12月4日，神舟十四号返回舱成功着陆，5日，随舱下行的空间站第三批空间科学实验样品交付到科学家手中，其中就包括了经过120天的空间培育生长、国际上首次在轨获得的水稻种子。



图源：新华社

Chinese astronauts onboard the Shenzhou XIV spacecraft have returned with the world's first rice seeds produced in orbit, a feat that allows scientists to probe the effects of microgravity on rice growth and find a sustainable food source for long-term space explorations.

此前，国际上在空间只完成了拟南芥、油菜、豌豆和小麦从种子到种子的培养，而主要粮食作物水稻，此前尚没有能够在空间完成全生命周期的培养。

神十四乘组在轨期间，从7月29日注入营养液启动实验，至11月25日结束实验，水稻和拟南芥种子在中国空间站内经历了120天的空间培育生长，完成了种子萌发、幼苗生长、开花结籽这一“从种子到种子”的发育全过程。这是国际上首次完成的水稻全生命周期培养实验。

They were in orbit for 183 days, during which they oversaw the completion of China's Tiangong space station and several life sciences experiments.

One such experiment involved reproducing the entire life cycle of rice for the first time in space, which begins with a seed hatching into seedlings and ends with a mature plant producing new seeds. The experiment began on July 29, and after 120 days in orbit they successfully produced new cosmic grains.

目前，返回水稻和拟南芥样品一部分已做固定处理，水稻种子将带回中科院分子植物卓越中心实验室继续培养。

The new seeds, along with other bio-samples, have been delivered to the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. They will also be transferred to labs in Shanghai for further research.

The returned package also contained seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana, commonly known as thale cress. It is a small flowering plant of the mustard family often used by scientists to study mutations.