Space lecture inspires dreams of universe

As a science lover, Zhao Yang regarded it a "celebration" to watch on television the lecture given aboard a space module about 340 km above Earth.

"Micro-gravity, vacuum and ubiquitous radiation, space provides a great condition for physical experiments," Zhao said. "China will have dreams fulfilled in space."

On Thursday, female Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping, aboard the space module Tiangong-1, addressed about 330 primary and middle school students at the High School Affiliated with Renmin University via a live video feed.

Since his childhood, Zhao has watched space-related programs and news covering the universe. He went to Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and then went to Chinese Academy of Sciences for a doctorial degree.

Many countries, developing fast economically, scientifically and technologically, have their own space dreams and many scientific laws are named after their scientists, Zhao said.

"However, few space-related terms are called after Chinese names," Zhao said, "We human beings will explore more, such as knowledge and resources from the universe."

Real space experiments will be different from the ones conducted by Wang, which seemed very simple but involved the essence of the universe, Zhao explained.

Wang, one of the three crew members of the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft, set off for outer space on June 11, which docked with the Tiangong-1 on June 13.

She lectured about motion in micro-gravity environments and the surface tension of liquid in space, as well as the concepts of weight, mass and Newton's Law, illuminating her lesson with various demonstrations.

"He is like a Gongfu master." said Rinchen Sangmo, a high school freshman in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, after seeing astronaut Nie Haisheng crossing his legs into a meditation posture in mid-air.

"Zero gravity is not so abstract as before," Rinchen added, as this is seen in martial arts movies but unable to be achieved by any Kungfu master in reality on Earth.

Physics theorist and sci-fi writer Li Miao expressed his hope for carrying out experiments to check whether people will become lighter based on the theory of relativity.

Li predicted that China will carry out experiments at the second Lagrangian point, 1.5 million km away from Earth, and take advantage of satellites to study the deepest secrets of the universe.

Liu Cixin, one of the country's best-selling science fiction writers, said the significance of the lecture not only relies in displaying several physics phenomenons to students, but also pictures a different world of space from Earth.

Students on Earth are impressed by the new world which is operating in a completely different way from our planet, Liu said, adding the experience will inspire children and broaden their horizons.

"I wish that one day a lecture can be delivered from the moon to demonstrate the rise of Earth," Liu said, showing ambitions for human's exploration of space.