Fiana Montegut, center, listens while fifth graders from Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary in Brunswick ask questions to astronauts Dr. Jessica Meir, who is from Caribou, Maine, and Dr. Christopher Williams who are aboard the International Space Station on Friday, March 20, 2026. The event was put on by the Challenger Learning Center of Maine. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)

BRUNSWICK — When you ask a kid what they want to be when they grow up, “astronaut” is as classic an answer as “president” or “veterinarian.” Friday morning, Students at Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School learned that childhood dream could become reality as they spoke live with astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

There was no better role model for the students to connect with than Jessica Meir, a Caribou native and the first woman from Maine to travel to space.

Meir, who left for the space station just last month, appeared live via video call to a gym full of students along with her colleague Christopher Williams. The astronauts floated in microgravity while answering fifth graders’ questions about living and working in orbit.

The event was presented by the Challenger Learning Center of Maine, part of a network of learning centers founded by the families of the astronauts lost in the Challenger explosion of 1986.

Students worked with their teachers to prepare questions for Meir and Williams, ranging from “What do you think of the new species of bacterium discovered on the ISS?” (a species recently named in honor of Meir) to “What’s the funniest thing to do in space?”

In response to the latter, Williams said his tea has a tendency to float away from him and get lost.

Students at Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary in Brunswick watch as astronauts Dr. Jessica Meir, who is from Caribou, Maine, and Dr. Christopher Williams float aboard the International Space Station on Friday, March 20, 2026. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)

Cutler Kanwit, 10, asked the crew members what their favorite place to see from space is.

“My absolute favorite place to see from up here is the state of Maine,” Meir responded resoundingly.

In an interview after the call, Kanwit said it was “really cool and kind of awesome” to talk to an astronaut from his state.

Personally, he thinks it would be cool to see the ocean from space. He enjoyed watching the two astronauts float and flip around in microgravity.

“(It was surprising) how Jessica could stand on the roof,” Kanwit said.

Fifth grade science teacher Maria Palopoli has had lifelong fascination with space, and brings her students to the Challenger Learning Center in Bangor every year, where they get to take part in simulated space missions.

So she was thrilled when NASA and the Challenger Center picked Harriet Beecher Stowe for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of meeting real-life astronauts while they orbit Earth. She said seeing students ask their thoughtful questions Friday maybe her teary, especially because of Meir’s connection to Maine.

Harriet Beecher Stowe student Ruby Foster asks a question to astronauts Dr. Jessica Meir and Dr. Christopher Williams who are aboard the International Space Station on Friday, March 20, 2026. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer)

“Ever since these kids have been alive, someone’s been living in space,” Palopoli said. “As long as I’ve been alive, there wasn’t always someone living in space. It was unusual and rare, and I’m honored to be picked.”

Kirsten Hibert, the executive director of Challenger Learning Center of Maine, said she started thinking of ways to involve Maine students as soon as she found out Meir would be taking off for her second trip to the International Space Station.

Considering Palopoli’s longtime relationship with the Challenger Center, HBS was a natural fit to host the center’s first live astronaut interview since 2020.

“The chance to see a Mainer from a small town, it just helps them think, ‘no matter where I’m from, if I have a passion and drive, anything’s possible,’” Hibert said.

Similarly, Palopoli hopes after Friday, students think, “I could do this too someday.”

“(Meir is) one of us,” Palopoli said.