Earth to Dr. Thirsk: Vankleek Hill scout gets a chance speak with astronauts aboard the International Space Station

VANKLEEK HILL - Most 10-year-olds might think it's pretty cool to talk to an astronaut. Some might even get to see one visit their school. But to reach one while he's orbiting the earth?

That's once-in-a-lifetime.

This amazing phone call - or rather, radio transmission - took place on October 3 in Kanata.

About 100 scouts gathered at the Ron Maslin Playhouse to meet representatives of a radio hobbyists' group.

Steve and Laurie McFarlane are part of Amateur Radio on the ISS. They had been working alongside NASA and the Canadian Space Agency to set up a transmission.

The International Space Station is a small pod, surrounded by solar panels, which revolves around the earth at 28,000 kilometres per hour.

Since the station moves very fast, it takes eight minutes to arrive and depart radio range.

Eighteen young people were chosen to speak to Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk, who is one of eight people aboard the station.

Andrew Paterson, who works with the Voyager council of Scouts Canada, said this had been in planning for two years.

In the end, the scouts were given about four weeks' notice and needed to scramble to find a location.

Thankfully, the use of the Kanata hall was donated and antennas were installed on the roof the night before - in the rain.

Young people asked their rapid-fire questions into a microphone; they wondered if plants grew in space, how astronauts slept in weightlessness and what they ate.

At one point in the conversation, Thirsk passed the microphone to his fellow passenger Guy Laliberté; the Cirque du Soleil founder and Canadian billionaire who recently spent about $35 to fund his Russian-propelled excursion to space.

Paterson said Laliberté's presence was unexpected.

"It was a moment in history. Never has anyone in these kinds of events been able to speak to two different people, let alone a private citizen in space. It was completely unprecedented," said Paterson.

"It was a historic event. What better to inspire the young people to pursue the fields of science?"

Vankleek Hill scouts Clay MacWhirter, 10 and his brother Cole, 8, were among those in the audience.

Clay's name was drawn and he got to ask a question.

"What is your job on the space station?" he asked.

Thirsk answered that he was an engineer who also performed experiments; to find out how things behave in space.

MacWhirter said he asked the question because he is a fan of electronics and building things.

He recently made a switchboard for a class project which shows a light if one connects the right province to its capital.

"I like doing electrical stuff. I thought he would be a fixer on the station," he said of Thirsk.

Scott and Tara MacWhirter, the proud parents, said they could hardly believe their son was speaking to an astronaut in orbit.

Both boys are students of Pleasant Corners Public School in Vankleek Hill.