US: Space fan Obama makes out of this world call
25 Mar 2009 4:25 AM
WASHINGTON, March 24 AFP - US President Barack Obama looked to the stars on Tuesday, taking time out from his daily grind to delight in the wonders of space in a very long-distance video chat with astronauts orbiting the Earth.
During a nearly 30-minute conference call, the president flanked by some Washington schoolchildren, peppered the 10 astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) with questions.
A curious Obama wanted to know everything about life in space from the latest mission of the Discovery space shuttle to fitness, food and hairstyles.
"I'm told that you're cruising at about 17,000 miles per hour. So we're glad that you are using the hands-free phone," Obama told the astronauts floating several hundred kilometres above the Earth.
Astronauts last week unfurled the ISS's last set of solar arrays to power up the orbiting station to its full capacity for the first time, which Obama said was "really exciting" as his administration strives to develop solar and other renewable sources of energy.
"Now, I noticed you're bouncing around quite a bit there, guys," Obama said to roars of laughter from the young pupils who had joined him in the Roosevelt Room at the White House along with politicians, including former astronaut Senator Bill Nelson.
"Are you wearing something to strap you down ... or are you about to float away?" he quipped.
"Mr President, we're just holding on with our toes onto some handrails below us, and at any moment, we could all just easily float up," responded one of the astronauts.
"Can I ask you a question," Obama asked ISS flight engineer Sandra Magnus, whose hair was floating above her head. "Were you tempted to cut your hair shorter while you were up there? Or ... is it fun in weightlessness?"
Magnus said it would be best to keep her hair short but she preferred it long.
"I think it's a real fashion statement," joked Obama.
Obama also wondered about the tough fitness standards required to confront the rigours of life aboard the space station, recalling the 1983 movie The Right Stuff about the origins of the US space program.
An astronaut said the ISS had recently added a new fitness machine.
"It's a very, very fancy workout machine you'd see in a gym," he said.
