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ISS Astronauts Got Time Off For The Super Bowl, Photos Taken From Space

By Anne Sewell
Published on: 22:56 PST, Feb 8, 2016

Even members of the ISS astronaut team got the day off for the recent Super Bowl, with NASA astronaut Scott Kelly taking incredible images from space.

It wasn’t only those on planet Earth who got the chance to watch the 50th Super Bowl as on Sunday, as everyone on the International Space Station (ISS) got the opportunity too.

As reported by Tech Times, Commander Scott Kelly and his fellow ISS astronauts were able to witness the game between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers in real time as NASA’s Mission Control Center beamed the Super Bowl to them on the ISS.

Some amazing images resulted from this, with NASA astronaut Kelly – who is reportedly a huge Houston Texans fan – capturing images from up in the ISS. Reportedly Kelly also got time out to watch his favorite team on Thanksgiving Day with one fellow astronaut, but this time the whole crew had the opportunity.

At around 250 miles above Earth, Kelly took the following photo of the Levi’s Stadium from the ISS, taken as they whizzed by at 17,500 miles per hour over the state of California. Kelly added the photo to his Twitter feed, where he has been posting some amazing and exclusive images from space ever since his mission on the ISS began.

Reportedly just prior to the big game, NASA’s Dan Huot announced on a video streaming channel that the ISS astronauts would be able to watch the Super Bowl live.

According to BABW News, there were no experiments run and no research was performed on the ISS orbital laboratory that day, but there was one condition the astronauts had to comply with, and that was their daily exercise routine. Living in a zero gravity condition requires the astronauts to perform exercise daily to prevent their muscles and organs from losing function, but hey, you can watch the game while exercising too?

Reportedly Huot also made some comparisons between the ISS and the Super Bowl, saying the orbital laboratory’s outstretched arms are as long and wide as the average football field. It turns out, too, that NASA funded research in developing the football helmet foam that protects players heads from shocks during their games.

Scott Kelly even offered to host an after game party, but apparently no one turned up. He even reportedly had nachos, which is no mean feat in space.

After the Super Bowl was over, it was back to business on the ISS. Apparently both Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko have only one more month ahead of them before their year long stay in space is complete. They both arrived on the ISS on March 28, 2015, and Kelly currently holds the American record for the longest uninterrupted mission in space.

The year-long mission was planned as both NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos want to learn more about the effects on the human body from longer stays in space in zero gravity. NASA particularly needs the data to get ready for a planned manned mission to Mars.

As soon as Kelly arrives back on Earth, the effects of microgravity on his body will be studied, in conjunction with medical data received from his twin brother, Mark Kelly, who spent that year on Earth, making for the ideal addition to the extensive research being run by NASA.

In the meantime Scott Kelly and his fellow astronauts got to enjoy their favorite game by watching the Super Bowl live.

[Photo via Twitter]

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