WORLDTECHChinese astronauts complete rice harvest from seeds grown in orbit
Astronauts aboard China's Tiangong space station have completed what they call the Autumn harvest of a rice cultivation experiment, according to one outlet's report published on October 18. The result is a milestone in the project's effort to grow rice over several generations entirely in space.
Seeds from orbit now sown again
According to the reports, the crew collected, sowed and stored a fresh batch of rice on the station. The work is described as a major milestone in the project's aim to reproduce the crop over successive generations entirely in space.
The first generation began with seeds carried up from Earth and sown in orbit. Those plants were allowed to germinate, mature, flower and seed in microgravity. Seeds harvested from them are now being used to grow a second generation, again entirely in orbit.
Why multi-generation growth is being tested
Bringing seeds from Earth for each new planting is a constraint the project is built to test. Growing a crop through successive generations in orbit would show whether plants can complete their life cycle without new material from the ground.
The report frames the result as a step in work on astronauts growing their own food during long missions. Yield figures and the next experimental stages are not given in the reporting.
Open questions
- How much rice did the Autumn harvest produce?
- Will a third generation also be grown from seeds harvested on the station?