Playing Badminton In Space, Russian Cosmonaut And Japanese Billionaire Promote Healthy Lifestyle From ISS

Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin plays badminton on the ISS. (Source: TASS/Alexander Misurkin)

JAKARTA - TASS correspondent who is also a crew member of the International Space Station (ISS), Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin symbolically plays badminton above the orbit post to highlight an active way of life.

The game involves ISS crew members as well as Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his business assistant Yozo Hirano as non-professional participants in space flight.

The friendly games on the space station are meant to draw attention to the serious demographic challenges in some countries, including Russia, which are manifested both in a general population decline and an increasing number of retirees outpacing the active workforce.

Space badminton players believe that improving individual health is the main tool to reverse the situation, which is facilitated by an active lifestyle, including badminton being incorporated into the cosmonaut physical training system by the founding father of Soviet Cosmonautics Sergey Korolyov in 1960.

Chairman of the Council of the Russian National Badminton Federation Andrey Antropov said in a live broadcast on Match TV during a communication session with the ISS, the badminton tournament was held in the Russian Cosmonaut Star City near Moscow with the participation of NASA members.

"We have organized many tournaments. The annual contest is commonly called Star Shuttlecock and is held in Star City. On several occasions, we have arranged matches with NASA. During the pandemic, a tournament with the participation of five NASA representatives was held which ended in a friendly victory," he explained, quoting TASS December 18.

This is not the first time a symbolic game has been held in a weightless state. Previously, a similar game took place in February 2018 and brought together Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Anton Shkaplerov, NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joseph Acaba, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Noisige Kanaj.

This time, the badminton match at the ISS coincided with the Badminton World Championship which took place in Spain on 12-19 December.

On November 17, the world-famous Russian news agency TASS and the State Space Company Roscosmos signed a memorandum of cooperation, which allowed the establishment of the TASS news agency aboard the ISS.

Under the agreement, Russian Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin has become the first TASS correspondent in space. He now reports on the daily routine of the space station. His latest information from outer space is available to the agency's readers from news source TASS and his photo and video contributions are uploaded to the agency's website and official pages on social media.

To note, after 12 days of orbit, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his business assistant Yozo Hirano will return to Earth on the morning of December 20.