If you were to attempt to raise a garden utilizing only lunar or
Martian soil, chances are that your precious plants would either
die a horrible death or survive albeit malnourished.  While
there are probably exceptions to this rule (i.e. asparagus might
be able to thrive within Martian dirt), the vast majority of
terrestrial plants will need terrestrial soil in order to
thrive, which poses a huge problem for humanity (as people need
to eat off world, let alone find employment).  Instead of
importing tons of terrestrial soil from the homeworld or
manufacturing large quantities from humans, it’s probably wiser
to raise them without soil thanks to aeroponics.  Growing plants
without any soil may conjure up images from a Star Trek movie,
but it’s hardly science fiction. Aeroponics, as one soilless
cultivation process is called, grows plants in an air or mist
environment with no soil and very little water. Scientists have
been experimenting with the method since the early 1940s, and
aeroponics systems have been i