Zero-gravity Sports are Close to Reality
FYI,
"Zero-gravity Sports are Close to Reality
- Weightless flights will give amateurs and pros a new way to play"
MSNBC/Space.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10396560/from/RSS/
: We’ve all seen the pictures. Free-floating space travelers look to
: be having way too much fun frolicking in microgravity.
: Even with all the daily chores and tight timelines, space crews are
: finding personal playtime in Earth orbit. Makeshift games can help
: ease the pressure of work-packed and lengthy missions.
: Then there’s the case of the Apollo 14 moonwalkers back in 1971.
: Edgar Mitchell threw a "javelin" across the lunar landscape. Alan
: Shepard also knocked around some golf balls for that ultimate hole-
: in-one on the crater-pocked surface.
: Given the growth of passenger space travel, space sports of one
: type or another are likely. If so, could orbiting stadiums be far
: behind?
: An early look at space sports comes courtesy of the Zero-Gravity
: Corp. — a space entertainment and tourism company headquartered in
: Dania Beach, Fla.
: Making use of a modified Boeing 727-200 aircraft, Zero-G provides
: thrill-seekers that free-fall feeling so enjoyed by astronauts. The
: firm’s "G-Force One" plane makes roller coaster-like maneuvers in
: the air with dives and pullouts repeated numbers of times for
: paying customers.
: Zero-G has been looking at a variety of weightless sports, said
: Peter Diamandis, chairman and chief executive officer of the
: company. The group has been approached by a range of individuals
: and companies having an array of ideas for space sports, he said.
: "From my standpoint, I think watching World Wrestling Entertainment
: where the competitors are wresting both during the zero-G and 1.8-G
: portions [of flight] could be a lot of fun," Diamandis told
: Space.com.
: Onboard the company’s aircraft, passengers have already played
: weightless dodgeball and tag. In addition, the company has been
: approached about zero-G gymnastics and a zero-G fashion show,
: Diamandis added.
: "This past fall, Zero-G was used in the premiere of season two of
: the TV show 'The Biggest Loser.' For this airing the producers
: created a competition where teams needed to gather colored plastic
: balls that were released and floated free. It was a very successful
: competition with great visuals," Diamandis noted.
: Busily working on the idea of microgravity sports is Rocky Persaud,
: president of IPX Entertainment Inc., with offices in Toronto and
: Houston. He plans to create a show called "Space Champions" — a
: reality-TV show focused around a game created specifically to be
: played in zero gravity.
: "The sport is called ‘Paraball’ … originally short for Parabolic
: Football," Persaud told Space.com. "The game really isn’t like
: football anymore as the rules have developed, but the name has
: stuck," he added.
: Paraball is seen as a cross of several sports — and has a lot of
: unique aspects, too.
: "The International Parabolic Sports League (IPSL) I plan to start
: with seven U.S.-based teams, plus one Toronto-based team. Initially
: all league games would be played from the Las Vegas, Nevada,
: airport, but we’ll have ‘home’ games when the Zero-Gravity
: Corporation are able to bring their aircraft to that many cities
: over the time span of the league’s season," Persaud said.
: "Space Champions" would train and select the best zero-gravity
: athletes to draft into the eight original teams, with future
: expansion ideas also on the drawing board, Persaud said.
: "The sport I have in mind could make the transition to orbit
: easily," said Persaud, who is already eyeing rental space aboard
: Bigelow Aerospace's inflatable habitats some five or six years from
: now. That private space facility could host the championship game
: of the sports league, he said.
: "Then gradually the entire league could transition to playing in
: orbit, though a name change to InterPlanetary Sports League would
: be warranted," Persaud said with a smile.
: "Fortunately we do not have to wait until space is accessible at
: affordable rates to begin with weightless sports," Persaud said.
: Weightless sports can be offered now, he said, before affordable
: space travel for the masses has appeared, pointing to the service
: provided by the Zero-Gravity Corp., for which IPX is an authorized
: sales agent.
: A passionate advocate of space sports, and even an orbiting
: stadium, is Patrick Collins, professor of economics at Azabu
: University in Japan.
: "Sports will be more fun the bigger the chamber is in which people
: play," Collins said, "which will be a stimulus to assemble large
: structures in orbit, once travel to and from space is much cheaper
: with reusable passenger vehicles."
: Secondly, Collins explained, future space sports and facilities
: will offer great opportunity for commercial sponsorship, "since
: ‘zero-G games will surely be very high profile."
: In his research on space sports, Collins and colleagues have
: speculated about water sports where space tourists can dive through
: large blobs of water. And why not zero-G versions of existing
: terrestrial sports, such as table tennis, badminton, tennis, and
: even basketball?
: Collins speculates that once orbital accommodations for the space
: tourist blossoms, more exotic facilities will assuredly follow
: — namely, a zero-G sports center that could accommodate everything
: from ballet and gymnastics to football.
: And why not future Olympic games, Collins concluded, held in an
: orbiting zero-gravity stadium?
--
Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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