The T-shaped orbital outpost can house up to six taikonauts, features two labs, and will soon even be joined by a massive, Hubble-like space telescope<\/a>.<\/p>\n It also features a small aeroponic cultivation system that works by watering plants with a fine mist of nutrients, thereby greatly reducing the amount of water it needs compared to conventional, soil-based cultivation and hydroponics.<\/p>\n Now crew on board the station are ready to harvest the literal fruits of their labor. As state-run news network Global Times reports<\/a>, astronauts plucked a \u201cbumper crop\u201d of \u201cspace tomatoes\u201d from vines that were grown inside the system.<\/p>\n Previously released footage shows<\/a> the presumably hungry astronauts showing off small vines loaded with yellow and red cherry tomatoes inside a box-like growing environment. The roots can be monitored through small windows as they\u2019re being misted by the solution. A specially designed full-spectrum LED panel provides the plants with the light they need.<\/p>\n \t\t \n\t\t\t\tChinese Astronauts to Expand In-Orbit Menu as Space-Grown Tomatoes Ready for Harvest\t\t\t<\/p>\n Tomatoes are only the beginning. According to Global News, the crew will soon try to grow wheat, carrots, and medicinal plants as well, to further investigate the capabilities of the space cultivation system.<\/p>\n Researchers hope the experiment could help inform long-duration missions into deep space, giving future space travelers a way of growing their own sustenance on their way to faraway destinations.<\/p>\n Separate experiments on board the space station have already yielded space-grown lettuce<\/a> as well. Astronauts have also planted green onions.<\/p>\n NASA astronauts have similarly grown tomatoes on board the ISS for many years now, studying how genetic elements of plants grown in space can adapt and survive spaceflight, among other scientific objectives.<\/p>\n Besides providing future astronauts with a way of sustaining themselves, there is a litany of other reported benefits as well \u2014 like the psychological upsides of gardening in space, as NASA noted in a 2023 update<\/a>, from boosted morale to an overall increased quality of life.<\/p>\n The harvest on board the International Space Station has been so bountiful, a rogue tomato was recovered in late 2023 by NASA astronaut Frank Rubio \u2014 after it went missing just shy of a year earlier during an experiment testing hydroponic and aeroponic techniques.<\/p>\n At the time, NASA hailed the harvest as the first-ever tomatoes grown in space<\/a><\/p>\n The discovery of the tomato\u2019s desiccated remains solved a longstanding mystery<\/a>, as Rubio was initially accused of eating them.<\/p>\n \u201cOur good friend Frank Rubio, who headed home [already], has been blamed for quite a while for eating the tomato,\u201d NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli said<\/a> during a December 2023 live stream.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we can exonerate him,\u201d she added at the time. \u201cWe found the tomato.\u201d<\/p>\n More on tomatoes: NASA Proudly Shows Off Desiccated Tomatoes Lost in Space Station Crevice<\/a><\/p>\n \t![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773728411_330_hqdefault.jpg\"\/)
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