What sports could safely and easily be played in space?

Question

I recently asked about racing in space (The new Space Race - Racing!) and as expected while there were a few options they were mostly pretty limited.

However 2012rcampion did suggest that sports in space might be an interesting subject, and I agree. So what sort of sports might people play in space? The tech level is similar to in my racing question, so current technology plus maybe 20 or 30 years more advanced and considerable experience living and working in space.

The sport in question must be similar to our own sports in that:

• People can play it with friends
• The costs for people to play "for fun" should be low (think children buying a football and placing a few coats down to mark out goals).
• It can be played as a spectator sport with both a live and televised audience
• It's a team game
• It's physical but with only moderate risk of real injury
• I expect the game would be played in free fall but am open to alternatives (although there is no artificial gravity so any illusion of it would need to be achieved through spin or acceleration).

Would it need to be played in a constrained space or would it actually be reasonably possible to place large enough areas in space for a more large-scale game to be played?

At the very least children should be able to play it in the corridors of a space station or in a converted canteen or similar as large open leisure areas would be rare and expensive.

Note that we already discussed zero-g basketball here: How would basketball change to accommodate zero-g this already covered basket-ball style games and touched on football, so I'm not looking to duplicate what is already covered there.

Answer 1

Tag, laser tag and paintball would all be great games to play in a maze type arena. Arms holding pieces of 'fence' could be sticking out into an open area from different angles at different angles. if everything is padded to help reduce shock of contact it could be some what safe. I could see a similar type of arena/maze used for all three suggestions. Paintball would be very interesting since you don't have gravity pulling your paintballs to the ground making it more accurate!

On a less physical plan, 3-d pool could be a very interesting game almost to the level of chess. The 'table' could be a liquid filled sphere to add a bit of friction to the game, the sphere would have holes like a whiffle-ball. The holes could have colored rings to indicate which hole an opponents ball is allowed to leave by etc.

Answer 2

I think the obvious answer for space is free-form ball games. Anything from 3D-hackeysack in a hallway with friends, to Racquetball, Volleyball, or Soccer (non-American Football) with some basic rule changes to allow for a free-fall environment.

I was going to say hockey doesn't make sense (which makes me sad, because I'm a hockey guy) but then I thought of playing it in a rotating cylinder. You'd get some truly crazy passing options (shoot the puck straight up to the other side), and you'd have to take Coriolis effects into account, which would make things fun. Probably every team would have at least 2-3 goals too, distributed around their side.

Answer 3

Quidditch

Yeah, that fictional sport written by J. K. Rowling in the Harry Potter franchise.

There's a non-magical variety played by college students. I see a natural progression from running around on brooms to flying around on brooms.

I don't exactly see this as safe... can you say that any sports in space are safe? Though it is a team game, and it can be televised (there have been Muggle Quidditch games televised already). This would definitely be played in free-fall, or in an open area (space does have lots of that, fortunately). As it's a ball-sport, there's an issue of balls being lost to the depths of space. I think this can be overcome with some clever rocketry put into the balls.

Answer 4

Rugby / American Football

The essential problem with having very large open areas is that once a player launches themselves out into space, there is only so much they can do to change their trajectory; if they have the ball, they can throw it, but otherwise they can't do much.

That isn't necessarily a problem, and in fact could contribute to the style of the sport. For example, one could play a game similar to Rugby or American Football, except counting a 'down' or 'tackle' as soon as a defending player tags the player carrying the ball. Play would consist of players launching themselves on trajectories to intercept other players; if the player with the ball was going to be tackled, they would attempt to pass it to another player. The defending team would also attempt to predict the trajectory of and intercept the receiving player after they catch it.

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Polo

One way to overcome the fixed-trajectory problem is to give the players some sort of vehicle, such as a jetpack, or have them ride on some type of vehicle, but this has safety issues due to the potential of high-speed midair collisions. However, this could be dealt with in the same way as modern-day Polo.

