British boffins say they've discovered a way of taking one of the country's favorite pastimes – having a nice cup of tea – into outer space.

As part of a study into how the astronauts of tomorrow could sustain themselves for long periods of living and working on the Moon, researchers from the University of Kent have demonstrated how it's possible to grow tea in lunar soil.

Led by Professor Nigel Mason of Kent's School of Physics and Astronomy and Dr Sara Lopez-Gomollon of the university's School of Biosciences, research students Anna-Maria Wirth and Florence Grant planted tea saplings in soils specially designed to mimic those found on the surface of the Moon, as well as Mars.

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For several weeks, the saplings were exposed to carefully crafted temperature, humidity, and lighting conditions they would experience in space.

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The saplings tested in lunar soil conditions are described as having "flourished" with the tea plants taking root and growing, alongside a control batch left to grow in terrestrial conditions. Unfortunately, the Martian tea failed to grow at all.

Nonetheless, the prospect of growing plants on the Moon has been marked down as a success, with the results presented at the Space Agriculture Workshop in Bratislava, Slovakia.

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"The results of this project are very encouraging, as they demonstrate that a tea, a crop, can be grown in lunar soils," said Dr Lopez-Gomollon. "Our next step is to better understand the physiology of the plant under these conditions, so we can improve growth and ideally translate these findings to other crops."

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"We are at the very earliest stages of research into space agriculture but it is reassuring that we may be able to provide access to the great British tradition of a tea break," added Professor Mason.

Examining how the plants did or didn't grow in environments designed to replicate space also has implications closer to home.

While the soil conditions mimicked the Moon and Mars, they also allowed the researchers to better understand how crops and plants can survive in harsh environments – especially in an era where climate change and over-farming are affecting soil here on planet Earth.

Other bodies involved in the research included UK tea plantation Dartmoor Tea, space documentary makers Lightcurve Films, and Europlanet, a network of planetary scientists across Europe. ®

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