Hong Kong’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying, will deliver a live lesson from space to students and teachers at her alma mater on Wednesday morning, with the 90-minute event broadcast to campuses across the city and streamed live on television.
Lai and her two fellow Shenzhou-23 crew members – mission commander Colonel Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan – will take part in the “Tiangong Class” at Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College.
Representatives from the youth sector and innovation and technology community, as well as a visiting delegation from Macau, will also attend. The session will also be broadcast to students in Macau.
Jointly organised by the Hong Kong and Macau governments and the China Manned Space Agency, the event will feature an expert lecture, in-orbit demonstrations and a question and answer session designed to showcase the space environment.
AI, robots and animal tests
After a 30-minute tour inside the space station, the three astronauts shared details of their mission as students put questions to the crew.
Lai said the station had begun trials and studies using AI and robots. The robots could help document the crew’s work and navigate narrow ventilation ducts.
She added that she expected more powerful AI systems to be deployed in the future to help astronauts complete their missions.
Zhang also described animal tests conducted on the station, noting that such trials could help scientists understand how a zero-gravity environment affects living organisms and provide important data for future exploration and for safeguarding astronauts’ health.
Zhu detailed how the crew prepared for earlier extravehicular activities, including checking their spacesuits and practising with the equipment.