In connection with the summer Olympics taking place in Rio de Janeiro, NASA is implementing a novel project that combines science and sports. Astrolympics, as its name implies, combines the aspects of space with the astounding achievements of athletes at the Olympics. The achievements and observations made in space, involving mass, speed, time, distance, pressure and rotation are compared with the ones made by athletes at Rio in their sporting routine.
Science and sports associated
In a project involving the observations and discoveries made by NASA´s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes, Astrolympics intends to associate the accomplishments made in space to those achieved in sports; for example, the flip of an athlete in mid-air is compared to the spin of a star nebula´s core and the RPM of a washing machine.
In sports, the Olympic motto; faster, higher, stronger is exemplified by its astronomical parallels.
Astrolympics project
This endeavor consist of a series of videos , posters and a website, where a brief explanation of the most astounding deeds of athletes, including, rotation, speed, time, mass, distance and pressure I a given sport. The posters with the sport-space and daily life description are in English, Portuguese and Spanish. They´re planned to be distributed in varied places around the world and also through NASA´s International Astronomical networks.The association made by blending science and sports highlights not only the incredible sports deeds of athletes, butthe true meaningof the Olymics, of harmony and friendship, behind the sporting event.
2016 Olympic Games at Rio
This edition of the summer OlympicGameswill take place from August 5-21 in Rio de Janeiro and includes more than 40 sports and sub disciplines events and more than 400 events. The main objective of the games is create strong ties of harmony and friendship among countries and this is indicated in the five rings of the Olympic symbol, symbolizing the unity of the five continents.
The Olympic torch, which has been passed to different athletes hands, carrying it through Rio de Janeiro state will reach its final destination on Friday August 5, in time for the Olympics 2016.
