MILAN - Who has ever dreamt of knowing what it feels to be in the shoes of the heroes that float in space ships in the absence of gravity? Another astronaut, Scott Kelly, takes the scene to increase this sensation of envy after having recently celebrated his 300th day on board of the International Space Station. He has not only floated in the space ship but had fun demonstrating how many shapes water can take in microgravity conditions.
A "ping pong drop"
The astronaut first carefully "squeezed" a drop of water out of the classic packages used in orbit to drink or wash. In the absence of gravity, water molecules aggregate and become a sphere and Kelly took advantage of this, thanks to two special paddles coated in water-repellent Teflon, to play ping pong without breaking the water balls.
Water in space
This is not the first episode of how water entertains scientist in space. Two NASA astronauts, Steve Swanson and Reid Wiseman, have recently made a funny video on board of the International Space Station, showing how, in the absence of gravity, it is possible to play with a water bubble. The video, which went immediately viral, was published on the webpage of the English BBC news edition.
by Salvatore Galeone
