How Much of an Astronaut's Time is Actually Spent in Space?

Astronauts in space play under the influence of microgravity, which seems very fun. Edgar Mitchell threw a "javelin" on the moon's surface, while Alan Shepard played golf on the moon's surface, which was covered with craters, and there were rich people who went to space at any cost. With the increasing development of space tourism, space sports are getting closer to ordinary people.

Space sports

(Astronaut's Space Sports)

Astronauts in space play under the influence of microgravity, which seems very fun. Edgar Mitchell threw a "javelin" on the moon's surface, while Alan Shepard played golf on the moon's surface, which was covered with craters, and there were rich people who went to space at any cost. With the increasing development of space tourism, space sports are getting closer to ordinary people.

Chinese name

Space sports

Object

astronaut

surroundings

Microgravity

Nature

motion

According to the US Space Network, astronauts have to work hard in space, but astronauts on the International Space Station are making full use of valuable time in space, some people are brainstorming for some feasible space sports in the future. Garrett Riesman, an American astronaut who is now working on the space station, said that sometimes they were just whim. "We started playing with water-filled water bags like a fitness ball to simulate aerial baseball games. We realized that sports is a big deal." But he said he had to relearn how to throw a ball vertically.

Lisman's predecessor, Expedition 16 commander Piggie Whitson, and two other colleagues had different plans. They organized six astronauts in Expedition 16 and 17 teams and organized an air relay race. "We started from one end of the capsule, and then the people waiting at the second and third capsules ran, and finally sprinted back. So it was very interesting." The result was that she and Reese Man's group won the game.

According to the plan, the space station astronauts work about 6 and a half hours a day, there are about 2 and a half hours to exercise, 8 and a half hours to sleep. Like all of us, they always squeeze some time for fun after work. NASA psychologist Walter Sibes, who specializes in long-term space research, said that although these are secondary activities, they are useful for maintaining a good mental state. They don't have a dedicated storage box for sports, so they have to organize their sports gear.

So far, in addition to space treadmills and stationary bikes, their sports equipment has also played non-gravity basketball, frisbees and boomerangs, as well as several named sports. Only in a gravity-free environment, they have to change the rules of the game.

Whitson said, "It takes some skills to win opponents. I think they will launch some new competitions." Interestingly, low-gravity competitions have also gained some popularity on the planet. For example, on a zero-gravity company's modified Boeing 727-200 jet, they played a game of dodgeball while carrying out a brief weightless flight. Recently, space station astronauts also carried out some land-based sports: Japanese astronaut Takao Doi threw boomerangs in space; American astronaut Sunit Williams ran the Boston Marathon; European astronaut Chester Ferger Three-slot spinning frisbee for 20 seconds; Russian astronaut Mikhail Thurin swings a golf ball; American astronaut Clay Anderson confirms the gravity-free effect of research on Earth with football, baseball and modified bat .

NASA says mission makers sometimes have to talk to astronauts to help them put their sporting interests into their daily work. For example, Williams running the Boston Marathon requires the astronaut to squeeze extra time to train and prepare for the race.

As more and more astronauts live on the space station, future space sports are expected to be more innovative and rich. It is good for astronauts to come up with innovative ideas. This can give them more entertainment and make their amateur life colorful. To better adjust their space life.

According to the ABC report on the 21st, although the king of the ball "Tiger" Woods is far superior to Mikhail Turin in golf, but in terms of the distance he hit the ball, he must not be able to compete with the Russian aerospace Members are compared. On November 22, local time, Russian astronaut Turin will be the farthest player in golf in the world. His "golf course" orbits at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour beyond 220 miles above the earth. International Space Station.

"Gold-plated ball" 10 times lighter than standard ball

Turin will walk out of the space station with American astronaut Michael Lopez Agrilia for a six-hour space walk.

Before engaging in this important work, Turin first plays golf: 23:28, put the golf ball on the tee of the escalator, and set the TV recording to work. 23:38, hit the ball.

