Growing vegetables on the Chinese space station Astronomy

Some researchers aboard China’s Tiangong space station have begun exciting research as they began growing lettuce, cherry tomatoes and green onions this summer, part of a long-term plan that will help future deep space research.

This is not the first time that astronauts have tried to grow plants in a microgravity environment, as similar experiments have been conducted on the International Space Station before. However, a similar experiment has now been carried out on board the Chinese ship Tiangong. The Shenzhou-16 crew has been on the space station since the end of May Two special devices were used to grow vegetables.

The first started work in June and harvested four batches of lettuce. The second station was operated last August to grow cherry tomatoes and green onions. The China Astronaut Research and Training Center has also created replicas on Earth, allowing researchers to compare the results and more precisely analyze the differences between plant growth in space and on Earth. This mission is an important part of their future plans, which include sending a man to the moon by 2030.