little water and no nutrients.

"This one with even less water!" he said after opening another.

And just like that, Dr. Coleman's kitchen — with the help of a third grader — found a place in the U.S. space program.