For the first time, scientists have successfully grown plants in lunar soil. Scientists tested the hard lunar dirt obtained by NASA’s Apollo astronauts to see if anything would sprout on it. The findings astounded the researchers, who discovered that “plants actually grow in lunar stuff.”

According to The Associated Press, Robert Ferl of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences stated,“Holy cow. Plants actually grow in lunar stuff. “Are you kidding me?”

Ferl and his colleagues planted thale cress in lunar dirt brought back by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11 and other moonwalkers. The good news is that every seed germinated.

The drawback was that the coarseness and other qualities of the lunar soil stressed the little, blooming weeds so much after the first week that they grew more slowly than seedlings put in imitation moon dirt from Earth. The majority of the moon plants were stunted. The findings were published in Communications Biology on Thursday.