China's volunteer for Mars-500 spends his birthday in module

Wang Yue, China's volunteer for the Mars-500 experiment, spent his 28th birthday in a sealed module on July 25 during a simulated space trip to mars, People's Daily overseas edition reported on Monday.

Despite the lack of a birthday cake, no candles and no family members around, Wang Yue said it was the most significant birthday he had ever spent.

Wang received birthday greetings from centers for China's astronauts, the Moscow-based Institute of Biomedical Problems, his family members and many space enthusiasts.

At 12 p.m. (Moscow time), a member of China's team of researchers and the Russian Institute of Biomedical Problems made phone calls to Wang and sent their birthday wishes.

The Mars-500 experiment – conducted by the Moscow-based Institute for Medical and Biological Problems in cooperation with the European Space Agency and China's space training center – aims to reproduce the conditions of space travel, with exception of weightlessness.

Author: Yu Jianbin and Sun Hairong，People's Daily overseas editon, July 26, 2010 ,Translator: Liang Jun