USA: 'Who controls the jam box?'- Brad Pitt to NASA astronaut on ISS

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SOT, Brad Pitt, US actor and film producer: "Thank you very much. I got to tell you, this is a real treat, real pleasure to be talking to you up there." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
SOT, Nick Hague, NASA astronaut: "Likewise, a treat for us, actually. We got a chance to sneak preview the movie a few weeks back. And just wanted to start off by saying thank you for what you're doing to contribute to the mission of awareness and to set that, you know, light that fire in the imaginations of the next generation of explorers." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
SOT, Brad Pitt, US actor and film producer: "And now that I have you all the way up at the space station, let's talk about me. How did we do? How was our zero-G?"
SOT, Nick Hague, NASA astronaut: "I got to tell you, it was really good, and the depictions, the settings - all, as you can tell, look very similar to the type of setting you've got, you know, I've got around me. I got to imagine it was a lot easier for me to kind of enjoy the zero-G than it was you, whether it was CGI or hooked to strings."
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SOT, Brad Pitt, US actor and film producer: "I was curious. What are the repercussions on your body in zero-G? First of all, would it be morning for you there, would it be night for you there? How do you gauge your waking hours if you see 16 sunrises and sunsets a day?"
SOT, Nick Hague, NASA astronaut: "And it's one of the unique, you've talked about, challenges for the body being up here. This is one of those unique adaptations. The calluses on my feet have basically, have gone away because I don't walk on the bottoms of my feet. But now I have calluses across the top of my foot, around my big toe, because I am constantly hanging on things with my big toe to hold me in place."
W/S Pitt and Hague *NO SOUND AT SOURCE*
SOT, Nick Hague, NASA astronaut: "So we do a lot to try to manage that circadian rhythm. One thing we do is we use different hues of the colour spectrum so we have morning very bright blue light that we switch. And then later in the day, it goes into a more normal, more balanced spectrum, and at night we get rid of that blue light. And we all follow the Greenwich Mean Time, and that's to help synchronise, you know, the international aspect of this."
SOT, Nick Hague, NASA astronaut: "So we work a 12-hour workday. It starts at about 7:30 in the morning and finishes at about 7:30 in the evening. But there is a night shift. There is actually a massive team on the ground that is controlling about 95 per cent of what happens on the space station, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It is an amazing orchestration of an international programme that comes together to truly achieve something that we can't do alone. And it's through that strength and diversity, strength through diversity, that we are able to, you know, successfully operate at this station for two decades."
SOT, Brad Pitt, US actor and film producer: "What is that like on the psyche? What is that... I am sure you are always busy, but at the same time missing family and loved ones at home. How do you keep your mental state at peace?"
SOT, Nick Hague, NASA astronaut: "You know, one of the luxuries I think we have of working in low Earth orbit close to the Earth is the amount of connectivity that we have, the ability to make phone calls and check in on a routine basis, to every weekend being able to do a video conference with my kids and share a little bit of the experience up here with them, but also be a part of their life and understand what they are going through on the ground so that, you know, we have shared experience, and at the end of 200 days you can come home and return to being a normal family."
SOT, Brad Pitt, US actor and film producer: "Okay, the most important question. Who controls the jam box?"
SOT, Nick Hague, NASA astronaut: "We have a rotating playlist, we take turns. And you know, it's nice because we have the international flair as well. So we have an Italian astronaut on board, along with the US astronauts and then two cosmonauts. And so getting to hear some traditional music from Russia over dinner is a nice change, exposure, and it helps us really appreciate that international feel that the crew has." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
SOT, Brad Pitt, US actor and film producer: "Yes, but every now and then I am sure someone is going, 'I wish Nick wouldn't play that country and western anymore'."
SOT, Nick Hague, NASA astronaut: "There is that, and to have me stop telling my bad dad jokes."
SOT, Brad Pitt, US actor and film producer: "Nick, last question, and I need to call on your expertise. Who was more believable, Clooney or Pitt?"
SOT, Nick Hague, NASA astronaut: "You were, absolutely."
SOT, Brad Pitt, US actor and film producer: "Nick, thank you so much. It's been an absolute pleasure, a real dream of mine. I can't wait to brag to my kids."
SCRIPT
US actor Brad Pitt, who plays astronaut Roy McBride in the upcoming film 'Ad Astra', chatted with NASA astronaut Nick Hague on board the International Space Station (ISS), speaking from the NASA headquarters in Washington DC on Friday.
"And now that I have you all the way up at the space station, let's talk about me. How did we do? How was our zero-G?" joked Pitt, referring to his film that opens in US theaters on Friday.
Hague responded, "It was really good, and the depictions, the settings - all, as you can tell, look very similar to the type of setting you've got, you know, I've got around me. I got to imagine it was a lot easier for me to kind of enjoy the zero-G than it was you, whether it was CGI or hooked to strings."
The actor went on to ask Hague about life in space, including challenges for the body in the zero-G, the astronauts' workday, their sleeping schedule and missing the loved ones. "The most important question. Who controls the jam box?" inquired Pitt.
"We have a rotating playlist, we take turns," answered Hague, adding that listening to "some traditional music from Russia over dinner is a nice change, exposure, and it helps us really appreciate that international feel that the crew has."
Pitt ended the conversation with what seemed to be another burning question, "I need to call on your expertise. Who was more believable, Clooney or Pitt?" referring to US actor George Clooney, who starred in the 2013 space film 'Gravity'. "You were, absolutely," said the NASA astronaut, chuckling.
Mandatory Credit: NASA TV