Chinese Astronauts Successfully Grow Rice in Space

Rice is a staple crop. Half of the world's population eat it. The Chinese Wentian space laboratory grew it in microgravity.

Wentian was part of China's new space station. One experiment tried to grow rice in microgravity.

The stalks on Wentian have not been able to complete their maturation cycle since the experiment began in July. They seem to be on track.

Two types of rice were used in the experiment. The dwarf variety reached 5 cm in the first month of growth, while the tall shoot variety reached almost 30 centimeters. Both of these growth amounts are close to those on Earth.

There are other things in the experiment. The scientists added another plant. When carrying out an experiment in space, it can be helpful to use a flowering plant like this.

There has been a long history of spaceflight with both Rice and Mutation Studies. During their journey to the moon, the Apollo 11 astronauts ate freeze dried chicken and rice. Rice will be included in any space farming effort. This is a positive step.

In the past, China has sent rice into space. The Chang'e 5 was used for a ride around the moon. Crops have traveled with other Chinese spaceships. Rice that is expected to be in the radiation environment of space has higher yields when planted back on Earth. More than 200 different types of crops have been modified in this way.

Rice has been grown in space before. A group of students from Indonesia tried to grow rice in microgravity on the International Space Station.

The experiment continues and the scientists hope to get seeds that they can bring back to Earth to study if there were any differences after being in microgravity. These experiments point to a bright future in space for one of the world's most important crops.

You can learn more.

Rice tests show promise.

There is a science module in the new space station.

The core module of China's new space station was launched.

The astronauts will be in space for six months.