On the afternoon of March 23, 2022, Chinese astronauts on board China's Tiangong space station gave a science lesson 400 kilometers above Earth. It was a great success. Do you still remember the first space lesson hosted by Wang Yaping in 2013? Helped by the other two astronauts, she gave the lesson to more than 60 million school children all over the country.
While watching the science lesson from the Tiangong-1 on the morning of June 20, 2013, Wang Lutian, a 10-year-old disabled student at a special school in downtown Beijing, was drawing a colorful rocket with crayons in his classroom. "Moo…stars…a rocket to the sky," Wang explained his work in a cheerful voice. At that time, he and more than 100 other disabled students were enjoying the lesson given by Wang Yaping, who talked about movements in micro-gravity (微重力) environments. "Zero gravity!" Qian Shaohong, another student at the school, shouted when he saw astronaut Nie Haisheng making a show of crossing his legs in mid-air. "Scientific knowledge has helped open a window for the children to know about the world," said Zhang Yini, a teacher at the school.
The lesson also increased interest in space science among teenagers living on the "roof (屋脊) of the world." "I was most interested in the presentation of the ‘water ball' in a gravity-free environment. It's really amazing," said Rigzin Jigme Doje, a high school student in Lhasa, Tibet. Describing himself as a lover of physics, Doje said the lesson helped him stay true to his dream of becoming a physicist.
The lesson also encouraged other Tibetan school children to relate the mysterious world of outer space to their hometown.