Students prepare for a lesson from space
Students in Hong Kong and Macao will get a classroom experience far beyond the usual school setting on Wednesday when they join a live lesson delivered by astronauts aboard China’s Tiangong space station.
The special session, organised jointly by the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and the China Manned Space Agency, will begin at 9:50 am Beijing time. The lesson will be broadcast to schools across the two cities, giving students the opportunity to watch astronauts conduct scientific activities in orbit and communicate with them during the session.
Among the three astronauts taking part will be Lai Ka ying, Hong Kong’s first homegrown astronaut. Lai is serving as the payload specialist aboard the Shenzhou XXIII mission alongside commander Zhu Yangzhu and pilot Zhang Zhiyuan.
The class is expected to last about 90 minutes and will combine science instruction with live demonstrations carried out inside the Tiangong station.
For students watching from classrooms on Earth, the lesson will offer a direct look at how scientific experiments are performed in microgravity and how astronauts conduct their daily work inside an orbiting space station.
Lai Ka ying to take part in space experiments
Lai will have a particularly visible role during the lesson. As the mission’s payload specialist, she is scheduled to participate in experimental work inside the spacecraft and contribute to several of the science demonstrations shown to students.
Her appearance carries added significance for Hong Kong schools because Lai is the first astronaut from the city to reach space.
A viewing venue will be established at Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College, Lai’s former school. Students and teachers there will be joined by a delegation from Macao, creating a shared viewing event between the two special administrative regions.
The connection to Lai’s former school is expected to make the event especially meaningful for pupils who will be watching someone who once attended the same classrooms before pursuing a career that eventually took her into orbit.
Education authorities in Hong Kong and Macao have also encouraged primary and secondary schools to organise classroom viewing sessions so students and teachers can follow the broadcast together.
The arrangement means the Tiangong station will effectively become an extension of the classroom, allowing pupils to watch scientific demonstrations while interacting with astronauts working hundreds of kilometres above Earth.
A live science lesson from orbit
The Tiangong Class series is designed to use China’s space station as a setting for science education. Rather than relying solely on recorded material, astronauts conduct demonstrations in orbit and explain the results to students watching on the ground.
Wednesday’s programme is expected to include science lectures, live experiments and demonstrations showing the effects of the space environment on scientific activities.
Students will also have an opportunity to send questions to the crew and express their good wishes directly to the astronauts.
A Hong Kong government spokesperson described the event as a valuable aerospace science education activity, saying students would be able to observe experiments conducted in the unusual conditions of space.
The government said the session is intended to increase students’ understanding of aerospace science and encourage greater interest in science learning.
The astronauts will also serve as examples of careers connected to scientific research and space exploration. Students will be able to hear directly from people carrying out research while living and working aboard Tiangong.
The government said the interaction could encourage young people to develop aspirations, become more willing to explore and strengthen their sense of national identity.
Former classmates send Mid Autumn Festival wishes
The space lesson comes as Lai’s former school prepares another connection with its former student.
With the Mid Autumn Festival approaching on September 25, students at Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College have written a letter to Lai and her Shenzhou XXIII crewmates.
The students used the letter to send holiday greetings to the three astronauts as they prepare to spend the traditional family reunion festival in orbit.
Their message also expressed respect for the astronauts and the teams supporting the mission from the ground.
The students wished the crew success in their research activities and a safe return to Earth.
For the pupils at Lai’s former school, the festival message provides a personal link with a mission taking place far from Hong Kong. While families across the city prepare to gather for the holiday, Lai and her crewmates will remain aboard Tiangong as they continue their work.
Shenzhou XXIII crew pass three months in orbit
The Shenzhou XXIII mission launched in May, sending Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka ying to the Tiangong space station.
The crew has now spent more than three months in orbit, carrying out research and other activities aboard the station.
Their mission schedule includes different return arrangements for the three astronauts. One crew member is expected to remain in orbit for a full year, while the other two are scheduled to return to Earth in November.
Their extended stay gives the astronauts time to conduct experiments that require prolonged periods in the microgravity environment.
The Tiangong station serves as both a research facility and a base for crew operations. Experiments carried out there can examine how materials, biological systems and physical processes behave in conditions that cannot easily be reproduced on Earth.
For students, however, the Wednesday lesson will offer a simpler and more immediate introduction to the work.
Instead of reading about microgravity in a textbook, they will be able to watch astronauts demonstrate its effects in real time.
Tiangong becomes a classroom
China launched the Tiangong Class series in 2021 as a way of bringing space science directly into classrooms.
The first lesson was delivered by Shenzhou XII crew members Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Wang Yaping.
Since then, astronauts aboard Tiangong have used the station to conduct live demonstrations and interact with students on Earth.
The programmes have allowed students to see parts of the station that would otherwise be inaccessible. Astronauts have provided virtual tours of their living and working environment, demonstrated scientific principles under microgravity and answered questions from students during live exchanges.
The format gives young people a practical view of space science rather than presenting the subject only through classroom theory.
For Hong Kong and Macao students, Wednesday’s special session will extend that educational programme beyond mainland schools and give pupils in the two cities a direct opportunity to interact with the Shenzhou XXIII crew.
The participation of Lai is also expected to give the lesson a strong local connection, particularly for students who may see her career as an example of how education and scientific training can lead to opportunities in the space programme.
A new generation watching from Hong Kong and Macao
The event brings together several strands of China’s space programme and education policy in a single classroom session.
Students will be able to watch a Hong Kong born astronaut working in orbit, observe scientific experiments performed aboard Tiangong and communicate with a crew that has spent months conducting research in space.
At Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College, the connection will be even more direct. Lai once sat in classrooms there as a student. On Wednesday, pupils at the school will watch her appear from an orbiting laboratory while she works as part of a three person space crew.
The lesson also gives schools in Hong Kong and Macao an opportunity to introduce students to aerospace science through a live event rather than a conventional lecture.
As Lai and her crewmates continue their mission, students on Earth will have a front row view of their work.
What would you ask Hong Kong astronaut Lai Ka ying if you had the chance to speak to her from space?