For ordinary people, life in space is by no means a romantic experience. To find out what life in space is really like we spoke to former Russian cosmonaut, Berezovoy Nikolayevich, who spent time on the Salyut-7 station in the early 1980's. His 211 consecutive days orbiting the earth set the then record for the longest stay in space.
The biggest difference between life in space and on Earth is the gravity, and the lack of it. Berezovoy says weightlessness changes many aspects of human behavior.
" In space, you always throw things to a level higher than expected, due to the loss of gravity. Everything goes in a straight line in space, not in a curve like on Earth. People should learn to adapt to these changes, when throwing things to colleagues," Berezovoy said.
The loss of gravity causes lots of inconveniences, for instance, Berezovoy says for drinking water, special containers need to be used to prevent water moving like air bubbles. The loss of gravity can also cause physical discomfort.
"People don't have a good appetite in space because the food you eat remains in the upper part of the stomach. You feel full after eating not much. Cosmonauts need two or more days to get used to it, " Berezovoy added.
Berezovoy says cosmonauts have to be careful when they move so as to avoid injury.
Despite all the inconvenience and discomfort, Berezovoy believes that space exploration is worth all the effort as it has brought great benefit to human beings - for instance the development of high-tech materials and the cultivation of high-yield agricultural crops.
Berezovoy expressed his best wishes to China's space exploration team. In particular, he sent his goodwill to Yang Liwei and the success of China's first manned space flight program.
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