3 minutes with an astronaut

• CNN iReporters interviewed astronaut Steve Swanson


• He was ready to answer anything


• Find out what astronauts do in their free time

(CNN) -- Ever since the dawn of the space program, more than 55 years ago, the world has been fascinated with astronauts and space exploration.

So it was pretty exciting when CNN got to do its first iReport interview from outer space.

Dozens of CNN viewers and readers sent in questions for NASA's Steve Swanson, who has more than 15 years of experience on space missions and was open to answering any and all queries about life 250 miles above Earth.

NASA astronaut Steve Swanson took CNN's readers' questions from space

Answering from the International Space Station on Tuesday, Swanson took on the iReporters' questions -- many of them from children -- with aplomb.

There was a 7-year-old girl's question about what it feels like when you blast off from Earth, an inquiry about NASA's plans to explore reusable spacecraft, and one question that every astronaut has probably been asked before: "What do you do in your free time in space?"

The cutest moment had to be when 5-year-old Brockton Estrada of Brandon, Florida, told Swanson he wished he could join him up there.

"Brockton, I wish you could come up here too. You'd love it," Swanson said, with his microphone floating in the air. Then he did a somersault to show the boy what you can do when you're not limited by gravity.

Swanson is commander of Expedition 40 to the International Space Station and will spend six months in space, returning to Earth in September.

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