this rice seedlings grown by astronauts Chinese At the Tiangong space station “They grow very well”According to experts quoted today by the China Daily newspaper, these experiments feeding the teams future long space missions
The astronauts began planting on July 29 as part of an experiment. reproduce the entire life cycle of the plant for the first time: from a seed to a mature plant that produces new seeds.
Rice sprouts reached “30 centimeters height”Zheng Huiqiong, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, explained that the purpose of the experiment was to “explore how microgravity affects plant flowering time at the molecular level and whether it is possible to use it to control the microgravity environment.” processes.
If you want to “explore and reach Mars,” Zheng warns, the astronauts’ pre-departure food “will not be enough”. sustainable food source for long space exploration“.
Since the 1980s, the Asian country has been exploring the cultivation of rice in space, where the grain has to face challenges such as microgravity, lack of air, and cosmic rays.
The experiment is being conducted at Wentian Space Laboratory, docking with Tiangong Station’s Tianhe Core Module on July 24.
Astronauts will continue to analyze the development of plants, and if they manage to complete their entire life cycle, Seeds produced in space will be brought back to Earth for further research.
The Tiangong station, which is under construction and whose name means “Heavenly Palace” in Mandarin, will weigh around 70 tons and is expected to operate for about 15 years while orbiting about 400 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.
Once completed, the missions astronauts spend several months at the station.
By 2024, the International Space Station, a US-led initiative that has been banned due to China’s military ties to the space program, will likely be the world’s only space station if it pulls back as planned that year.
In recent years, the Chinese space program has succeeded in landing the Chang’e 4 probe on the far side of the Moon – for the first time – and reaching Mars for the first time, making it the third country after the United States. States and the former Soviet Union – ashore.
Source: Informacion
