Space & Astronomy

Astronaut throws a football 564,664 yards

By T.K. Randall
February 5, 2017 ·  5 comments

How far did he really throw the ball ? Image Credit: NASA Johnson Space Center While the throw was certainly impressive from a technical point of view, the ball didn't actually travel quite as far as the figures suggest - at least, that is, from the perspective of the astronauts.

The International Space Station itself is orbiting the planet at around 17,500 mph, which means that the ball, which was thrown from one end to the other, was traveling at 8,800 yards per second relative to someone standing on the surface of the Earth.

So while the ball really did travel 564,664 yards through space, it was only actually thrown around 80 yards relative to Tim Kopra and the other astronauts aboard the station.

A video of the throw, as well as a more in-depth explanation, can be viewed below.


Source: Space.com | Comments (5)

Tags: Astronaut, ISS, Super Bowl