EDMONTON -- It's only logical that students from Vulcan were picked to interview astronauts on the International Space Station yesterday, right?

That's because the Alberta town celebrates all things space-related, including Star Trek flicks featuring characters like Captain Kirk and the coldly logical Mr. Spock, correct?

Not so quick, captain. Your human logic may be a bit flawed.

Sixteen kids from Vulcan and area became the first Canadian children to link up live with space station astronauts, in large part because their school had the technology to make it happen, and the students selected came up with the best questions, says Palliser Regional Schools spokesman Dawn Sugimoto.

The kids, from Grades 6 to 12, gathered at County Central High School in Vulcan to interview Canadian astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk and three others who are aboard the station.

The students had 20 minutes to ask questions before the station went out of satellite range, said Sugimoto.

"It's a momentous thing -- and for Vulcan it's pretty cool," said student Devon Fetkenher, 17, who asked the space travellers how they keep proper air quality on the orbiting station.

Fetkenher made his query with a microphone and watched a big-screen TV as one of the four astronauts answered his query using a hand-held mike.

Sugimoto said the live image that came up on the screen was "spectacular" and students wanted to know everything from "how they sleep on the space station to what they do with their garbage."

Thirsk holds the record for being in space longer than any Canadian, said Sugimoto. He's been at the space station since the end of May and is slated to stay until late November, she said.

The live link was set up as a co-operative venture between Alberta Education, Palliser Regional Schools, Shaw Communications Inc. and the Canadian Space Agency.

In Star Trek films and TV episodes, Vulcans are super-logical humanoid-like beings who live on the planet Vulcan.

KERRY.DIOTTE@SUNMEDIA.CA