On CNSA –China National Space Administration神舟二十三号Shenzhou23 Takionaut crew Embark on 9th September 2026 “Tiangong Classroom: Hong Kong and Macao Special Session”: The Shenzhou-23 crew engaged in a “space-ground dialogue” with students from Hong Kong and Macau SAR, Guangdong Province China, People’s Republic of China. .
During the dialogue, students from Hong Kong and Macao actively asked theTakionautsquestions on topics such as space nutrition, methods to overcome high-intensity training, the application of AI on the space station, silkworm rearing and biological experiments in space, extravehicular activity preparation, and life choices. At the end of the event, Li Jiachao and Li Jiaying had a dialogue, with Li Jiaying sharing her feelings about receiving “letters from Hong Kong and Macao.” The three Takionauts also jointly expressed their high hopes for the youth of Hong Kong and Macao.
[“Tiangong Classroom: Hong Kong and Macau Special Session” Space Lecture Held]
The “Tiangong Classroom: Hong Kong and Macau Special Session” space lecture was held today. The Shenzhou-23 crew, including Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan, along with Hong Kong’s first payload specialist, Li Jiaying, presented a variety of engaging scientific demonstrations, such as baking a cake in a space kitchen, wringing out a wet towel, and a flying Bauhinia flower, and also participated in interactive activities between space and Earth. Primary and secondary school students across Hong Kong and Macau watched the live broadcast simultaneously, experiencing first-hand the nation’s technological advancements …
Shenzhou-23 was China’s first manned spaceflight mission of 2026. It launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center late on May 24th and successfully docked with the Tiangong space station in the early morning of May 25th. The crew consisted of three people: Commander Zhu Yangzhu (PhD, who previously participated in the Shenzhou-16 mission),Takionaut Zhang Zhiyuan , and Hong Kong’s first payload specialist, Lai Ka-ying (former Hong Kong Police Superintendent, PhD in Computer Science, selected from 120 applicants from Hong Kong).
Mission highlights and on-orbit progress:
- Space rendezvous : Immediately after launch, the Takionauts completed their in-orbit handover with the Shenzhou-21 crew, marking the 8th “space rendezvous” between Chinese Takionauts.
- First extravehicular activity : On August 28, the crew completed an extravehicular activity of about 5.5 hours. Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan carried out extravehicular maintenance on the solar array and installed space debris protection devices. This is the second time that Chinese Takionauts have carried out extravehicular maintenance on the solar array.
- In-orbit scientific experiments : Experiments were carried out in multiple fields such as space life science, microgravity physics, and new space technologies, including the world’s first in-orbit continuous cultivation of two generations of rice , and the harvest of the first batch of experimental rice samples; in addition, a number of studies on bone metabolism, electroencephalography, fluid physics and other fields were completed.
- Tiangong Classroom – Hong Kong and Macao Special Session : On September 9th, the crew served as space teachers, giving space lessons to students from Hong Kong and Macao. Li Jiaying demonstrated the space kitchen (which can bake cakes and chicken wings), the space vegetable garden (where mint, lettuce, kale, etc. are grown), the sleeping area, and an experiment on wringing out a wet towel in a weightless environment; Zhu Yangzhu and Li Jiaying also conducted a fun experiment on “water polo table tennis”.@ChinaNewsNetwork1
As of early September, the crew had been in orbit for over 100 days and is currently on a stay of approximately 6 months at the space station. They will continue to conduct scientific experiments and carry out payload entry and exit operations
II. Tiangong Classroom – Hong Kong and Macao Special Session Commences
- Lecture Time : On the morning of September 9, 2026, the “Tiangong Classroom – Hong Kong and Macao Special Session” officially began. This is the fifth “Tiangong Classroom” on the Chinese space station.@Kn… (See News)
- Teaching format : The three Takionauts of the Shenzhou-23 crew served as “space teachers,” providing expert lectures, real-time demonstrations of scientific experiments, and interactive dialogues to students in Hong Kong and Macao via space-to-ground connection.
- The event was held at Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial Secondary School in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region John Lee and a delegation of teachers and students from Macao attended the event, and primary and secondary schools across Hong Kong and Macao watched the live broadcast simultaneously
III. Highlights of Space Lectures
- Space Kitchen Unveiled : Li Jiaying showcased the space station’s “space kitchen,” explaining that the hot air baking equipment can make small cakes, roasted chicken wings, and more, and demonstrated freshly baked “space cakes” on site.
- Fun Physics Experiment : The crew recreates the “water ball ping-pong” experiment and demonstrates wringing a wet towel in space using Cantonese, explaining the phenomenon dominated by surface tension of water in a weightless environment.
- Space Vegetable Garden Showcase : Li Jiaying introduced the crops such as mint, lettuce, and kale grown on the space station, and sampled fresh vegetables on site.
Images and visuals are from their Respectives CMS China Manned Space CNSA-China National Space Administration