I think we’re right in the middle of the modern space race.
The moon was reached decades ago – so, what next? Our new goals have upped the bar.
We’ve reached the moon again, set up an International Space Station, named new planets, discovered new space phenomenon and seen more of what happens on Mars, all thanks to the collaborative efforts of organizations, funders, astronauts, scientists and many others.
Now, let’s talk about cards in space.
Cards in Space
According to a question asked on Stackexchange, one of the first board games played in space was a game of Chess on the Soyuz 9 in 1970. (Source: Stackexchange)
PokerStars has just launched a space-themed virtual reality poker room: If you have access to VR (and legal online poker), this actually seems interesting. I’d love to see a virtual bridge room someday too. (Source: EGR Global)
There seems to have been an attempt to launch Ivey and Negreanu into space in 2011 for what was called the Lunar Poker Tour, but I don’t think this took off (and no evidence I could find shows that it did). (Source: CardsChat) This had potential, though.
Next, what do official space agencies have to say about it?
Free Time in Space: The Official Take
Some educational resources on the NASA website – quoted below – reveals that astronauts can and do play cards in the space environment.
“On any given day, crew members can watch movies, play music, read books, play cards and talk to their families.”
The same page also mentions this:
“Experiments in space sometimes involve ordinary toys and how microgravity affects them.”
According to the Canadian Space Agency (or CSA), astronauts on the International Space Station have access to several board games – including a magnetic version of Scrabble. (Source: CSA)
Other Games in Space (and BBO)
Now we know that astronauts have played cards – and probably a few game varieties – in space.
A 2014 article in The Guardian mentions how players approach games like Scrabble in a zero-gravity environment. If you haven’t guessed, the secret to keeping pieces in place is, in some cases, velcro (at least when it’s not a magnetic Scrabble set as mentioned by an earlier source). (Source: The Guardian)
In 2018, the International Space Station saw the first game of tennis. (Source: NY Post)
As for baseball, already done. (Source: YouTube)
What about bridge?
It turns out that table bridge is the more practical option in space, but only if they get everything tied down. This is possible and there are even magnetic card decks (although no confirming evidence that it’s been done yet and I’m hoping to dig into the topic further in the future).
It might be a while before we see astronauts join BBO for an online game, though. Twitter users asked NASA if astronauts ever play Pokemon GO! and the answer wasn’t the most encouraging.
The official answer is no, according to an article on the Verge. While astronauts do apparently have access to personal smartphones, these are rarely connected to the internet (and largely used for research). (Source: The Verge)
Still, the invitation stands – and we’d love to see bridge played through BBO from space in the near future.
At least BBO on your smartphone is one way to keep the cards from floating about without the use of velcro or magnets.