Outer space got a little bit closer for a group of Winnipeg high school students Thursday, as they spoke with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.
 
The students, participants in the Manitoba Space Adventure Camp, posed questions they had prepared in advance to flight engineer Clayton Anderson, orbiting in the space station 400 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
 
One wanted to know about any damage the space station may have sustained since it has been in orbit. Another asked about gravity's effect on hair growth.
 
Alicia Napolitano wanted to know about the astronaut's psyches. 

"Are there any long-term psychological effects after living in a scheduled environment in space for many months?" she asked.

The international space station is backdropped by Earth as seen from space shuttle Atlantis, Tuesday, June 19, 2007. A group of Winnipeg high school students connected with the station for 10 minutes Thursday.
(AP Photo/NASA)

"No, I don't think so. I'm not going crazy yet," Anderson said, laughing. "I think that you get a little lonely for your family, but it's all tolerable."

Stefan Wagener, the technical expert co-ordinating contact with the space station, says scheduling time to chat with astronauts is extremely difficult and can take years to plan.

"For us here in Manitoba, it's a first," he said.

At 11:50 a.m. local time, the students had 10 minutes to speak to Anderson via amateur radio before the space station moved out of range.

Several of the students described the experience as awe-inspiring and unforgettable.

"It went by so quickly but it was such a great experience and it was crazier than I thought it would be," said Pamela Han, 15, who asked about experiments being conducted on the station.

"For the first few seconds, I was kind of, like, I wasn't even listening to the answer because I was still kind of in shock," said David Datzkiw.