WINTER, Wis. - Not many people get a chance to speak with astronauts as they orbit Earth. Students from Winter did on Wednesday - and they say it was out of this world.

The small town of Winter got to take part in one big learning experience. 

"We are a town of 300 people and it's kind of neat to think that one of our former students here and a community member is now miles above the Earth up in space," said Winter School District Principal Adam Zopp. 

In a live in–flight downlink from the International Space Station, Winter High School graduate and NASA astronaut Jeff Williams - along with fellow crew members - spoke to Winter School students.

"We go around the earth in 90 minutes, 16 times a day so we can see lots of sunrises and sunsets so really we live on time according to our watch," Williams said.  "We typically wake up at 6 in the morning and go to bed at 10 at night."

 Expedition 21/22 marks Williams' third trip into space. He blasted off in September and is currently the mission commander. 

"There is a lot of work that we do up here that will prepare us for leaving Earth orbit and going back to the Moon and onto Mars," he said

"I was just like in awe because it's so cool that they are so far away and we get to talk to them like this," said Winter 11th-grader Keela Strouf.

 Winter School students got a chance to ask Williams and his crew members questions like how they find the mass of an object at zero gravity. 

"We have a water bag that weighs about 90 pounds on the ground, but here at zero gravity it's like a feather but using the two springs, you can measure, just like this, measure the timing between this up motion and down motion," replied Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi. 

"It was cool; I didn't think it was possible to talk to somebody that's like way up there," said sixth-grader Cerena Eisenhauer.

The entire Winter School District participated in Wednesday's live in–flight downlink; it was an experience they'll never forget and one that inspired them to achieve greatness. 

"I thought it was awesome - he graduated from this little bitty town and now he's living his ultimate dream, he's an astronaut, he can go anywhere, do anything and he's proved that to everybody," said 12th-grader Ryan Sajdera.

"This kind of gives them an opportunity to really see that if you work hard, you stay in school, you get educated and anything is possible," said Zopp. 

"If you put your mind to what you want to do, you can always accomplish your dreams," said eighth-grader Breanna Peiffer.

Williams' parents, Jake and Eunice, also took part in Wednesday's NASA downlink just to see and hear their son.  "We are very proud of his achievements, very, very proud."

The sky was the limit for this Northland astronaut - and he hopes others will dream big. 

"I’ve always had dreams about flying or being a pilot and this today, seeing him, he's up in space where there is not even gravity, that really inspires me to kind of chase my dreams and go after it, go for as much I can," said Sajdera.

"Thank you very much; it was great to have you onboard the International Space Station today and greetings to all my friends and family in the Winter area," said Williams.

Williams is scheduled to return to Earth in March.