Shenzhou XVI crew members schedule first lecture for global students

The Shenzhou XVI crew members are scheduled to give their first science lecture from the orbiting Tiangong space station to students from around the globe, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The agency said in a news release on Monday afternoon that the lecture will start at 3:45 pm Thursday and will be available worldwide via livestream by China Media Group.

The astronauts — mission commander Major General Jing Haipeng; Colonel Zhu Yangzhu, who is spaceflight engineer in the team; and Professor Gui Haichao, the mission’s science payloads specialist — will show audience the living and work quarters inside the Mengtian science module and will carry out several experiments to show physical phenomena in the unique environment inside the space station. During the event, the astronauts will also answer questions from watching students and will share their experience in space, according to the release.

The agency said the Shenzhou XVI astronauts invite students to conduct similar experiments on the ground to observe the disparities between those undertaken in the space and on Earth.

By now, Chinese astronauts have conducted four space-based science lectures for students.

The Shenzhou XVI trio arrived at the Chinese space station on May 30 to take over the massive orbital outpost from their Shenzhou XV peers who had stayed there for six months.

As of Monday, Jing’s team had worked 111 days in orbit and had been in good condition. They are scheduled to live inside the space station for around five months and return to Earth in November.