Source: Xinhua.
The spinning gyroscope that appeared in the first space lecture aboard Tiangong-1 eight years ago returned in a spacious, bright new classroom: the Tianhe core module of the Chinese space station.
That first lecture, in 2013, remains a cherished memory for countless students. Astronaut Wang Yaping’s line, “the dream of flight never loses weight; the dream of science has infinite tension”, awakened many children’s longing for the cosmos.
On the afternoon of 9 December, watched by hundreds of millions, astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu delivered the first space lecture of the Shenzhou-13 mission from Tianhe. The main ground classroom was set at the China Science and Technology Museum, with sub-classrooms in Nanning, Wenchuan, Hong Kong and Macao, while students and the public across the country watched live.
Six experiments that made eyes shine
Space cell research, turning in microgravity, disappearing buoyancy, water film tension, water ball optics and effervescent tablets: experiment after experiment filled the children’s eyes with light.
“My favourite was the effervescent tablet; the blue ball was so beautiful. Space is completely different from the ground, so many results come out differently,” said Lin Pinhe, a pupil at a Beijing primary school.
During the experiment, Wang Yaping asked whether the blue ball looked like Earth, then added: “Earth is the cradle of humanity in the universe, but we will not stay in the cradle forever. We will step onto the Moon, Mars and deeper space.” The children applauded. In the water film experiment she unfolded a paper flower she had folded with her daughter on Earth, telling the students: “It reminds me of my daughter. You are the budding flowers of the nation; may your dreams bloom across the vast universe.”
After the six experiments the three astronauts answered students’ questions. Asked whether leaving and re-entering Earth is as thrilling as a roller coaster, mission commander Zhai Zhigang needed three words: “Even more!” The g-forces of launch and re-entry far exceed a roller coaster, he explained; try a centrifuge and you will know what a spaceship feels like. Every question and answer drew warm applause.
A must-do lesson for spacefaring nations
Chen Zheng, an associate professor at Beijing Jiaotong University and member of the lecture’s science expert group, said nurturing young people’s curiosity and guiding them to care about, understand, love and devote themselves to science is a shared mission for the space sector, educators and society as a whole, and a key to national development. In his view, this lecture got science popularisation and youth science education in the new era off to a fine start.
“Space lectures are practically a required course for major spacefaring nations,” said Yang Yuguang, a researcher at the Second Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. Such lectures not only plant seeds of space dreams in a generation but also show the public how spaceflight drives industry, technology and the economy.
Wang Nan was a second-year high school student during the first lecture eight years ago; the image of Wang Yaping in the water ball reflection stayed with her. Today she works at the Second Academy, having followed aerospace since Zhai Zhigang’s first spacewalk. With this lecture, China’s first space science education brand, Tiangong Classroom, was officially launched, marking the start of regular space lectures to run alongside crewed missions through the construction and operation of the space station.
By the time of the lecture the Shenzhou-13 crew had been in orbit for nearly 55 days of a six-month stay, further validating key technologies such as long-duration orbital habitation and regenerative life support. A generation’s dreams have been ignited.
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