The International Space Station Expedition 40 crew. From left, astronauts Steve Swanson (NASA), Alexander Gerst (ESA) and Reid Wiseman (NASA), working aboard the International Space Station.
Credit: NASA
As football fans all over the world eagerly await World Cup 2014, American astronauts Reid Wiseman (NASA) and Steve Swanson (NASA) and German astronaut Alexander Gerst (ESA), will be watching the competitions, too, aboard the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting 400 km above Earth’s surface.
In a special message, the space trio wished good luck to all the footballers and teams, as they participate in World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Interestingly, while the astronauts have trained for years, to work together as one crew, the American astronauts and their German colleague are feeling a little friendly competition: their home countries will play against each other in Group G matches, on 26 June.
Wiseman and Gerst arrived at the ISS, on 28 May 2014, as part of the ISS Expedition 40/41 crew, and are scheduled to stay onboard the orbiting outpost until November 2014. Steven Swanson arrived as part of the ISS Expedition 39/40 crew on 25 March 2014, and his mission will end in September 2014.
References
NASA
www.nasa.gov/
NASA World Cup Feature
http://www.nasa.gov/worldcup/
International Space Station
http://www.nasa.gov/station/