ISS Crew Gets a ‘Kick’ From Soccer Team Call

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ISS Crew Gets a ‘Kick’ From Soccer Team Call
Expedition 13 astronaut Thomas Reiter (center), of Germany, performs an orbital bicycle kick inside the International Space Station while crewmates Jeffrey Williams (right), of NASA, and Pavel Vinogradov, of Russia, look on. (Image credit: NASA TV.)

Threeastronauts aboard the InternationalSpace Station (ISS) took a break in their orbital work Thursday for anapparently fun-filled phone call with soccer champions from Spain.

Expedition13 commander PavelVinogradov and flight engineers Jeffrey Williamsand ThomasReiter took an orbital call from the coach and players of FC Barcelona,Europe's reigning soccer champion, in ISS Mission Control at NASA's JohnsonSpace Center in Houston.

"It's agreat honor for us to speak with you guys up in space," FC Barcelona coachFrank Rijkaard told the Expedition 13 astronauts."I think you are the true heroes up in space and you're doing a great job."

FCBarcelona players got a backstage tour of NASA's astronaut training facilitiesat JSC, and will play Mexico's Club America tonight at Houston's ReliantStadium. During their call to the ISS, the players were joined by Brazil'sfirst astronaut Marcos Pontes, who launchedtoward the station earlier this year with Vinogradov and Williams.

"HeyMarcos, good to see you," Williams said, adding that he looks forward seeingthe Brazilian spaceflyer at the end of his mission.

An avidsoccer fan by hisown admission, Reiter performed an orbital bicycle kick inside the space station'sDestiny laboratory for the visiting soccer champions.

"Thomas hasbeen practicing that all day," Williams said of the kick, which drew cheersfrom the FC Barcelona guests and flight controllers. "That's a crowd pleaser, wouldn'tyou say?"

Reiterwent through his weightless kick slowly as a precaution against damaging the$100 billion space station.

"My bankaccount does not allow me to pay for all the things I can damage here with myfoot," Reiter said.

Reiter alsofollowed the 2006 World Cup - held in his native country of Germany - as bestas he could just before, during and after his July 4launch into space during NASA's STS-121shuttle flight to the ISS last month. He and his fellow Expedition13 and STS-121crewmates took bets on which country - France or Italy - would take theWorld Cup title last month (Italy, chosen by STS-121 astronauts MarkKelly and Lisa Nowak,brought home the win).

FCBarcelona presented the Expedition 13 crew with their own team jerseys, personalizedwith each astronaut's name and the number 13 in honor of their mission.

A delightedVinogradov, Williams, Reiter and ISS flight controllers, meanwhile, presentedFC Barcelona with a photograph of the team's hometown as seen from orbit and aSpanish flag that rode aboard the space shuttle Discovery during its STS-121mission.

"This isreally something special and we will treasure it," said Rijkaard, who invitedthe Expedition 13 crew to his team's hometown stadium in Barcelona where theywould be guests of honor once they return from space.

"Thank youvery much," Williams said. "We'll have to work that into our schedule."

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.