NEW YORK (WCBS 880)  -- This afternoon, WCBS 880 linked-up to the International Space Station for a call that was really out of this world.

Anchor Steve Scott chatted with Flight Engineer Doctor Garrett Reisman of Parsippany, NJ and Mission Commander Peggy Whitson... a mere 215 miles away.

Steve talks with Reisman and Whitson about their mission and why the Space Station is important.

'The Space Station piece of hardware we've constructed on orbit, this is an important step to going from the moon to Mars,' said Whitson.

Learn more about their mission and what it's like to live in space.  CLICK HERE and listen to the full interview

Plus, you'll never guess who they listen to way up there!

UPDATE: Central Middle School’s most distinguished alumnus, astronaut Garrett Reisman, will be speaking with students at his alma mater on Monday.

However, it won’t be anything like the conventional school assembly.

Reisman, a NASA mission specialist currently based at the International Space Station, will communicate with students via radio starting at around 1 p.m.

Students, faculty and administrators are said to be eagerly anticipating the event.

“To have someone who graduated from the school they attended, up in space as an astronaut — that speaks for itself,” school board president Robert Perlett said. READ MORE>>