Chinese Shenzhou-14 spaceship crew teach students on Earth

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The universe, however, continues to be a grand mystery even to the most brilliant minds; there are myriads of theories on the origin of the universe, but none proven. To us humans, the workings of the universe continue to be beyond our understanding, and we are in awe of those who embark on explorations into the unknown. No wonder that the Tiangong classroom series, taught by Chinese astronauts on space missions, are watched by viewers from across the globe.  

Tiangog is China's first long-term station, and it is located in low Earth orbit, between 340 and 450 km above the surface. Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe livestreamed the class from the Wentian lab module of the Tiangog space station. Students from primary, secondary and third level education followed the online session and got the opportunity to ask questions.

As the Chinese newspaper People's Daily reported, the three so-called taikonauts gave a tour of the space station’s lab module as they flew in and out of the different scientific cabins.

Chen introduced the scientific glove cabin which helps control the conditions designed for different experiments while Liu presented the cabin which studies the effects of microgravity and radiation on life in space. "The results of the experiments in this cabin will help mankind make the Moon and even Mars a long-term habitat," Liu said. Chen also presented a biological technology experiment cabin, highlighting that it could perform cell proliferation and differentiation, enabling the viewing of cell sample changes in real-time.

Students of a primary school in Danzhai county, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, southwest China's Guizhou province, watch the live class of the Tiangong Classroom lecture series in a classroom, Oct. 12, 2022. (Photo by Huang Xiaohai/People's Daily Online)

The crew also made a demonstration of several experiments and showed how plant samples were collected in space. Students were in awe of the experiments shown by the crew and were very eager to ask questions. Overall, the "space class" has been a very big attraction for students, and many have felt inspired to pursue a career in related scientific fields.

The crew are about to complete their six-month space mission in December, while the Mengtian lab module which has been launched on 31 October, has marked the completion of Tiangog; China’s first long-term space station.

Source: People's Daily