According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, on December 9, "space teachers" Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu brought a wonderful space science popularization class to the majority of young people on the China Space Station, and the first space teaching activity of the Chinese Space Station was successfully concluded. Nandu reporter noted that this is the female astronaut Wang Yaping every 8 years to teach space again. In addition to the familiar gyroscopic teaching aids and water membrane experiments, this time, the Shenzhou 13 astronauts, who are affectionately known as the "feel good ride" by the Chinese people, also demonstrated the walking and turning in the microgravity environment of the space station, and operated the "double imaging" water balloon optical experiment in real time, which amazed the audience.
"Feel Good Ride" transforms into "Astronaut Teacher".
The space teaching activity officially began at 15:40 Beijing time on December 9, 2015, taking the method of "interaction between heaven and earth", the main ground classroom was set up in the China Science and Technology Museum, and 4 ground sub-classes were set up in Nanning, Guangxi, Wenchuan, Hong Kong and Macao, and the whole process was broadcast live.
Nandu reporter noted that in about 1 hour of space teaching, "astronaut teachers" Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, Ye Guangfu vividly introduced and displayed the space station work and life scenes, including sleeping areas, "space treadmills" and other exercise equipment, daily drinking of reclaimed water, etc., and answered the question of "how to walk and turn around in the space environment" in the form of personal demonstration.
On Earth, ping-pong balls float on the surface of the water, but in space they are suspended.
Inside the Chinese space station, astronaut Ye Guangfu demonstrated the study of cell growth and development under weightless conditions; Wang Yaping invited the students in the ground class to put the ping-pong ball into a cup of water like himself, and the ping-pong ball on the earth will float on the water, but the ping-pong ball in space will be suspended in the water, because buoyancy is related to gravity, and in the microgravity environment of the space station, buoyancy will almost disappear. After that, Wang Yaping also demonstrated the water film tension experiment, the water balloon optical experiment and the effervescent film experiment in turn, guiding the students to explore the principles of liquid surface tension and convex lens imaging.
In the water membrane tension experiment, the folded paper flowers made by astronaut Wang Yaping and his daughter before "bloomed" in space.
During the lecture, the three astronauts also interacted with teachers and students in the ground classroom through video calls, answering questions from students in Beijing, Nanning, Sichuan, Hong Kong and Macao. Wang Told students he could see the sunrise 16 times a day because the Chinese space station could circle the earth every 90 minutes. Zhai Zhigang revealed that the feeling of flying into space in a spaceship is "more exciting than a roller coaster."
At about 10:00 Beijing time on June 20, 2013, China's first space teaching activity began, with Wang Yaping, an astronaut of Shenzhou 10, as the keynote speaker, and she also became China's first "space teacher". After 8 years, Wang Yaping Shenzhou 13 astronauts once again "opened the Tiangong lecture", the "classroom" display space is larger, and the communication technology is more mature and stable.
According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, with the long-term operation of the Chinese space station in orbit, China's first space science education brand "Tiangong Classroom" will be launched in series. In the follow-up, the "Tiangong Classroom" will continue to carry out space teaching activities, actively disseminate manned spaceflight knowledge and culture, and continue to carry out various forms and rich content of space science education.
Written by: Nandu reporter Hou Jingjing