In a bid to make a wine which will dominate the global market, Chinese wine-makers have taken a somewhat bizarre step. China’s newest space lab – Tiangong 2 – blasted off from China’s launch center in Gobi Desert on September 15, carrying two astronauts, to test space technology and conduct medical and space experiments.
What is more interesting is the cargo which the rocket is carrying. Tiangong 2, whose name means the Heavenly Palace, is carrying a cargo of many things, which includes se selection of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and pinot noir vines.
A Chinese website reporting about the local wine industry published an article recently which said, “Chinese scientists hope that growing wine in space will trigger mutations in the vines that may make them more suitable for the harsh climate in some of the China’s emerging vineyard regions.” Wine producers in China are currently facing difficulties in the weather and challenges like freezing temperatures and unfavorable soil. The vines sent into space have been sourced from these regions. After returning to Earth a month later, the samples will be tested and compared to other vines in order to find the “most suitable mutation”.
While China aims to land a rover on Mars by 2020 and create a manned space station by 2022, this is by far one of the most bizarre plans of the space scientists in China.
