Pope Francis is making his first telephone call above the earth -- and into space. On Thursday, the pope called the International Space Station. Six astronauts are currently working there -- three Americans, two Russians and one Italian. Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli was aboard the space station for the first-ever papal call, made in 2011 by Pope Benedict. He returned to space in July. As he did in 2011, he acted as a translator Thursday during his second papal call. Francis asked Nespoli and the five other astronauts many questions. Some were simple, such as ‘why did you choose to become an astronaut?’ Other questions were much deeper and more complex.