And other little gems from astronaut Ron Garan's recent Reddit crowd-sourced interview

@astro_ron/Twitter/i>

Being an astronaut isn't what it used to be. At least not in the case of NASA space-traveler Ron Garan. Garan is an astronaut 2.0 -- not a distant hero but a connected one, putting modern social media to use in telling his story about what it's like to travel in Earth's orbit. While circling the Earth last year, Garan, or @Astro_Ron as we call him here at The Atlantic, tweeted pictures of his five-month adventure on the International Space Station, keeping his tens of thousands of Twitter followers up to date on the views outside his space-station window. Now, in another social-media foray, Garan took to Reddit yesterday, in a late-night "ask me anything" session, which has garnered more than 4,000 comments. Below, a few of the best gems from the conversation, which together present a fun picture of the 21st-century space voyager, and of the Reddit community too.

First things first, Reddit wants to know about the aliens.

But no, in all seriousness, Garan says he has not seen any aliens, though one Redditor is skeptical.

Many of the questioners asked Garan about his time spent in space and the effect of it on his body. His answers?

He grew 1.5 inches.

He worked out on specialized space work-out equipment.