Q&A session:
The Tiangong-1/Shenzhou-9 space mission delegation members describe their 13-day orbit in space to students, and answer their questions.
Q&A session:
The Tiangong-1/Shenzhou-9 space mission delegation members describe their 13-day orbit in space to students, and answer their questions.
Astronauts share space experience with students
August 11, 2012
The Tiangong-1/Shenzhou-9 space mission delegation attended a dialogue session with more than 1,000 local secondary and primary students at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre on day two of their visit to Hong Kong.
The astronauts described their 13-day orbit in space, and took questions from the students. One student asked what it takes to be an astronaut.
Astronaut Jing Haipeng said it is important to have a dream, and that he had spent many years himself making his dream of becoming an astronaut come true. That meant sacrificing time with his family, including his son. Due to the intensive training programme, he was unable to attend any parent days with him until he entered secondary school.
He also admitted that he is a perfectionist, but said this quality is required in an astronaut, to accomplish a mission.
Astronaut Liu Yang said the career requires passion, because an astronaut’s life is not easy. They work seven days a week, day and night. She described how she trained to adapt to the environment in space by spinning every night, while her partner, Astronaut Liu Wang, demonstrated how she did that.
Being physically fit is is essential, Liu Wang added. He looked forward to having a Hong Kong astronaut in the programme in future, and hopes he can take students to Mars some day.
The delegation gave Shenzhou-9 badges to each student who asked a question, and presented a souvenir to Secretary for Education Eddie Ng.
Mr Ng praised the astronauts and the team behind them for their creativity, hard work and perseverance, to push the country’s aerospace technology to a new high, and encouraged the students to learn from them.
