Flavors, toilet improve Chinese taikonauts´ space life

Source: Xinhua | 09-26-2008 00:05

JIUQUAN, Gansu, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- A wide variety of seasoning sauces, but a less diverse colors of furniture and decoration inside the module. The three Chinese taikonauts who began their mission Thursday evening will have flavored but, perhaps, not that colorful days in outer space.

Above all, however, the men will surely boast the convenience of a toilet that was a luxury their predecessors might dreamed of in the previous two missions.

China successfully launched its third manned spacecraft Shenzhou-7 at 9:10 p.m. on Thursday with three astronauts on board to attempt the country's first-ever space walk.

The three men will orbit the earth for about three days.

Nutritionists and cooks have prepared 80 foods, from Kung Pao Chicken and deshelled shrimp to frozen dry fruits, for the trio of Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng, according to Chen Bin, who is in charge of food supply to the astronauts.

For vinegar-loving Jing, the seasoning is well at hand, as various seasoning sauces are provided on board. The astronaut is from northern Shanxi Province, where vinegar is a favorite condiment for locals.

Compared with Jing, Nie Haisheng, an astronaut on the Shenzhou-6 mission in 2005, was not that lucky. "I missed very much my favorite spicy foods and garlic sauce during my flight," Nie recalled.