The First Badminton Match in Space

The first sporting event on space happened when astronauts from US, Russia and Japan played Badminton on board the International Space Station on the Earth orbit for the first time. Cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin (Roskosmos), Anton Shkaplerov (Roskosmos), Astronauts Joseph Acaba (NASA), Mark Vande Hei (NASA), Norishige Kanai (JAXA) played the doubles game, full of fun and entertainment marking it as the first ever event in the space.

The match was interestingly played in zero gravity, and the ground for the match is one of the space station’s larger modules, in a special set of space rules, which are totally different, from what we can expect here on Earth.

The special match was decided with paired teams, American astronauts teamed up with Russian cosmonauts as well as one of the Japanese astronauts. The somewhat cramped conditions and lack of gravity inside the module facilitated some very creative play styles, including the players anchoring themselves to any side of the module that made sense. This sometime resulted in teammates often being upside down from each other making it an adventurous and interesting match altogether.

A video clip of the match was later sent by one of the astronaut, which shows how the astronaut turn international players, played the match. One can see from the video the module walls with gadgets and instrument making it a memorable event for everyone, the participants up on the space and viewers down on earth.

The beautiful and brief event was such a success that NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei has suggested the possibility of adding a module to long-haul spacecraft specifically for playing games. The idea being that friendly competition will be a great way to keep the mental health of astronauts in check, while also helping to build bonds between crew members. On manned space flights to other worlds such as Mars, physical activity and mental health will be big hurdles, but perhaps sports can save the day.

Interestingly a number of players of the orbital match, have already taken part in competitions on the ground before. As for example Alexander Misurkin is a two-time champion of the “Star Shuttle” tournament, traditionally held in the Zvyozdniy Town in honor of the Cosmonautics Day. Mark Vande Hai also took part in the rematch of the “Star Challenge Cup”.

Astronaut Alexander Misurkin, sharing his experience playing the first team match held outside our planet said, “the moment for me is same, as to put a flag on the Mars. You ask why badminton? Well, because, I love it.” Misurkin also added that it some warm up for them to start, though with so much effort flying to hit didn’t bought them much result.

He also added that, Badminton for him is not just a sport or a hobby,  “badminton is a lifestyle. The games improves our health, our eyesight, develop us physically improving our heart function and it also allows one to look better, badminton also gives us the opportunity to have a good time and many more”.

Anton Shkaplerov the on board Russian astronauts, in an earlier video showcased how to fly vacuum cleaner in space. He posted a video later showcasing him riding on one on Twitter. Such games which seem fun time are actually quite vital for astronauts as they should get some muscle activity now and then in space otherwise they can suffer from muscle atrophy or wasting away of muscles due to lack of activity. On earth, we use our muscles to resist the force of gravity and astronauts on the other hand, in space, hardly use muscles and the same can lead to adverse effects on their bodies.

Given the wonky rules and even more adventurous gameplay, as the players flied from one corner to another, the teams reportedly did not keep the score of the match that was played without the net. So all the athletes of the match will be considered the winners of the first historic match, which they collectively declared as “friendship won” in the end. That’s probably a good way to do it, considering the space station’s residents have to live in very close proximity to each other and nobody wants rivalries to impact the much more important scientific goals.