Full coverage: China Tiangong-2 Space Lab Launch

Can life in space be imitated right here on earth? Our guide to the cosmos Yang Zhao brings us more.

Welcome to our home in space. I'm your guide to the cosmos, Yang Zhao. Today you'll see how the astronauts will spend 30 days in this confined environment.

The laboratory is technically a space lab, but it also serves as dining room, living room and gym.

Bed time is in the sleeping bag. In an upright position. And since there's no gravity in space, ropes keep them from floating around.

Lighting in the sleeping area can be adjusted.

Back to the zero gravity thing. Using a cup to drink water is probably not a good idea. But if you do, open wide and inhale.

For downtime, there's a home entertainment center: Astronauts can watch TV when they get tired of looking out the window at that blue planet. They can also send text messages to friends and family.

Weightlessness causes bones and muscles to atrophy. To help offset this, there's an exercise bike. Foot straps keep riders firmly in place during workouts. Astronauts will also report their daily health data for both health monitoring and space medical experiments.

Ah, yes, experiments. That's why the astronauts are coming here.

One of the projects is in the mini greenhouse where we would find rice seedlings. It's still in the testing stage. But in the not-too-distant future, steamed rice and stir-fried vegetables -- we're Chinese after all -- may be on the space menu.

The seeds have been planted. And the harvest is going to be out of this world.

Photo taken on Oct. 19, 2016 shows the screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showing the two Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng (L) and Chen Dong in the space lab Tiangong-2. The two astronauts onboard the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft entered the space lab Tiangong-2 Wednesday morning. (Xinhua/Ju Zhenhua)