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SpaceX and Qatar Airways jointly sent two official World Cup balls into space before the tournament even began.
SpaceX and Qatar Airways successfully launched two official FIFA World Cup match balls into outer space, achieving an extraordinary goal. It's reported that the two balls were sent into the Earth's atmosphere, reaching an altitude of 123km and a speed of up to 8272 km/h.
SpaceX and Qatar Airways scored an extraordinary goal by literally launching two official FIFA World Cup match balls into space. These balls were sent into the Earth's atmosphere, reaching an altitude of 123km and a speed of up to 8272 km/h.
The balls underwent a journey from Los Angeles to Doha and were then transported to Florida to carry out the launch.
According to space.com, the balls were aboard the Falcon 9 rocket on the first leg of their 1300km journey. They then returned to Earth on SpaceX's unmanned spacecraft, landing a few hundred kilometers off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Subsequently, Qatar Airways transported them to Famad International Airport, where they were handed over to World Cup officials.
Qatar Airways Unveils the Legendary Journey of a Legendary Tournament.
The official World Cup ball by Adidas is crafted with sustainable glue and ink. Named Al Rihla - journey or voyage in Arabic, its journey into space becomes even more extraordinary.
However, this isn't the first time a ball has ventured into space. In 2018, Russian astronauts took an Adidas Telstar 18 ball to the International Space Station (ISS) before returning it to Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. It traveled 50 million kilometers in 74 days in space.
According to some sources, Adidas plans to send some balls aboard the Dragon spacecraft by NASA under a contract signed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for research at the ISS National Lab.
