Astronauts on the International Space Station will be cheering on their home nations as countries compete in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which start today (Aug. 5).
Members of the Expedition 48 crew represent three nations: the United States, Japan and Russia. In a recorded message on the Team USA Twitter feed, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins drew links between the international collaborations in space and those in sport.
"All of us will certainly be rooting for our home nations in competition, but we'll celebrate the spirit of the games together," she said.
Rubins was joined by Expedition 48 commander Jeff Williams, who said the crew was eagerly counting down to the start of the games, which run until Aug. 21.
"We know you're prepared both physically and mentally for the games, and that being at your best in Rio will require maximum focus and effort," he said. "So we just wanted to let you know we're proud of you and inspired by you, and that fans of Team USA everywhere — even way up here — will be cheering for you."
Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi also recorded a message for his home nation, in Japanese, wearing an Olympic shirt. The video is available on the YouTube channel for the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
While Russia did not have a message up on YouTube as of this morning (Aug. 5), Russian cosmonauts have also expressed much support for the games over the years.
Before the last Olympics in Sochi, Russia, two Russian cosmonauts performed a spacewalk with the unlit Olympic torch in 2013. This torch was the third one to fly to space, but the first to be taken on a spacewalk.
Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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