Thomas Pesquet, the French astronaut, recently shared on his personal Twitter account a moment of watching the Euro 2020 tournament from space on June 24.
Unlike billions of people on Earth, astronauts are unique football fans as they follow Euro 2020 from the confines of outer space. Despite the limited living conditions on the International Space Station (ISS), Thomas Pesquet managed to keep up with and cheer for his home country’s team.
This was evidenced by a photo he posted on his social media on June 24. In the image, Thomas Pesquet is seen floating in the spacecraft, watching the match between France and Portugal on a screen.
The unique position of the astronaut watching the Euro 2020 match. Photo: Thomas Pesquet.
After the match concluded, Thomas Pesquet excitedly shared on his personal social media. He mentioned, “We fell into a tough group, but that only makes the matches more interesting.”
Additionally, Pesquet noted the biggest difference between watching football on Earth and in space is that “you don’t have to hear the excited cheers from the neighbors.” Shortly after posting, the photo received thousands of likes and comments from netizens around the world.
This French astronaut has been living and working on the International Space Station (ISS) since April, alongside six other crew members. Thomas Pesquet is not the first to watch live television on the ISS. A few years ago, American astronauts also had the chance to enjoy the Super Bowl, the most-watched championship football game in the United States.
“Astronauts working on the space station can request any television program they want to watch. Those programs will be linked to their personal computers. Essentially, the connection is very quick. However, the delay can be similar to that of live broadcasts when watching at home,” a NASA representative shared with The Atlantic.
