Facebook Live: Mark Zuckerberg, ISS Astronauts Chat About Virtual Reality, Zero Gravity And Ice Cream

Facebook Chief Mark Zuckerberg took part in the first of its kind Facebook Live Q&A session with three astronauts on-board the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, June 1. ISS crew members Tim Peake, Jeff Williams and Tim Kopra spoke about life and daily experiences on the space laboratory.

Facebook Live is a broadcasting feature that lets anyone with a Facebook account stream live with anyone else on the planet with access to the same feature. However, this was the first time that Facebook Live connected Earth and Space. The nearly 20 minutes session saw the astronauts answer a lot of curious questions put up by Zuckerberg, which ranged from space ice cream, playing with food in zero gravity, working out, virtual reality and using social media in space, among other things.

The three men, living in space at the moment, spoke about their fondness for ice cream and revealed that American space agency SpaceX had reached a freezer of ice cream to them as a treat, and which incidentally they are rationing now. The trio also engaged in some zero gravity acrobatics by doing somersaults for the excited Facebook Chief, who also enjoyed watching the microphone aboard the space station floating between the astronauts.

The increased use of virtual reality by the crew members was one the more interesting aspects spoken about. The technology is a major part of ISS operations and used for three dimensional mapping of space and to view the station itself.

The astronauts added that though internet access was a new feature and on the slower side, it was good enough as it allowed the crew members to share experiences with family and friends. The three astronauts also mentioned that viewing Earth from the station window was their favorite fun thing to do on-board the ISS, and no one gets tired of it.

"When you're building products to try and connect the world, connecting folks who are out in space is about as extreme and cool as it gets," said Mark Zuckerberg about the Facebook Live space chat session. Those who missed the live streaming can watch the recorded video below.