China In Photos: Growing rice in China's space station

 

The Shenzhou-23 spacecraft lifted off on May 24, carrying rice seeds and other scientific payloads to the China Space Station. After more than two months of cultivation, the astronauts have harvested the first batch of experimental rice samples. The experiment is expected to become the first to cultivate two successive generations of rice in orbit, enabling researchers to complete two full life cycles of the crop in microgravity.