NASA Hosts First Google+ Hangout With Astronauts On The ISS

Listening to these guys was as cool as watching a Bill Nye video about space.

Today at 11:00 am EST, I got to look into the incredible International Space Station in real time and listen to astronauts answer questions live from people and from social media and talk about what it's like living and working in space. Watching them floating around on my computer screen was so unreal. I have never been a huge science nerd but I have always admired astronauts and what they do so being able to see them on the space station was awesome. The whole event lasted about an hour. It started at 10:30 with host John Yembrick taking pre-recorded questions from YouTube and live questions from other social media and having 2 astronauts, who have been on the ISS before, Ron Garan and Nicole Stott, answer them. Then at 11, the live feed was switched over to Mission Control Houston and then up to the ISS where astronauts Kevin Ford, Chris Hadfield, and Tom Marshburn were waiting to answer more questions about working on the space station. We were able to see some tools they use, hear about how they stay fit while living in zero gravity, and we even got to see one of them wiggle around trying to imitate a cat, which I must admit was very entertaining. As an amateur photographer, my favorite part was hearing Chris Hadfield talk about taking pictures in space and the huge lenses they are able to use without needing a tripod. That may not sound impressive to you but trust me, it is. All of the questions were great and the astronauts, both in space and on the ground, were able to answer them beautifully. Check out the people involved and some of the lucky audience members who got to chat live with the astronauts:

Host John Yembrick

Astronaut Nicole Stott

Astronaut Ron Garan

Students from Mescalero Apache School in New Mexico

And a young child, Fred, had his dream come true thanks to Make-A-Wish

Now the Astronauts on the International Space Station! Meet Kevin Ford, Tom Marshburn, and Chris Hadfield

Chris talking about his camera

Talking about the temperature probe on Chris's head

The temperature probe allows them to measure core body temperature. They have 16 sunrises in 24 hours so they use the temperature probe to study the effect of space on someone's circadian rhythm.

And now he's acting like a cat

Someone posed the question can astronauts wiggle their body around in space in order to change their body angle, similar to a falling cat that whips its body around to land feet first. He shows them how he too can wiggle his body around in space to change his body angle. And then he ends up looking like Mr. Miyagi doing wax-on, wax-off.

You can check out the entire Google+ Hangout here!