In question-and-answer session, astronaut teaches about area – Georgia Bulletin

Photo by Julianna Leopold

Cumming

By GEORGIA BULLETIN STAFF | Published October 20, 2025

CUMMING—On Sept. 30, Pinecrest Academy college students participated in a question-and-answer session with NASA astronaut Col. Mike Fincke aboard the International Space Station.  

The dwell contact was a part of the varsity’s choice within the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program, which connects college students immediately with astronauts to advertise science and engineering schooling.  

Students requested concerning the realities of residing and dealing in orbit, together with how astronauts eat, sleep and talk with household whereas in area.  

The session invited curiosity and surprise, serving to college students additional perceive area. The questions and solutions observe:  

TERESSA SLOAN, SECOND GRADE: How do you sleep in area? 

COL. MIKE FINCKE: In area, we don’t actually really feel that there’s an up or down. So, I even have a really tiny room the place I sleep standing up as a result of I can’t lay down in it.And I sleep in a sleeping bag, and it’s nice.  

LIANA GRIGORYAN, EIGHTH GRADE: Is your meals rationed, or are you able to eat as a lot as you need? 

FINCKE: The reply is each. They give us a specific amount of meals, however it’s a lot that we will eat as a lot as we wish.  

HENRY SCHAFER, 12TH GRADE: I as soon as heard that we might be on Mars round 2035. Is that also an affordable timeline? 

FINCKE: It might be you on Mars sometime, you by no means know, or a few of your classmates. In any case, I believe that’s an affordable timeline, however it’s going to be very powerful. So, we’d like all of the engineers and scientists we will get.  

ELIZABETH NOLAN, THIRD GRADE: What is your favourite area meals? 

FINCKE: We love tortillas. Tortillas are one of the best plates that you may eat up in area. So, we put quite a lot of our meals into tortillas and simply eat it. It’s considered one of my favourite spacefoods.  

ANNAMARIE CLEMENTS, EIGHTH GRADE: What does it really feel wish to be in microgravity? 

FINCKE: It’s nice to be in microgravity. You really feel regular, besides you possibly can fly.  

ELIZABETH WASHBURN, NINTH GRADE: What occurs should you get sick in area? 

FINCKE: We attempt to not get sick in area, so we get quite a lot of medical exams earlier than we fly. And once we’re up right here, all of us have medical coaching, we’re not docs, however we will help one another. And then we will all the time name for assist to our physician mates on the bottom.  

BEN BARTON, FOURTH GRADE: How lengthy does it take to get to the International Space Station?  

FINCKE: Great query. It all depends upon once we launch. For us on the Dragon Crew-11, we launched and in 14 hours we had been docking to the area station.  

VAL LANCHEROS, EIGHTH GRADE: How is it residing in such shut proximity to coworkers? 

FINCKE: I come from a giant household, so it looks as if I’m nonetheless in a giant household. But, we have now such an excellent crew that I actually like working in shut proximity with my crewmates.   

ALICIA SALAZAR, NINTH GRADE: What techniques of your physique are most affected by the dearth of gravity, and the way do you mitigate the results of publicity to microgravity? 

FINCKE: Our bones and muscle groups deteriorate quickly if we don’t train. So, we mitigate it by exercising daily for about two hours. That contains cardio, exercises and weightlifting.  

CAMERON TOLLETT, FIFTH GRADE: Have you ever had a scary second in area? 

FINCKE: My first spacewalk was a little bit scary as a result of we had been working out of oxygen. So we got here again inside fairly rapidly. But I wasn’t actually scared. I used to be simply glad to be out on a spacewalk.  

BEN SNYDER, EIGHTH GRADE: How do you understand time in area? 

FINCKE: We use a regular clock, and we understand time by simply utilizing our watches. We run on Greenwich Mean Time up right here, so it’s a regular 24-hour clock.  

GRACE JACOB, 12TH GRADE: How has residing in area modified your perspective on Earth? 

FINCKE: When you’re up right here, it actually appears to be like like all people on the planet shouldn’t be getting alongside generally for no good purpose. I believe that we’re all brothers and sisters, and we must always all be working collectively and hugging one another, and going flying and exploring the universe as an alternative of preventing downstairs.  

MARIANA NOGUERA, KINDERGARTEN: Do you play video games or sports activities in area? 

FINCKE: So, we don’t play so many video games or sports activities in area. We have quite a lot of phrase video games, however there aren’t quite a lot of locations to kick a ball round.  

JACKSON NEFF, EIGHTH GRADE: Where did you go to varsity and what diploma did you get? 

FINCKE: I used to be very fortunate. I bought to go to quite a lot of actually high quality colleges. One of them was MIT, one other one was Stanford, and I studied aerospace engineering.  

SAM ANSLEY, 12TH GRADE: Does stargazing lose its magnificence after some time or does it stay inspiring? 

FINCKE: I haven’t gotten uninterested in it but. Looking out the window and looking out on the stars and taking a look at planet Earth hasn’t gotten tiring but.  

ANTHONY METZ, FIRST GRADE: Can you see different planets from the area station? 

FINCKE: We’re solely 250 miles away above planet Earth, so all of the planets are nonetheless the identical dimension, besides we will see them a little bit extra clearly as a result of we don’t look by means of the ambiance.  

CADEN MEDEIROS, EIGHTH GRADE: What do you do on a day-to-day foundation? 

FINCKE: Every day is totally different. One day we’re doing science, subsequent day we’re fixing one thing, subsequent day we’re transferring cargo round and subsequent day we’re transferring the robotic arm round. It by no means will get outdated.  

AIDAN LECORPS, NINTH GRADE: Have you seen the Aurora Borealis from area? Can you describe it? 

FINCKE: I’ve seen each auroras, each the northern and southern lights. There’s a glimmering curtain of inexperienced and crimson. It’s stunning. I hope you get to see it sometime.  

SIENNA DAVIS, FOURTH GRADE: Do you ever do a again flip when you’re floating? 

FINCKE: I do a backflip and a frontflip each time I can do it. Especially in entrance of a digicam. 

AUBREY SMITH, FIFTH GRADE: How do you see your loved ones? 

FINCKE: I see my household on video calls as soon as per week.  

Before signing off, Fincke left the scholars with a heat piece of recommendation.  

“To all the students out there, be good, study hard, be nice to each other and always do your best,” Fincke mentioned.  

ABOUT THE ASTRONAUT

Col Mike Fincke was chosen as an astronaut by NASA in 1996. He is a Pennsylvania native and a veteran of three spaceflights. He flew to the area station for the fourth time on Aug. 1, 2025. 

Col. Fincke has logged greater than a yr in orbit, with 9 spacewalks totaling 48 hours and 37 minutes of spacewalking time. Read extra about Fincke at https://www.nasa.gov/people-of-nasa.