Three high school students received the chance of a lifetime Wednesday -- they got to talk to an Austin businessman who's currently aboard the International Space Station.

Richard Garriott's excellent adventure into space began Sunday.

Tuesday he was aboard the International Space Station. And Wednesday, while flying 200 miles over the earth, the Austin-based businessman took time out to reach out to some inquiring minds from Austin ISD.

With Mayor Will Wynn on hand, the three high school students were given the chance to ask Garriott questions, which ranged from global warming to the experiments with protein crystals that Garriott brought with him from Leander students.

"Other than the protein crystals being beneficial to medicine, how else do protein crystals benefit people," asked Milena Franco, East Side Memorial senior.

Garriott: "Oh that's a fantastic question."

After about 15 minutes of give and take, it was time to say goodbye. But when it was over, it was clear the students would remember their unique out of this world experience.

"I mean he can see us as a little speck on the planet and then here we are, we're able to talk to him from this far away, He's going so, its amazing," said Kate Spiesman, LBJ Junior.

"I was surprised, I was like, 'wow you know, talking to this man that's in space I can't believe I got picked to do it,'" said Immanuel Peterson, East Side Memorial senior.

"If you really think about, it's kind of like -- insane. You don't really think you can do that, and we actually can, so it's pretty cool," said Milena Franco, East Side Memorial senior.

Wynn said Garriott approached city leaders months ago to find out how his experiences aboard the International Space Station might also be used to teach.

"So just hats off to him for taking the time and effort to really inspire a bunch of young minds," Wynn said.

Garriott also plans other educational activities sponsored by the Challenger Learning Centers. It's a group whose founding chairman is June Scobee Rodgers, the widow of a space shuttle challenger commander. Rodgers was one of Garriott's teachers when he was growing up in Nassau Bay.