Students at STEM Expo Talk to Astronauts in Space; What Did You Do This Morning? (VIDEO)

SOUTH HOLLAND, IL―Astronaut Tim Kopra had two simple words of advice for students from 11 area schools who took part in a live video call Thursday morning as part of STEM Day at South Suburban College:

Dream big.

The mission commander's words carried weight―even if he was weightless delivering them―as he answered students' questions from about 200 miles above the Earth from the International Space Station. He also had help from flight engineer Jeff Williams, a fellow astronaut and space station roomie.

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Wednesday's call, which was introduced by South Suburban College STEM Dean Anna Helwig, Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Robin Kelly (D-2nd district), was part of an expo to encourage kids to pursue studies science, technology, engineering and math and expose them to some of the fields and professions that require that knowledge.

And that included making a living as an astronaut.

"This is so direct and so immediate, and it's really starting to show astronauts as people," said Michelle Nichols, master educator at Adler Planetarium. Nichols held her own short Q&A session with students after the call.

"One of the things I get asked a lot is, 'Are you sad that we don't know the names of astronauts like we did back in the Mercury program or the Gemini program?' And I say no, because there are lots of them, and people are starting to see this as a career choice, as a job. It's something we can attain."

Students attending the call were from the following schools:

• Arbor Park Middle School
• Coolidge Middle School
• Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School
• Kankakee Montessori junior and high schools
• King and Kennedy upper grade centers
• Roosevelt Junior High School
• St. George School District 258
• STEM Academy

What else did the astronauts tell the students? You can watch the full video of the call, but here are some of the highlights.

(And in case you're wondering, it doesn't require literally moving the heavens and the Earth to connect with the International Space Station is Skype, which was used for Wednesday's call.)

How has your understanding of the universe changed?

Williams says his appreciation for the geographic diversity of the planet has increased since he's been up on the station (he's been aboard since mid-March and will return to Earth in September; Kopra arrived in December and heads home in June).

The mathematical order of the universe also has impressed him during his time in space, he said.

Do you feel frustrated in the station?

"I would just say we're a little bit awkward up here," Kopra said about the clumsiness that comes with adapting to a gravity-free environment.

What is it like living in space?

"There's a lot to like living in space," Williams said, adding that he takes advantage of being weightless as much as possible. "The view is great."

One downside: Items tend to float away and get lost thanks to the lack of gravity in space, he said.

"You have to learn to manage your stuff."

What do you miss most from Earth?

Naturally, family and friends topped that list for Williams. But he also missed the simple pleasures of a day outdoors.

"I miss the smells of nature. The sounds of the breeze, chirping birds," he said. "You take that stuff for granted."

The final question came from Senator Durbin, who asked the astronauts if they worry about experiencing a situation similar to the Sandra Bullock-George Clooney film Gravity. In that movie, space junk puts astronauts on a space mission above Earth in peril.

While the space station offers protection from debris that's as big as a marble or smaller, the astronauts train to deal with what could happen if cosmic trash softball-size or larger damaged the station or put their lives in danger.

"This [job] is not without risk," Kopra said. "Everything we do is about risk mitigation."