Obama gives Stephen Colbert an intergalactic shout-out

President Barack Obama had some fun Wednesday during an intergalactic video conference call with the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavor, which is docked at the international space station.

Obama was accompanied by students and teachers from across the country, and before the Q & A began, the president took the opportunity to give a big shout out to one TV comedy host who he's not likely to sit down for an interview with anytime soon: Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told Time Magazine that while Obama "would love" to appear as a guest on Comedy Central's other political satire, "The Daily Show," a "Colbert Report" interview was less likely. The hitch? It's too risky.

"I have yet to see a politician best Stephen Colbert in an interview on his show," Gibbs said.

In a perfect example of Colbert's brand of irreverent (and yes, risky) political humor, last year the host encouraged his fans to submit his name to a write-in contest sponsored by NASA to name a node on the Endeavor. When he won, NASA downgraded the name from a room to a treadmill, now called the Stephen Colbert treadmill. 

Obama was hip to the joke, "Everybody here back home is excited about this bay on the world that you guys are opening up," he told the astronauts, "and Stephen Colbert at least is excited about his treadmill."