FIFA World Cup soccer ball reaches astronauts in space. Here's why
Here's what astronauts on the space station are helping us learn about the performance of soccer balls by conducting tests during the World Cup in microgravity.
Eric Lagatta- The International Space Station offers a unique environment in microgravity for astronauts to study an official FIFA World Cup soccer ball.
- Astronauts recently conducted experiments aimed to improve understanding of a ball's aerodynamics and physics while in flight.
- The findings could help improve soccer ball performance and design for major tournaments like the World Cup.
World Cup hype has taken over pretty much all of Earth, and now space.
As the best male soccer players in the world compete in the lauded tournament, astronauts about 250 miles above the pitch are also getting in on the action. An official FIFA Men's World Cup ball reached the International Space Station, giving the crew members not just a chance for some lighthearted play amid the tiring work of keeping the outpost humming, but a crucial opportunity to conduct some experiments in microgravity.
And what they find could have profound influence on how soccer balls perform during crucial matches under the international spotlight – like, say, future World Cups.
Here's a look at the astronauts kicking around a soccer ball in space, as well as a bit more about the experiments they conducted.
What is the International Space Station?
The International Space Station has been stationed in low-Earth orbit for more than 25 years, typically about 260 miles high, where it has been home to astronauts from all over the world. Throughout its lifespan, the station has served as a test bed for scientific research in microgravity and has in years past opened itself up to private commercial missions.
The orbital laboratory is operated through a global partnership of space agencies, including NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
More than 290 spacefarers from 26 countries have visited the International Space Station, including 170 from the United States alone, according to NASA.
FIFA World Cup soccer ball reaches space
Astronauts aboard the ISS recently had an opportunity to kick around an official FIFA World Cup soccer ball in zero gravity.
A short video NASA shared June 20 on social media site X shows four crew members aboard the space station playing with the ball as it slowly floated inside the orbital outpost.
The soccer ball reached the station in September on a cargo resupply mission carried out by Virginia aerospace and defense contractor Northrop Grumman, a NASA spokeswoman told the USA TODAY Network.
NASA astronauts study how soccer balls spin, move in zero gravity
But it wasn't all just for fun and games.
The ball arrived at the space station for the astronauts to perform important experiments on it in microgravity that could help improve our understanding of the aerodynamic and physics involved in a powerful kick. That insight could further help to improve a soccer ball's performance during matches back on Earth, NASA said in a press release.
Since 2022, Adidas has embedded electronics inside official match balls used in major tournaments that can track things like speed, position and contact in real time. While the technology assists in officiating and enhances live broadcasts, those sensors can also add uneven mass distribution that impedes a ball's movement in the air.
Even before that addition, certain conditions that alter a soccer ball's balance have long been studied on Earth, including in 2014 at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley.
Why turn to astronauts in space to study how things like embedded sensors can influence a soccer ball's rotation and stability? As NASA astronaut Jessica Meir explained in an educational video, while gravity masks some design principles on Earth, "in microgravity, we can observe ball behavior in ways that are impossible to observe on Earth."
"The next time you watch a perfectly placed soccer ball sail into a goal, remember there's some serious engineering spinning inside that ball," Meir concluded in the video, first shared in May on NASA's "STEMonstrations" YouTube channel.
When, where is the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
The 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup kicked off Thursday, June 11, and will run until Sunday, July 19. The first game of the tournament took place in Mexico, and the tournament will conclude with the finals in New York City.
The World Cup will be played in 16 different cities across North America, 11 of which are in the U.S.
What astronauts are on the International Space Station?
Seven astronauts who are part of Expedition 74 are living and working aboard the International Space Station.
That includes four people who are part of the Crew-12 mission that docked in mid-February: NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, as well as the European Space Agency's Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. The Crew-12 contingent are due to depart in September following the arrival of Crew-13.
NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Russians Sergey Mikaev and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, who arrived at the end of November on a Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, will also be at the orbital laboratory until their replacements arrive in July.
Contributing: David Hoffman, USA TODAY
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at [email protected]