Astronaut Sunita Williams speaks to Essex County students from the space station

American astronaut Sunita Williams told students at an Essex County school on Monday that astronauts quarantine before going into space to avoid getting sick on the International Space Station (ISS) — and that she's not sure what would happen if someone threw a boomerang in space. 

Williams was answering questions live from the space station for students at Erie Migration District School in Kingsville, Ont.

Over the course of the approximately 10-minute exchange, students asked Williams about her background and interest in space travel, the possibility of inhabiting other planets, the realities of life aboard the space station and what her scariest experiences have been in space. 

"There's a lot of sort of scary things," she told them.

"There's funny noises on the space station. … But also, you know, even flying on spacecraft, launching on a rocket, our spacecraft on the way up here was making some funny noises. And it was a test flight. We learned that there was a couple of malfunctions in some of the jets. So all that's a little bit scary."

Which other planet could sustain life?

But Williams assured the students that astronauts are trained for such unexpected events.

The exchange was facilitated by the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, which allows students from around the world to talk to astronauts aboard the ISS. 

Both the students and Williams made efficient use of the small window of time they had before losing their connection; students took turns posing questions to Williams without comment, and Williams shared information quickly and efficiently, punctuating her answers with "over."

"Which planet in our galaxy or another is closest to having an atmosphere for human life?" one student asked.

Williams replied that researchers believe one of the moons of Jupiter might be able to support life.

How do astronauts know whether it's day or night on the space station, another asked.

Williams told them that the ISS orbits the earth 16 times in a 24-hour period, meaning that they see 16 sunrises and sunsets. But they maintain their earth-like routine by turning the lights on between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. and turning them off after that so they can sleep.

Asked what happens if astronauts get sick in space, Williams said they aim to avoid it with the preflight quarantine, but they have medical equipment on board and can contact a doctor at mission control if necessary.

Williams, a former helicopter pilot, told students curious about careers in space that astronauts typically come from STEM fields – there are doctors, pilots, engineers, scientists, and even a veterinarian – and have experience leading teams.

Is it realistic for humans to one day inhabit other planets?

Williams hadn't considered the career for herself until she became a test pilot and met an astronaut at the Johnson Space Centre in Texas. 

"It seemed like it was obtainable," she said.

"But I knew I had to get a master's degree to get in. ... People who have the job encouraged me to apply."

Asked if she felt that humans might one day live on other plants, Williams told the students that she believes it is realistic but it will take a while because scientists need to figure out how to travel through space much more quickly than we do now.

"And then we need logistics," she added.

"How are we going to have clothes and food in other places that are not like our atmosphere? So those are things that we have to figure out."