harvested

Imagine for a moment a tomato plant growing hundreds of kilometers above Earth, inside an orbiting space station. The scene might seem like something out of science fiction, but it is already part of the scientific activity at the Chinese Tiangong space station. According to China Central Television (CCTV)the Shenzhou-21 mission crew has harvested cherry tomatoes grown in orbit, photographing the ripe fruits before removing and storing them as part of the experiment. Behind this striking image there is a very specific objective: to check whether humans will be able to produce food in space during long missions, something that space agencies consider important for future expeditions beyond Earth’s orbit. The system. The tomatoes were grown in an aeroponic growing system designed to operate in microgravity, a technology that sprays water and nutrients in the form of a mist to directly feed the plants’ roots. Sina explains that The team was sent to Tiangong in July 2025 aboard the Tianzhou-9 cargo ship and is part of a series of experiments aimed at verifying key cultivation technologies in orbit and expanding the range of species that could be grown in space. After more than three months of growth, the plants managed to complete their cycle and produce ripe fruits that the crew photographed and removed following the scientific protocol of the experiment. The technology behind the “orbital garden”. Cultivation in space requires very different solutions than terrestrial agriculture. Instead of soil, the system used at Tiangong keeps the plants’ roots suspended and feeds them with a mist of water and nutrients, a technique known as aeroponic growing. As explained by astronaut Zhang Hongzhangthis method allows increasing water use efficiency, something especially important in the closed environment of a space station. The device is complemented by an LED lighting system designed to provide the light spectrum necessary for plant development and improve the energy efficiency of the system. Experiments that have been underway for decades. Growing plants in space is not a new idea. NASA reminds that Space agencies have been conducting experiments with plants in orbit for decades, although for a long time samples were grown only for scientific purposes and sent back to Earth for analysis. In 2015, for example, astronauts on the International Space Station became the first to eat a food grown in space, red romaine lettuce produced in the station’s vegetable laboratory. Since then, different studies have been carried out with microgravity cultures, including studies with tomatoes like VEG-05, made at the Veggie facility, or XROOTS. A key element to live longer in space. If humans want to spend months or even years away from Earth, depending exclusively on shipments sent from our planet is impractical. For this reason, for decades different space agencies have been investigating how to integrate plants into life support systems capable of regenerating part of the resources necessary for the crew. According to the scientific literature cited in Frontiers in Plant Sciencecrops can provide fresh food, produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide within closed environments such as space stations or future bases on the Moon or Mars. In addition, the researchers point out another less visible but important benefit: cultivation activities have been shown to have positive effects on the psychological state of astronauts during prolonged missions. The importance of these experiments goes beyond the curiosity aroused by images of plants growing in orbit. Each crop grown on space stations allows data to be collected on how plants react to microgravity, knowledge that is essential to design more complete life support systems. Current research seeks to understand whether these crops can be integrated into bioregenerative life support systems capable of producing part of the resources necessary for a crew. If that objective is confirmed, technologies such as those being tested today in Tiangong could become an important tool to sustain prolonged human missions in space. Images | CCTV In Xataka | China has the Moon between its eyebrows: it has now created the first chemical map of the hidden face