Three major experiments on Tiangong II

1. Growing plants in space, directed by Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology at the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences

In the movie The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney survives on the Red Planet by growing potatoes. In reality, growing plants in space is much harder. On Tiangong II, scientists have built a mini "greenhouse", with controlled temperature and light. Rice and mouse-ear cress will be grown.

"China will conduct its first seed-to-seed experiment in space through Tiangong II," Zheng Huiqiong, sciences professor at the Shanghai institutes, said in an interview with China Central Television.