Space Station Astronauts Stay Fit With Floating Badminton Match

Expedition 66 astronauts blew off steam with a holiday 2021 badminton match.

 ESA

If you had a few hundred experiments to manage during your days in space, how would you blow off steam in your spare time?

A badminton match was the activity of choice for International Space Station astronauts and spaceflight participants during the holidays. You can catch a short video of the activities of several crew members of Expedition 66 below; make sure to rotate it so you can watch the crew members working in 360 degrees.

The module they are using is the Japanese Kibo module, which is a common location for crews to conduct press conferences. The Kibo module also has a little more space for physical activities than some of the other ones, especially since there are no laptops or delicate experiments crowding the walls.

Space agencies around the world ask their astronauts to exercise for about 90 minutes to two hours a day, which does everything from keeping their bones and muscles secure for Earth living again, to providing mental well-being.

While the match was all in good fun, professional astronauts have a long-term goal of studying medicine on the International Space Station, both to prepare for long-duration missions to the moon and also to help seniors on Earth.

For example, European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer will be involved in a new aging experiment called MicroAge, which launched to the orbiting complex in December. The goal is to understand more why muscles weaken in space, which has applications for seniors who are housebound or even chairbound in old age. In the long run, therapies developed to help astronauts may help older populations on Earth.

“As part of the project, muscle cells the size of a grain of rice were grown in a lab on Earth and then placed in a 3D-printed protective container the size of a pencil sharpener before their journey to space,” ESA said in a statement about the experiment.

“On the International Space Station, the cells will be electrically stimulated to trigger contractions, with scientists closely monitoring the results to piece together how the tissue responds to microgravity and ageing.”

NASA adds that investigations about space station health across two decades have allowed for interventions in all sorts of medical aspects, with just a few examples including telemedicine (very helpful to protect health during a pandemic), stress response systems, nutrition and even disease models.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethhowell1/2022/01/04/space-station-astronauts-stay-fit-with-floating-badminton-match/?sh=70444605386a