TEN lucky schoolchildren were given the once-in-a-lifetime chance to speak to an astronaut – in outer space.

Canvey’s Winter Gardens Primary School pupils questioned NASA spaceman Reid Wiseman, who is on the International Space Station, about everything from his daily routine to what food he misses most.

Yesterday’s event, which took two years of preparation, was organised by the South Essex Amateur Radio Society and done via a link-up with a radio station in California.

Year 5 pupil Rebecca Ferris asked him: “How often do you get to talk to your family?”

Reid said: “I email them everyday and we have a sort of satellite phone, so I try to call one or two times a week. On Sundays we to do a video conference so I can see my kids.”

Afterwards, she said: “It was really shocking to actually feel I was talking to an astronaut.

“I will probably not get this chance again in my whole life.”

Year 6 pupil Tommy Wyre said: “It has made me think about being an astronaut – it was a really good experience.”

Each of the pupils, who had been chosen for the project after a competition to find the best questions, were shown how the radios work and taught to say “over” after their question.

Their parents, many of whom had tears in their eyes during the nine-and-a-half minute transmission, had also been invited to watch.

Headteacher Christopher Hayes said: “It was a once-in-alifetime opportunity for the youngsters – I am getting choked up.

“They are going to remember it forever. It has been brilliant.”

David Speechley, president of the radio society, added: “The chance of them doing it again is pretty remote. It is not everyday you get to talk to an astronaut.”

Mr Wiseman is one of six astronauts based on the station, which was over the gulf of Alaska during the transmission.

The international space station, which is 250 miles above the earth, orbits our planet 16 times a day at a speed of 20,000km per hour.