BEIJING (TIP): Chinese astronauts may grow fresh vegetables in extraterrestrial bases on moon or mars in the future to provide food and oxygen supplies to astronauts, an official said after a successful lab experiment.

Deng Yibing, deputy director of the Beijing-based Chinese Astronaut Research and Training Center, said that the recent experiment focused on a dynamic balanced mechanism of oxygen , carbon dioxide, and water between people and plants in a closed system
According to Deng, a cabin of 300 cubic meters was established to provide sustainable supplies of air, water and food for two participants during the experiment, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Four kinds of vegetables were grown, taking in carbon dioxide and providing oxygen for the two people living in the cabin. They could also harvest fresh vegetables for meals, Deng said. The experiment, the first of its kind in China, is extremely important for the long-term development of the country’s manned space programme, Deng added.