So how do you play golf in a state of weightlessness? Turing will attach a spring mounted on a tee like ice cream cone to the escalator next to the airtight capsule of the space station, and then use a gold-plated No. 6 iron to gently hit the gold-plated golf ball to hit the ball. Into orbit. The weight of the ball is equivalent to the weight of three paper clips, about 0.16 ounces, which is far less than the weight of a standard golf ball (1.6 ounces). Turin will hit the golf ball the longest distance ever, because the ball will travel 2 million miles before falling into earth orbit, and then burned in two or three days.

In addition to hitting the golf ball with his swing, Turin also needed to check an antenna on the Russian "Progress" spacecraft because of problems with the delivery spacecraft docking with the space station last month.

Training astronauts for a year

astronaut

Engineers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston spent months analyzing the space golf proposal to make sure it didn't harm the International Space Station. Once the golf ball leaves the space station and enters orbit, it becomes space junk, and the space station is closely monitored to ensure that it does not hit space debris.

Holly Ridings, a flight director who inspected astronauts at the mission control center, said golf shows would not pose a danger to the space station. She said: "Turin will play golf backwards. After playing, the ball will never return to the space station."

Similar to the "SuitSat" experiment carried out on the International Space Station, the golf ball played was tracked and monitored from the earth. In the "SuitSat" experiment, a set of old Russian spacesuits equipped with battery-powered wireless transmitters were thrown out of the space station. The signal is transmitted to the earth through an antenna on the spacesuit helmet. However, a few hours after the experiment started, the "SuitSat" battery hissed, causing the experiment to fail.

But the golf ball hit this time is gold-plated, so it can be tracked with a laser. According to reports, training astronauts to play golf is not easy because they play more hockey. To ensure that the "golf swing" did not fail, astronauts on the space station received a year of training.

Astronauts' clubs to be auctioned

The golf show is an event organized by golf club maker 21 Elements to mark the 35th anniversary of the first space golf show. However, a spokesman for 21 Elements and a spokesman for the Russian Space Agency declined to answer the charges for the golf show.

Space travel golf clubs are also provided by 21 Elements Golf Company. It is made of an alloy called thorium. It is also used to make Russian MiG fighters and some parts of the International Space Station built by Russia. Metal.

Natalia Hearn, chairman of 21 Elements, said that plutonium is a lighter and harder metal than titanium and graphite. The golf ball and the club were transported to the space station by the "Progress" cargo ship in September 2005. The club will be returned to the earth by a shuttle or a "joint" spacecraft.

Space sports

Hearn said that in order to raise charitable funds, they will auction off the club.

Commercialization brings space golf

So why does Russia's space agency cooperate with a golf club manufacturer? In fact, the Russian space agency has been stuck with economic problems. Therefore, the space agency often sells spacecraft seats or advertises space travel. As long as you have enough funds, anyone can take the Soyuz spacecraft to travel to space. Iranian-American Anush Ansari spent $ 20 million on the Soyuz spacecraft to the space station.

NASA Director Mike Griffin acknowledged that NASA will not interfere with Russia's development of the space market. "The partners of the space station have the right to propose commercial activities on the space station, provided that they are sufficiently secure. We have not yet done so, but we will work tirelessly," he said.

The next space sport will be Frisbee

Space sports

35 years ago, the first astronaut to play golf in space was Alan Shepard. At the time, astronauts Alan Shepard and Michelle, who hosted the "Apollo 14" mission, spent 33.5 hours on the moon. They trek on the surface of the moon, explore and analyze the dust on the surface of the moon for 9 Work hours are quite hard. After the work was completed, Shepard took out two golf balls and unfolded a foldable golf club (specially made for astronauts), despite wearing thick gloves and bulky spacesuits, and only using He fiddled with the club with one hand, but he succeeded in hitting the ball.

Now Russian astronaut Turin will be the farthest golfer in the world. So, what is the next space sport? Frisbee. Swedish astronaut Christine Fugelsang, who will perform the STS116 mission, is a frisbee champion. He intends to set a world record for the longest flying time of a frisbee.