New Delhi, Jan. 10: Junior college student Vignan Pattamatta made his first phone call to space tonight and spoke with astronaut of Indian descent Sunita Williams aboard the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting 350 km above earth.

On a day that India took its first step towards a manned mission by successfully launching its first capsule to be recovered from space in a few weeks time, Williams had a 10-minute video conversation with students in New Delhi.

“Earth is beautiful from here... we’ve passed over India many times. The countryside is beautiful. We can see green fields and the red of the mountains,” said Williams, dressed in a blue T-shirt, her hair streaming outwards in the zero-gravity environment. “Space exploration allows people to work together and gives us a different perspective of the world.”

“It would be great if India got into the manned space programme,” Williams said after she was told that India had today successfully launched a space capsule that is scheduled to be recovered from space.

“Space exploration allows us to reap benefits on earth,” Williams said through a link provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration connecting the ISS to the US embassy here.

Williams is scheduled to spend six months at the ISS. Pattamatta was among a few students from India who had participated in a Nasa competition to design space cities and among three selected to field questions to Williams.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable here... I get to fly around ... but I don’t think I’d like to stay here forever,” she told Pattamatta in response to his question if she’d consider making space a permanent habitat.