An astronaut landed at a Green Bay school. Here's what to know about space, according to kids.

BELLEVUE – How did it feel landing back on Earth? What was your favorite space food? Do you sleep in space? 

These were the burning questions a group of students at McAuliffe Elementary School in the Green Bay School District had to ask NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei when he visited them on Monday. 

Vande Hei returned in March from the longest American spaceflight on the International Space Station, totaling 355 days. He's traveled to the stars twice, with his first flight lasting 168 days in 2018.

As the cousin of a speech and language pathologist at the elementary school in Bellevue, Vande Hei gave McAuliffe students an inside perspective on life in space while they asked him anything and everything they wanted to know. 

Vande Hei, a retired Army colonel, joined NASA as an astronaut in 2009 after serving in Iraq as a combat engineer and a physics professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. 

Here's what an auditorium full of eager, raised hands asked the spaceman on Monday. The questions and responses have been edited for brevity and clarity. 

How did it feel when you landed back on Earth?

Vande Hei: The first time I landed back on Earth, it felt like someone hit me in the back of the head with a two-by-four. I actually felt bad. I had made a mistake.

The Russians had told me, 'Make sure you keep your head back in the seat and keep your mouth shut because you're gonna hit hard. You don't want to bite your tongue, and you don't want to hurt yourself.'

And I thought we had about eight seconds left before we hit, so I looked up. But I looked up just about the same time we hit. So I smacked my head hard against the back of the seat and thought I might have had a concussion.

I was fine. It was all good. But I was really surprised like I was almost offended that we would hit the ground that hard.

What research or studies did you find the most unique on the ISS?

Vande Hei: The ones that I enjoyed the most were the ones that I got to see and interact with. So my favorite one was called "SPHERES."

It's an experiment where we would actually let go of (miniature satellites) inside the Space Station, and students on the ground had written algorithms, had written computer code, to help those satellites control themselves. 

The reason we're able to do that inside the Space Station is anytime we let go of a spoon even, that spoon is in its own orbit. We had a couple of satellites (where we were) trying to understand how we would grab onto another satellite with a partially full fuel tank and fuel sloshing around. 

Was it scary going to the ISS?

Vande Hei: Actually, it wasn't.

When we launched, it was such a smooth ride that I was disappointed. I wanted a better, more dramatic story.

We had spent so much time in simulations where they would simulate that we would have a depressurization, or a fire, that the control systems would break, and we would be really stressed trying to control those things and save ourselves.

And it was almost strange because nothing went wrong on the day of the launch. 

What was your favorite meal in space?

Vande Hei: I think because it gets a little repetitive, the uniqueness of having some Russian food was really nice. They had some really good canned lamb of all things. 

Oh, let me take that back.

We didn't get much fresh food. So when I got an apple, a fresh apple off of one of the cargo spacecraft, it was the best tasting apple I've ever tasted in my life. 

Did you want to be an astronaut when you were little?

Vande Hei: I thought being an astronaut would be really cool. But I had the mistaken belief that the chances of me becoming an astronaut were about as good as me becoming Spider Man. 

Only in my early 20s when I was in the Army and someone handed me the minimum requirements to apply to become an astronaut — and I saw that I had a lot of those requirements — did I let myself get excited about the idea of it.

What was your favorite part of being in space?

Vande Hei: My favorite part about being in space was the view. I felt like I was very privileged to get to see the world from that perspective. It was amazing. 

If you could, would you go to the moon?

Vande Hei: Actually, yes. If I got to help out with building a moon base that would establish a permanent human presence on the moon, I think that would be a tremendous honor. 

I don't expect to get that opportunity because I think I'll be too old as we're getting ready to do those things.

How did it feel to eat food?

Vande Hei: It felt very much like eating food or water on the Earth. But the thing I think that is the most different about eating food in space is you've got to be really careful about making things splatter.

One time I had a can of borscht. That's a Russian red soup, and it was hot. And anytime you open a can you're trained in space to put a piece of tissue over it because as soon as you pop that can a little bit, it's going to release pressure.

In space, it's not just going to dribble over your hand. It's going to squirt and keep going until it hits the ceiling. Well, that's exactly what I did.

There used to be a stain that I knew I had left on the ceiling of the Space Station. 

What was the hardest part of living in space?

Vande Hei: I think the hardest part of living in space was probably being separated from my family for so long.

I spent almost a year in space so I was separated from from them for that part. But even the training and departing to go to the launch, I left my family behind three months before I even left to launch. So I spent almost 15 months without seeing my wife and children.

However, because of the internet access, I was able to make a phone call every day to talk to my wife. And every weekend, NASA set up a video teleconference with my wife and children.

Do you have to be a scientist to go into space?

Vande Hei: Currently, to be considered as a qualified applicant, you do have to have a degree in a science, technology, engineering or math field. 

But I'm not a scientist. I was a military officer with a degree in physics. 

Do you sleep in space?

Vande Hei: Yes, every day. 

We sleep in a sleeping bag, and the sleeping bags are just like sleeping bags we see on the ground. They don't have to be very warm because it's like you're sleeping indoors.

But the sleeping bags are special because they have arm holes. My arm would just float in front of me.

You could sleep with your sleeping bag tied to the ceiling. No big deal.

When you landed, did you drop things and think they would float?

Vande Hei: I've heard a lot of people think that because I could let go of something and it wouldn't fall down in space, that I would do that on the ground. But here's the trick. If I let go of a pencil in space, I would lose that pencil pretty quickly because it's a very visually cluttered environment. 

Contrary to what you might think, in space you have to be very deliberate about letting go of something. 

So returning to Earth, I would never be in the habit of just dropping something and having it fall to the ground.

Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com or 907-717-6851. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Dr, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.