China is challenging the world even in high-altitude cuisine. Images of the crew of the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft cooking chicken wings, skewers and steaks in a hot-air oven have gone viral in recent hours. The video broadcast from the space station shows flight engineer Wu Fei, a member of the Shenzhou-21 crew, placing the meats into the oven and then removing them after a cooking time of just under 30 minutes.

The presence of two astronauts originally from Inner Mongolia — the aforementioned Wu Fei and Wang Jie — a region renowned for its mutton and beef, favored the preparation of black-pepper steaks which, as the footage shows, delighted the six astronauts on board. The spacecraft was launched into orbit on Friday evening and its return to Earth is scheduled for November 5.

According to Chinese media, the oven installed on Shenzhou-21 is equipped with specific enhancements that distinguish it from conventional ovens, starting with technologies for temperature control, residue collection, high-temperature catalysis and multi-layer filtration. In this way, any food can be cooked without the release of smoke in orbit, in compliance with the space station's oily-fume emission standards. The oven and its purification system have undergone rigorous testing in order to meet the space station's access conditions and to operate continuously and reliably for up to 500 cycles.

The use of the oven to prepare food represents the latest advance in the Chinese space station's life-support system. According to the center, the Shenzhou-21 mission has expanded the variety of foods to more than 190 items and has extended the menu cycle to 10 days, allowing astronauts to bake fresh vegetables, dried fruit, cakes and meat while in orbit.

Since China's crewed space program entered the application and development phase of the space station, ground researchers have continuously improved the variety, texture, flavor, appearance and nutritional value of space food through technological innovation and process improvements, better meeting the dietary needs of astronauts.

In addition, new progress has been made in the space station's greenhouse. Since the Shenzhou-16 mission, the center has conducted research and validations on the cultivation of plant substrates in orbit. Using regenerative substrates, long-term controlled-release fertilizers and microporous water-conduction technology, the greenhouse has achieved effective water and nutrient supply under microgravity conditions.

So far, ten batches of seven plant species have been cultivated, including lettuce, cherry tomatoes and sweet potatoes, providing the astronauts with 4.5 kg of fresh fruit and vegetables. Among these, lettuce and cherry tomatoes have completed a full cultivation cycle, from seed to seed.