An eight-year-old from Harrogate had his dreams come true recently as he got to interview a veteran NASA astronaut, James F Reilly. Oliver Grattoni-May won the competition by Attraction Tickets Direct, who arranged for Oliver and his whole family to travel to London for the interview.

During the day Oliver was filmed interviewing Reilly and asked dozens of questions to find out everything he’d ever wanted to know about space travel. Oliver was presented with his very own NASA jump suit and a goodie bag including space ice-cream and a coin made from metal flown on Apollo. He also got to take home a giant Apollo model which now has pride of place in his school, Ashville College in Harrogate.

Oliver’s mum, Katharine, said that this had been a dream come true for Oliver and that he had “been inspired by his experience and in believing in his dreams because sometimes they do come true!”

Reilly is visiting the UK to promote the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex – the world’s most authentic space attraction. The competition was organised and hosted by Attraction Tickets Direct.

James F Reilly has spent more than 850 hours in space, has completed five spacewalks, three Space Shuttle missions and multiple visits to the International Space Station. During these missions, he has collectively travelled more than 14 million miles and orbited the earth more than 550 times.