Chinese crew members to deliver second lecture from space station

Crew members of China's Shenzhou XIII mission will deliver their second open lecture on Wednesday afternoon from the orbiting Tiangong space station to students around the globe, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The agency said in a statement on Friday that the lecture will start at 3:40 pm Wednesday Beijing Time and will be livestreamed worldwide by China Media Group. The astronauts will carry out four experiments to show physical phenomena in microgravity, including the liquid crystallization and water's surface tension. They will also show audience scientific apparatus inside the Tiangong station, the agency noted.

The Shenzhou XIII mission crew -- Major General Zhai Zhigang, Senior Colonel Wang Yaping and Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu -- conducted their first open lecture in December from the Tiangong station travelling in an orbit about 400 kilometers above the ground.

They showed viewers how they live and work inside the space station, which consists of a core module, a human-rating certified spacecraft and two robotic cargo spaceships.

The astronauts carried out experiments to display interesting physical phenomena in space such as "disappearing buoyancy" and a "water ball". Before the end of the livestreamed activity, they answered questions from students.

Millions of primary and middle school students across China watched the 60-minute televised event hosted by the China Manned Space Agency, the Ministry of Education and other government departments.

It was the first lecture of the Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) Class series, China's first extraterrestrial lecture series that aims to popularize space science.