Three
astronauts aboard the International
Space Station (ISS) took a break in their orbital work Thursday for an
apparently fun-filled phone call with soccer champions from Spain.
Expedition
13 commander Pavel
Vinogradov and flight engineers Jeffrey Williams
and Thomas
Reiter took an orbital call from the coach and players of FC Barcelona,
Europe's reigning soccer champion, in ISS Mission Control at NASA's Johnson
Space Center in Houston.
"It's a
great honor for us to speak with you guys up in space," FC Barcelona coach
Frank Rijkaard told the Expedition 13 astronauts.
"I think you are the true heroes up in space and you're doing a great job."
FC
Barcelona players got a backstage tour of NASA's astronaut training facilities
at JSC, and will play Mexico's Club America tonight at Houston's Reliant
Stadium. During their call to the ISS, the players were joined by Brazil's
first astronaut Marcos Pontes, who launched
toward the station earlier this year with Vinogradov and Williams.
"Hey
Marcos, good to see you," Williams said, adding that he looks forward seeing
the Brazilian spaceflyer at the end of his mission.
An avid
soccer fan by his
own admission, Reiter performed an orbital bicycle kick inside the space station's
Destiny laboratory for the visiting soccer champions.
"Thomas has
been practicing that all day," Williams said of the kick, which drew cheers
from the FC Barcelona guests and flight controllers. "That's a crowd pleaser, wouldn't
you say?"
Reiter
went through his weightless kick slowly as a precaution against damaging the
$100 billion space station.
"My bank
account does not allow me to pay for all the things I can damage here with my
foot," Reiter said.
Reiter also
followed the 2006 World Cup - held in his native country of Germany - as best
as he could just before, during and after his July 4
launch into space during NASA's STS-121
shuttle flight to the ISS last month. He and his fellow Expedition
13 and STS-121
crewmates took bets on which country - France or Italy - would take the
World Cup title last month (Italy, chosen by STS-121 astronauts Mark
Kelly and Lisa Nowak,
brought home the win).
FC
Barcelona presented the Expedition 13 crew with their own team jerseys, personalized
with each astronaut's name and the number 13 in honor of their mission.
A delighted
Vinogradov, Williams, Reiter and ISS flight controllers, meanwhile, presented
FC Barcelona with a photograph of the team's hometown as seen from orbit and a
Spanish flag that rode aboard the space shuttle Discovery during its STS-121
mission.
"This is
really something special and we will treasure it," said Rijkaard, who invited
the Expedition 13 crew to his team's hometown stadium in Barcelona where they
would be guests of honor once they return from space.
"Thank you
very much," Williams said. "We'll have to work that into our schedule."
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