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Students talk with astronauts aboard the International Space Station

Posted: Feb 27, 2013 8:00 AM MST

Updated: Feb 27, 2013 8:04 AM MST
PHOENIX (CBS5) -

It's not every day a high school student gets to talk to an astronaut, especially one that is actually in space.

But that's exactly what students at the Metropolitan Arts Institute in Phoenix got to do yesterday.

Their science teacher, Rebecca Mestek, applied to be part of NASA's In-flight Education Downlink program so her students could have a 20-minute chat with NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station. 

"It was definitely a lot of work but totally worth it because we get to talk to astronauts in space. We get to talk to them out on the International Space Station, who cares how much work it is? For this opportunity? Absolutely," said Mestek.

In preparation the students had to come up with the perfect questions to ask the astronauts.

"I just wanted a question that wouldn't have a definite answer because I don't want to ask something that I could just look up. I wanted something that is a personal answer," said Andrew Kendall, a student at the school.

Another student, Amelia Atteberry, added, "First we came up with a draft five questions and we kind of got rid of all of those, and we came up with five more and we all picked which ones were the best ones out of the those, and then we revised them after that."

One moment that got all the students laughing was when Canadian astronaut, Chris Hadfield, took out his guitar.

He demonstrated how he was able to play in outer space.

The students were impressed by the astronauts and explained they didn't expect them to have such a sense of humor.

Copyright 2013 CBS 5 (KPHO Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.

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