STORRS, Conn. - University of Connecticut alumnus Rick Mastracchio took a break from orbiting the globe on the International Space Station to deliver an address to students graduating from the university's School of Engineering on Saturday. <\/p>\n
With a large black UConn banner and UConn baseball cap floating behind him, Mastracchio hovered between two space suits and spun upside down several times during the pre-recorded address for the 400 graduates and a crowd of about 5,000 at the university. <\/p>\n
\"I could not be there with you on this big day, but being in space I was trying to figure out how to make this speech different than all the other commencement addresses that are given each year,\" he said. <\/p>\n
\"And then I realized - I'm in a weightless environment. So maybe, I should give the speech in a different orientation.\" <\/p>\n
Mastracchio, 54, who is on an eight-month stint on the space station, then floated upside down, before spinning back to an upright position, bringing laughs and cheers from graduates and their families. <\/p>\n
\"I probably have the best job on and off the planet,\" he said. <\/p>\n
Kazem Kazerounian, dean of the engineering school, who set up the speech from space, said: \"Many of us, faculty and students, were inspired to become engineers because of space exploration and this was a perfect way to bring more reality to our dreams.\" <\/p>\n
Mastracchio, who will return to Earth next week aboard a Russian spacecraft after completing his fourth trip into space, had a final message as he grabbed and put on the UConn baseball cap. <\/p>\n
\"Go Huskies,\" he said, referring to the nickname for the school's sports teams, as he spun upside down again. <\/p>\n
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