Canterbury School students speak with astronauts on the International Space Station

Students at the Canterbury School in Fort Myers got the chance to speak with astronauts from the International Space Station on Monday.

The school is one of only eight in the entire world that got to speak with ISS astronauts.

It was a unique day at school as eleven lucky students got to talk to astronauts in space, an experience that left many kids wanting to pursue a career in STEM.

It’s safe to say some kids at canterbury have a new favorite subject.

“I have learned that I kind of want to go to space. And it’s really cool. And you’re studying different things,” said one student.

That’s after the school connected students to astronauts in space and the 11 students of all ages asked questions like, “Can you eat cupcakes in space?” or, “What kind of research are you currently working on?”

The students got their questions answered.

“Hi Chloe, well today I woke up early and I drew my own blood. I put it in some tubes because scientists really track to see how space is affecting our human body,” said one of the ISS astronauts.

Christiana Deeter, the head of the science department for Canterbury schools, says students themselves created the device that was used to talk to the astronauts

“A year ago, we submitted an application to the eRIS Program that works with NASA for the radio contact on the ISS. And we have students who are interested in building their own antenna system, which they have, it’s on our roof right now to be used to actually talk with the astronauts on the ISS. We were approved. The students got very busy with everything from welding and soldering to coding. They built an incredible satellite tracking antenna that actually will track the ISS as it goes across the sky,” said Deeter.

Rick Kirschner, the head of the school, says Canterbury is one of only eight schools in the entire world taking part in this unique experience.

“We’ve dedicated the entire semester to space, so we call it semester in space. And so we’ve, we’re kind of looking at all angles of space exploration and the future and all the exciting possibilities down the road,” said Kirschner.

The kids had so much fun they said it’s going to be hard to top this.

“I got to talk to an astronaut on a satellite that they made in this high school. And I got to ask not one but two questions. So that made me feel really special,” said one student.

The school says it was a miracle to even put this together in the wake of Hurricane Ian, but thankfully everyone came together and made it possible.