ISS Astronauts Encase GoPro In Orb Of Floating Water
Because science
The brave astronauts of the American, Russian, and European space programs labor over countless research projects and other tasks while aboard the International Space Station to advance the frontier of human knowledge. But sometimes they take breaks to produce super cool videos for us to consume down here on Earth. In this clip, they expend some of their precious water supply for an experiment in awesomeness: dunking a GoPro camera in a floating ball of water.
In microgravity, loose water puddles form large spheres held together by surface tension. The video shows what the space station and its grinning inhabitants look like from within one of these orbs — specifically, NASA astronauts Steve Swanson and Reid Wiseman and European Space Agency astronaut/prolific twitter photographer Alexander Gerst. You can also watch the video in 3-D if you have red-blue glasses.
This isn’t the first time the world’s space programs have produced silliness for our Earthly enjoyment. From American pratfalls on the moon to solo Japanese space baseball, our species has a proud tradition of exploiting space exploration for fun as well as scientific profit. Plus, all these antics serve a purpose: exciting people about spaceflight. And it works. Or have you forgotten Commander Chris Hadfield’s super viral performance of Dave Bowie’s Space Oddity?