Dialogue with Chinese astronauts inspires Kyrgyz teens to chase dream

BISHKEK -- The "Tiangong Dialogue" between representatives of students from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries and crew members of China's Shenzhou-15 spacecraft attracted many young Kyrgyz participants on Thursday.

During the online dialogue, the youth representatives from China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia and other countries had the opportunity to ask questions to three astronauts of Shenzhou-15.

In the auditorium of Bishkek State University, young students from all over the country listened attentively to the questions and answers between the Chinese astronauts and the young people from SCO countries, and applauded enthusiastically from time to time.

Nurislan Obolbekov, a sixth-grade student from Bishkek school No. 95, asked in fluent Chinese: "The space station is in a state of weightlessness. In which direction do the plants on the space station grow, and how to ensure the growth direction of the plants?"

"All plants are phototropic, and it's the same in weightless conditions, as they still grow in the direction of light. Therefore, we mainly regulate the position of plants and the light to ensure their growth," Shenzhou-15 astronaut Deng Qingming replied.

Elzar Nurkamilov, a student at Kyrgyz Aviation Academy, told Xinhua that the meeting with the Chinese astronauts inspired him and gave him the motivation to continue to study hard to become a pilot.

"They are astronauts, but I want to be a pilot as brave and as successful as they are," he said.