Space Olympics: synchronised space swimming

The International Space Station Expedition 65 crew recorded themselves on a day off after a long week of work having some weightless fun. From Earth orbit, 400 km above our planet, the crew present the very first Space Olympics.

Four disciplines were recorded to go down in history, the third, synchronised space swimming, saw two teams perform a weightless routine, the public can be the judge.

The Station crew divided themselves into two teams by spacecraft that took them to the outpost: Team Soyuz with Roscosmos astronauts Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitsky and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, and Team Dragon with NASA astronauts Megan McArthur, Shane Kimbrough, JAXA astronaut Aki Hoshide and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet.

The choreography, teamwork, friendship and commentary by Mark Vande Hei made the first space Olympics discipline a great success.

Over 200 experiments are planned during Thomas’ time in space, with 40 European ones and 12 new experiments led by the French space agency CNES. Throughout Mission Alpha Thomas is highlighting the parallels between being an astronaut and an athlete: both need to perform at key moments, and train hard to be at their best. Thomas has often said that sport taught him the values of team spirit and respecting team mates, and no astronaut is an island – if one profession is an example of teamwork it is being an astronaut. It takes a team to ensure they are at their best

Latest updates on the Alpha mission can be found via @esaspaceflight on Twitter, with more details on ESA’s exploration blog via thomaspesquet.esa.int.

Background information on the Alpha mission is available at www.esa.int/MissionAlpha with a brochure at www.esa.int/AlphaBrochure.