Polo is a game played by teams of players on horseback, with a set of rules dictating how players are allowed to move to ensure that riders and their horses do not collide in a way that would be dangerous. Players use long mallets to strike a ball that rolls along the ground. In space, these might be replaced with some sort of racket, to make it easier to hit.

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Ball Passing Games

(Basketball, Hockey, Lacrosse, Football, Handball, Water Polo, etc.)

Another way to solve the mobility problem would be to use some type of rope lattice to fill the arena. The rope would be thick enough and elastic enough that colliding with it would not be very likely to cause injury. With a lattice pitch of around 1.5-2 meters, it would be easy enough to reach out with one's hands or feet and hook a rope in order to change trajectory or come to a stop, and one could launch off the ropes easily enough. If necessary, padded columns could be added to give more support to the lattice, so that it wouldn't be able to stretch too far.

This could accommodate a large number of different games, using different implements to launch different sorts of projectiles, with different rules about moving and scoring.

Answer 5

With space I assume free fall is intended. The relevant sports are ones where the expanded freedom of movement would be directly relevant. Some examples below.

Team obstacle race

A suitable number of people (two to six) in a team navigating an obstacle course in zero-G with time counted from the last person to reach the goal. Lots of variations. Different types of track. Opposed races with two teams on track at the same time. Teams could be picked randomly just before the race.

Benefits would be that this teaches 3D movement in zero gravity and teamwork. Practising this would make your children less likely to die when something goes wrong. So I think the parental sell would be good. Also the tracks would probably be relatively cheap to construct and modify. And the variability is good enough to make it viable entertainment. Especially if everybody as had some compulsory training in efficient zero-G movement and has some personal experience.

Paintball

Essentially the same as above, but instead of trying to reach the goal as fast as possible, the team tries to hit all members of the opposing team before they can do the same to you. Benefits are generally the same as above with less weight on free fall mobility and more on thinking 3D. Might make sense, if there is a plausible way for hostile boarding actions to happen.

Free fall dancing and martial arts

Probably self-explanatory?

Answer 6

How about something basically new:

Take a large room (think the Ender's Game combat room without the stars and considerably bigger.) The chamber walls are covered in the rough side of velcro, players start the game with a supply of weights with fuzzy velcro coverings and padding beneath.

The objective is to get the ball (large, light, soft--you can't throw it all that far) into the opponent's goal. You can move along the wall (fuzzy velcro gloves) but pushing off from it is forbidden--the only ways to move around the chamber are throwing things or pushing off people. If you run out of weights you are effectively immobile until you pick up enough from where they stuck to the walls.

It is not permitted to hold the ball for more than a set period of time. (The ball has a sensor that will note how long it has been held and change the color of a light as the clock runs down.)

Answer 7

When you said games in 3D space the first thing I thought of is the book/movie Ender's Game. In the movie (haven't read the book so I will only be referring to the movie) they play a kind of training game where they float around in a zero gravity room, hiding behind big metal pyramids, shooting at each other with zapper-guns that cause opponent's suits to constrict on contact.

Your game could be played in a similar way. Paintball and airsoft would be rather dangerous and very messy in zero gravity because nothing pulls the ammo to the ground which leaves big globs of paint floating around or dangerous ricochet with airsoft (which could be fun and could add a whole other level to your game)

Just a few ideas. Hope you like them!

Answer 8

Ultimate Frisbee would definitely work well in zero gravity!

Answer 9

Keijo, a fictional sport from a mangá:

(...) players stand on floating platforms and aim to incapacitate or push their opponent into the water, using only their breasts and buttocks. (...) Keijo matches are held atop floating platforms, referred to as a "Land", in large water-filled stadiums where swimsuit-clad players fight to incapacitate their opponents or push them out to the water, but they can only hit each other using their breasts or buttocks.

Replace water with the space habitat walls and you've got hours of fun for the whole space-dwelling, 21st century family.