— I think so.
The first astronauts
Since the earliest times, people have looked up at the stars, the moon and the planets. Today people use modern machines 1 at the sky. This is very different from the situation 2 years ago when people could only use their eyes. Perhaps they dreamed of 3 the universe. When did humans first go into space? The story began not very long ago, 4 the first astronauts were not people — they were animals.
Scientists wanted to make travelling to space as 5 as possible for humans. So they decided to experiment with animals and test6 in spaceflights. Insects, mice, frogs, dogs and monkeys were some of the animals 7 first went into space. Many of them 8, but they helped to make space travel safer for humans. For their great service, we 9 forget these animals.
Albert II was the first monkey to go into space in 1949. Sadly he died 10 his spaceship landed back on the Earth. 11 the result was different for Ham the Monkey. His story ended happily when he returned to the Earth 12 very good health.
Scientists wanted to know the answer to the important question: could 13 animal like Ham do the same things in space as he could do on the Earth? The answer came when Ham 14 into space in 1961. Yes, he did everything well and lived for 15 16 years.
Many people may wonder what the three Chinese astronauts' life was like when they were working in space. In fact, they did many of the things as we do on Earth.
They brush their teeth, wash their hair and go to the bathroom. However, because of the microgravity (失重) environment, they take care of themselves in different ways. They wash their hair by using the no-rinse shampoo to get it clean because there are no real showers in the spaceship.
Astronauts eat three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. But how much they eat depends on the astronauts. A small woman astronaut often needs only about 1,900 calories (卡路里) a day, while a large man requires about 3,200 calories. So there are many kinds of foods ready, such as fruits, nuts, chicken, beef and seafood. They can also drink coffee, tea and orange juice.
Astronauts can have much fun, too. They look out of the window, enjoying the wonderful sunsets and sunrises which happen every 45 minutes. Very often, they play with their food or even play jokes on their workmates. Believe it or not, astronauts can even spend weekends, when they can watch movies, play music, read books and talk to their families.
After a long day at work, ▲ . Just like on Earth, an astronaut goes to bed at a certain time, then wakes up and prepares for work again. But there are a few differences. Astronauts have to sleep in sleeping bags in special cabins (柜子). Generally, astronauts are planned to have eight hours of sleep. Like on Earth, they may wake up in the middle of their sleep to use the toilet. And astronauts also have dreams.
As for Wang Yaping, she had another experience—preparing for lessons for the Chinese students far down on Earth.