More than 300 Edmonton students from grades 7 to 10 spoke with Commander Chris Hadfield aboard the International Space Station (ISS) during an event on Tuesday.
Hosted by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Telus World of Science in Edmonton, a limited number of Twitter followers were also invited by CSA, making it the first CSA Tweetup in Western Canada.
Hadfield answered questions in the 20-minute talk, and demonstrated how astronauts sleep in space.
When asked about what he missed the most about Earth, he said, "I miss the close human contact. I don't have a family here to give a hug too, so it's a little bit isolated, but the other thing I really miss is a hot shower!" INews880 reported.
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LOOK: Chris Hadfield Talks To Edmonton Students
"His biggest fear is being incompetent. Sounds human to me," said Nancy McClure on Twitter.
The event honours Yuri's Night, which celebrates the day of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's first manned spaceflight, on April 12, 1961, and the inaugural launch of NASA's Space Shuttle.
Hadfield is the first Canadian astronaut to become the commander of the ISS.
He has hosted numerous talks with students across Canada, and often encourages his young audience to think about becoming an astronaut, telling them to educate themselves, take care of their bodies and always make decisions — right or wrong — and take on challenges.
Hadfield is also scheduled to talk to students from St. Albert on Tuesday afternoon.
With files from the Canadian Press