12月9日15時40分，“天宮課堂”第一課正式開講，時隔8年之后，中國航天員再次進行太空授課。

Chinese astronauts, Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, and Ye Guangfu, conducted the science lecture 400 kilometers above Earth, as they orbited in the Tiangong space station.They showed viewers how they live and work inside the space station.
航天員翟志剛、王亞平、葉光富在距離地球400公里外的中國“天宮”空間站帶來了一堂科普課。他們向直播觀眾介紹展示了空間站工作生活場景。

此次太空授課活動進行了全程現(xiàn)場直播，在中國科技館設地面主課堂，在廣西南寧、四川汶川、香港、澳門分設4個地面分課堂，共1420名中小學生代表參加現(xiàn)場活動。

“飄”在核心艙里的三位航天員相互配合，首先帶領大家參觀了航天員的太空家園。

Wang showed the students the microwave, water dispenser and refrigerator in the space kitchen.
王亞平向同學們展示了“太空廚房”里的微波爐、飲水分配器和冰箱。

關于水循環(huán)

In response to a Hong Kong student's question about water, Wang said the water they drink is recycled, noting that there is no difference in taste between regular and recycled water. With a water recycling system, every drop of water is made full use of in the space station, she said.
在回答香港一名同學關于水的問題時，王亞平表示，他們喝的水都是循環(huán)水，口感跟普通水沒什么區(qū)別。她說，空間站的水循環(huán)系統(tǒng)可以讓每一滴水都得到充分利用。

為何航天員看起來都“胖胖的”？

Wang said the astronauts may look a little chubby and puffy as the microgravity in space can affect blood circulation. They use a treadmill, spin bike and resistance bands to stay healthy.
王亞平說，因為太空中的微重力會影響血液循環(huán)，所以航天員看起來可能有些胖胖的，有點浮腫。他們會用跑步機、健身自行車以及阻力帶等設備健身。

Zhai introduced the special uniform Ye was wearing during the class. According to Zhai, it is called a "penguin jumpsuit" and it has multiple elastic bands inside to help the astronauts maintain their muscle strength.
課堂上，翟志剛還介紹了葉光富身上穿的一款特殊制服。他說，這個衣服叫“企鵝服”，內部有多個彈力拉帶，可以幫助航天員保持肌肉健康。

多項實驗演示

授課期間，三位航天員演示了微重力環(huán)境下細胞學實驗、人體運動、液體表面張力等神奇現(xiàn)象，并講解了實驗背后的科學原理。

Ye demonstrated experiments related to cell growth in the weightless environment in space. They compared the growth and shape of cells in artificial gravity and zero-gravity, so as to study their changing rules and mechanisms.
葉光富演示了在太空失重環(huán)境下細胞生長的實驗。他們將人工重力和零重力環(huán)境下細胞的生長和形態(tài)進行對比，來研究其變化的規(guī)律和機制。

In a buoyancy experiment, Wang put a table tennis ball in a glass of water. Instead of floating to the surface like on Earth, the ball remained in the middle of the water. Buoyancy almost disappeared in the weightless environment.
在浮力實驗中，王亞平將一個乒乓球放進一杯水中，乒乓球并沒有像在地球上那樣浮到水面，而是停留在水中。在失重環(huán)境下，浮力幾乎消失。

【詞匯講解】

這里的buoyancy，讀作[?b??.?n.si]，指“浮力”（the quality of being able to float），比如，the buoyancy of water（水的浮力）；此外，這個詞也可以用來表示某人“積極向上的”，或者“（商業(yè)行情）看漲的，向好的”，比如：He was a man of remarkable buoyancy.（他是個特別積極向上的人）；There is continued buoyancy in the property market.（房地產市場持續(xù)看漲）。

Wang also demonstrated how zero gravity magnifies the surface tension of water.
王亞平還演示了零重力如何放大水的表面張力。

She created a water film using a metal ring and a bag filled with water. Then she placed on the water film a flower bud she and her daughter folded with paper before the space journey. The bud rotated magically on the film and "blossomed."
她用一個金屬圈和一個水袋做了個水膜，然后將事先折好的一個花朵折紙放在水膜上，花朵在水膜上神奇地旋轉“開放”了。

Wang then injected water into the film, and it became a transparent water ball. Through it, Wang's inverted image appeared. "We know that this phenomenon is called convex lens imaging." She explained.
她再往水膜上繼續(xù)加水，最終變成一個透明的大水球。透過水球，可以看到王亞平反著的人像。她解釋說：“這個現(xiàn)象叫做凸透鏡成像?！?/p>

However, when Ye injected a bubble into the water ball, two images of Wang appeared, with the big image inverted and the small one in the bubble upright.
而當葉光富向水球注入一個氣泡后，水球則倒映出王亞平一正一反兩個人像。

After that, Wang pumped the bubble out and injected blue pigment. Then, she dropped an effervescent tablet into the blue ball, producing many little bubbles.
接著，她將藍色顏料注入水球，又將一片泡騰片放進水球，水球中開始產生越來越多的小氣泡。

"In the weightless environment in space, bubbles can not leave the water ball, as they do on Earth."
王亞平說：“在失重環(huán)境下，氣泡沒有像在地面那樣很快離開水球。”

航天員還與地面課堂師生進行了實時互動交流。來自中國科技館地面主課堂和廣西、四川、香港、澳門四個地面分課堂的同學們接二連三向航天員老師提問，并一一得到了解答。

后續(xù)，“天宮課堂”將持續(xù)開展太空授課活動，積極傳播載人航天知識和文化，持續(xù)開展形式多樣、內容豐富的航天科普教育。

【相關詞匯】

出艙活動 extravehicular activities (EVAs)

載人飛船 manned spacecraft

貨運飛船 cargo spacecraft

艙外航天服 extravehicular spacesuits

“太空授課” space-based lecture

參考來源：新華網、中國網
編輯：Helen