HISD students from Milby High School, Deady Middle School, and Davila Elementary School had an exclusive opportunity on Wednesday to speak with and interview NASA astronaut Col. Tyler “Nick” Hague, who is currently living and working aboard the International Space Station.  

“Our students are getting a once-in-a lifetime chance today,” said Milby Principal Ruth Ruiz. “This is a great opportunity for our feeder pattern because this is our first year as an aerospace STEM academy.” 

During the 20-minute Earth-to-space call, students asked Hague several different questions about his time in space, future missions and experiments conducted aboard the ISS. The first question of the day went to Davila second-grader Leslie Garcia, who asked Col. Hague about his work schedule aboard the ISS.  

“Our students were very excited, they have been preparing questions for the past couple of weeks,” said Davila Principal Berzayda Ochoa. “We are so proud of them, they did wonderful – they were really interested in what he had to say in terms of what life is like in outer space.” 

Hague was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2013. He was selected for a mission to the International Space Station, which launched in October 2018. He and his crewmate were forced to abort the mission when a rocket booster malfunctioned. Hague is currently a part of the Expedition 59 and 60 crew that launched to the International Space Station in March 2019. He will spend a total of 204 days in space before returning home.  

Milby, Deady and Davila were chosen to participate in the NASA interview due to their unique STEM magnet programs. Each program encourages students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.