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.

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.