China has held its first classroom lecture from its orbiting space station as part of efforts to popularize the successful manned space flight program among young people.

Female astronaut Wang Yaping took questions live from among 330 elementary and middle school students at a Beijing high school during the 51-minute class from aboard the Tiangong 1 prototype space station on Thursday morning.

Wang displayed basic principles of weightlessness and water surface tension, while fellow crew members Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang answered questions about living, working and staying fit aboard the station.

China launched its first crewed mission in 2003 and the Tiangong 1 in 2011. The current Shenzhou 10 mission is the second crewed trip to the station, due to be replaced by a larger station in 2020.