'Awesome' to meet astronaut at school

Imagine if a Nasa astronaut came to your school.

What would you say to them, and what would you ask?

Well, for one primary school in Bedfordshire, it actually happened, as Nasa commander Jack Hathaway popped in to speak to a group of students who had won a competition to design a space camp.

Cdr Hathaway also gave a talk to pupils aged nine and 10 in a special assembly.

Year 5 students have been studying space as part of their science lessons

When he was younger, Cdr Hathaway had been a university student in Bedfordshire before joining Nasa, and during a visit to the UK, he gave a talk to around 180 Y5 pupils.

Nine-year-old Blake said it was "absolutely awesome" to meet an astronaut, and he would "never wash this hand again" after shaking Cdr Hathaway's hand.

He said he wanted to be an astronaut himself and had "ten billion" designs at home of space rockets he had drawn.

Blake was one of a small number of students to come up with a winning design in a competition to draw a space camp

"It would be awesome to explore a land that has never been explored before" and "create civilisations there", he added.

Head teacher Mike Simpson said it was an "amazing opportunity" and that meeting a "real live" astronaut had inspired the students.